Bothnian Bay

The Bothnian Bay (Swedish Bottenviken, Finnish Perämeri ) is a part of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. It occupies the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia and is separated by the Straits Kvarken of the Bothnian Sea in the south.

The Bothnian Bay is 63.5 to 66 degrees north latitude, and is the northernmost part of the Baltic Sea. It occupies 10 % of the total and 7 % of the volume of the Baltic Sea. On average, the Bothnian Bay is 40 meters deep. Your salinity is very low at 0.2-0.4 %. Several large tributaries like the Kemi, Torne älv, Kalixälven and Lule älv feed the Bothnian Bay with fresh water, also forms the average, only 25 meters deep Kvarken a threshold that prevents a balance of salinity. With its northern location, the Bothnian Bay ice in winter completely. In the Northern areas of the ice prevails over 120 days, and can attain a thickness of up to one meter. Because of the low salinity and low temperatures are missing many plant and animal species found in the southern Baltic Sea waters, in the Bothnian Bay. On the other hand, live in the brackish Bothnian Bay partly freshwater fish.

65230Koordinaten: 65 ° 0 ' N, 23 ° 0' O