Kvarken

Kvarken (Finnish: Merenkurkku ) is a region in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. It is part of the Gulf of Bothnia and divides these into the northern part of the Bothnian Bay, and a southern part, the Bothnian Sea. In Sweden, the Kvarken is temporarily ( Kvarken Norra ) as Northern Kvarken referred, with Southern Kvarken ( Södra Kvarken ) the name for the area between the islands of Åland and the Swedish mainland is further to the south.

Geography

The region is situated at the narrowest point of the Baltic Sea spur between the city of Umeå in Sweden and Vaasa in Finland. In the region there is an archipelago whose land mass is growing roughly 100 hectares annually by the postglacial land uplift. The distance between the Finnish and the Swedish mainland is about 80 km, but the widest water channel between the islands is only 25 km. The average water depth in this region is just 25 meters. On 12 July 2006 parts of the Finnish Kvarken was admitted as a natural extension of the area in the High Coast World Heritage; the World Heritage Site has since been the High Coast / Quark.

Traffic

The towns of Umeå and Vaasa have long been connected by a ferry. This is the shortest ferry connection between the Swedish and the Finnish mainland. It was a long time by the ferry Vasabåtarna, then by Silja Line operated. Today is a ship of the RG Line on the Quark. The connection is subsidized by the Finnish state.

On an island in the middle of the Kvarken is a lighthouse, which was designed by Gustave Eiffel. This is today, like most lighthouses of Finland automated.

In historical times, the region was intensively used in winter for the transport of postal items, as the sea every year was a solid layer of ice. From various political parties there have been proposals to build a bridge across the Quark. These proposals are currently in the discussion phase.