The Baltic Sea is in northeastern Europe, surrounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of east and central Europe, and the Danish isles. It drains into Kattegat and the North Sea through Öresund and the Great and Little Belt of Denmark.
History
At the time of the Romans, the Baltic Sea was known as the Mare Suebicum or Mare Sarmaticum. Tacitus in his AD 98 Agricola and Germania described the Mare Suebicum, named for the Suebi tribe, during the spring months, as a brackish sea when the ice on the Baltic Sea breaks apart and chunks float about.The strongest economic force in Northern Europe during the middle ages was the Hanseatic league, which used the Baltic sea to establish trade routes between its member cities. During the 17th century, when the Swedish empire virtually encompassed the Baltic sea it was sometimes referred to as Mare Nostrum Balticum.
The Baltic Sea starts to get very rough with the October storms. These winter storms have been the cause of many ship wrecks. In 1945 the Baltic Sea became a mass grave to drowned people on torpedoed refugee ships. But thanks to the cold brackish water, the sea is a time capsule for centuries old shipwrecks.
Countries
The Baltic sea countries, which have access to the Baltic Sea are: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany.
The Baltic Sea
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Subdivisions
The northern part of the Baltic Sea is known as the Gulf of Bothnia out of which the northernmost part is referred to as the Bay of Bothnia[?]. Immediately to the south of it lies the Sea of Åland[?]. The Gulf of Finland connects the Baltic sea with St. Petersburg. The Northern Baltic lies between the Stockholm area, southwestern Finland, and Estonia. The Western and Eastern Gotland Basins form the major parts of the central Baltic Sea. The Gulf of Riga[?] lies between Riga and Saaremaa and Gdansk Basin lies east of the Hel peninsula on the Polish coast. Bornholm Basin is the area east of Bornholm and Arkona Basin extends from Bornholm to the Danish isles of Falster and Zealand. The westernmost part of the Baltic Sea is Kiel Bight[?]. The Sound, the Belts, and the Kattegat connect the Baltic Sea with the Skagerrak and the North Sea.
Large islands
The Baltic Sea contains the large islands- Gotland and Öland (belonging to Sweden),
- Bornholm (belonging to Denmark),
- Åland (belonging to Finland),
- Saaremaa and Hiiumaa belonging to Estonia.
Rivers
Bodies of water that drain into the Baltic Sea include (clockwise from Öresund):- Sweden
- Svartån[?] (at Svarte[?] near Ystad),
- Tommarpaån[?] (at Simrishamn),
- Helgeån (at Nyehusen[?] near Kristianstad),
- Hemån[?] (at Karlskrona),
- Ljungbyån[?] (at Ljungby near Kalmar),
- Göta kanal (at Mem[?] near Söderköping),
- Motala ström (at Norrköping),
- Stockholm ström (at Stockholm),
- Dalälven[?] (at Gävle),
- Indalsälven[?] (at Sundsvall),
- Ångermanälven[?] (at Härnösand[?]),
- Ume älv[?] (at Umeå),
- Skellefte älv[?] (at Skellefteå),
- Lule älv[?] (at Luleå),
- Kalix älv[?] (at Kalix),
- Torne älv[?] (at Haparanda/Torneå[?]),
- Finland
- Kemijoki[?] (at Kemi[?]),
- Oulujoki[?] (at Oulu),
- Kokemäenjoki[?] (at Pori[?]),
- Kymijoki[?] (at Kotka[?]),
- Russia
- Neva (at St Petersburg),
- Estonia
- ??? (at Tallinn),
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Neman at Silute
- Russia (Enclave of Kaliningrad)
- Pregolya at Königsberg/Kaliningrad
- Poland
- Germany
- Ücker at Ückermünde[?]
- Peene at Anklam
- Recknitz at Ribnitz-Damgarten
- Warnow at Warnemünde near Rostock
- Trave at Travemünde near Lübeck
- Schwentine at Kiel
- Schlei near Schleswig and Kappeln
See also: Council of the Baltic Sea States, Baltic sea countries, Baltic states, Northern Europe
External links
Old shipwrecks (http://www.abc.se/~pa/uwa/wrecks.htm) in the BalticCommon misspelling and questions (FAQ)
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