Archipelago Sea – unique in the world
The Archipelago Sea is Europe’s largest archipelago and one of the world’s most extensive and diverse archipelagos. The sea area with tens of thousands of islands is located on the southwestern coast of Finland. The Archipelago Sea landscape area is one of Finland’s national landscapes, and part of the sea area belongs to the Archipelago Sea National Park. The average depth of the Archipelago Sea is only about 23 meters, making it a sea area highly susceptible to nutrient loading.
For millennia, the archipelago has been an active residential and cultural area where fishing, trade, agriculture, and seafaring have shaped its identity. The Archipelago Sea has historically and naturally been a gateway for Finland through which people and trade have moved westward for centuries. Today, the archipelago is a diverse living environment and tourist destination where the interaction between nature, culture, and livelihoods is strongly visible: traditional archipelago villages, pasture landscapes, boating, tourism, small-scale entrepreneurship, and industry coexist. The area’s landscape is dominated by shallow and labyrinthine sea areas, rocky skerries, forested islands, and open waters.
The Archipelago Sea is one of Finland’s most attractive tourist areas. Its distinctive nature, cultural-historical sites, and ferry routes make the area an easily accessible and diverse destination year-round. Boating, kayaking, cycling, and hiking are popular ways to explore the archipelago, and the Archipelago Ring Road in particular has established itself as one of Finland’s best-known tourist routes.
In the archipelago, one can experience both the austere silence of the outer archipelago and the lively village harbors with their services. The Archipelago Sea National Park offers opportunities for nature excursions, and archipelago villages, harbor environments, lighthouses, museums, and heritage landscapes attract both domestic and international visitors. Tourism is being developed responsibly so that sensitive marine natural values and the vitality of local communities are strengthened side by side.
For many of its residents, the archipelago is one of the foundations of their identity. The maintenance of traditional archipelago livelihoods and strong sense of community give the archipelago its distinctive atmosphere. The livelihood of archipelago residents has traditionally come from many different sources.
In addition to multi-functionality, the archipelago is now associated with multi-locality, which means dividing one’s life between several meaningful places. The Archipelago Sea area offers abundant opportunities for multi-locality, and the region has a significant number of recreational residences. So-called second-home residents are an important resource for the archipelago.
In Southwest Finland, the regional archipelago developer and advocate is the Archipelago Committee, which operates under the Regional Council.
Did you know this about the Archipelago Sea?
- There are around 40,000 islands in the Archipelago Sea, of which about 24,000 are at least 0.01 hectares in size.
- To the north, the Archipelago Sea borders the Bothnian Sea, to the west Åland Islands, and to the south the Northern Baltic Sea.
The Archipelago National Park is located on the southern edge of the Turunmaa Archipelago. The national park can be reached by boat or ferry.
A large part of the archipelago has been part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1994.
The shoreline of the Archipelago Sea is long and the sea itself is shallow. Due to its low salinity, the water of the Baltic Sea is referred to as brackish water. There are no tides in the Archipelago Sea, so apart from currents, the water changes very little.
The Archipelago Sea has the highest biodiversity in Finland. The archipelago teems with life across a variety of natural environments.
Archipelago Sea of pristine nature
The Archipelago Sea is an internationally recognized natural and cultural area: a large part of it has been part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1994. In biosphere reserves, conservation, local livelihoods, and research are integrated into model areas for sustainable development. The area is one of Finland’s richest entities in terms of habitat types and species. The special characteristics of brackish water enable the coexistence of both freshwater and saltwater species. The underwater world varies from shallow reefs and rocky bottoms to nutrient-rich bays. Archipelago meadows and traditional biotope areas also provide habitats for a wide range of species. The area is also an important concentration point for bird populations.
The state of the Archipelago Sea has been a significant regional concern in recent years, and its improvement is a central part of the Regional Council of Southwest Finland’s strategic work and advocacy. The state of the Archipelago Sea has deteriorated particularly as a result of long-term nutrient loading from agriculture into the sea. Because the Archipelago Sea is shallow and water exchange is limited, nutrients remain in the marine environment for a long time and accelerate eutrophication.
The goal is that by 2030, the state of the Archipelago Sea will have clearly improved: nutrient loading will have decreased, the condition of waters will have improved, and the sea area will have been removed from the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission HELCOM’s so-called hot spot list of the Baltic Sea’s worst polluters. To remove the Archipelago Sea from the list, nutrient loading must be reduced significantly and consistently. Currently, the Archipelago Sea catchment area is being developed into a model area for nutrient and carbon cycling, where agriculture and forestry, community planning, and local communities work together for sustainable water management.
The Regional Council of Southwest Finland acts as a key influencer and coordinating actor in improving the state of the Archipelago Sea. The work is carried out in broad cooperation with, for example, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Southwest Finland, ministries, municipalities, research institutions, organizations, and local communities and businesses. The work utilizes the Government’s Archipelago Sea Programme, the water and marine management action programme, and the Archipelago Sea agricultural water protection roadmap. An important actor in implementing the Archipelago Sea work is Valonia, the municipalities’ joint sustainable development expert organization. The goal is to make the Archipelago Sea work visible, participatory, and a valued part of the region’s joint effort to build a sustainable future.
Learn more about the Regional Council of Southwest Finland’s advocacy objectives for improving the state of the Archipelago Sea.
Did you know this about the archipelago?
- There are about thirty permanently inhabited small islands in the Archipelago Sea area, with a total population of fewer than 1,000 people living on them.
- The permanent population of the Turku Archipelago is approximately 30,000.
- The linguistic distribution in the archipelago is roughly evenly divided between Finnish and Swedish speakers.
- During the summer season, the population in many archipelago municipalities multiplies due to holiday residents (for example, in Kustavi the number increases at least fivefold).
- The largest municipalities in the archipelago are Parainen and Kemiönsaari, located in the Turunmaa Archipelago, with a combined permanent population of about 21,000.
- In the Archipelago Sea region, municipalities defined by law as archipelago municipalities also include Kustavi, while Kaarina, Naantali, Salo, Taivassalo, and Uusikaupunki are classified as partial archipelago municipalities.
Additional information
As a tourist destination, the Turku Archipelago is known particularly for its ring roads (large and small ring roads) and its dense network of ferry and road ferry connections.
The Southwest Finland archipelago has national parks: Archipelago Sea National Park, Bothnian Sea National Park, and Teijo National Park.
Archipelago transport throughout Finland is managed by the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Southwest Finland.
From the Turku Archipelago, one can travel by ferry connections via Åland all the way to Sweden.
The Archipelago Sea area is home to the UNESCO-affiliated Archipelago Sea Biosphere Reserve network.
The state supports archipelago areas by granting them so-called archipelago municipality or archipelago sub-municipality status and thereby larger state subsidies (more information at saaristopolitiikka.fi). In Southwest Finland, the archipelago municipalities are Pargas, Kimitoön, and Kustavi, and the archipelago sub-municipalities are Kaarina, Naantali, Salo, Taivassalo, and Uusikaupunki.
Archipelago policy is the responsibility of the parliamentary Advisory Board on Archipelago Affairs. The regulatory basis is the Archipelago Act.
The Archipelago Sea is also known for its lighthouses, the largest of which are Isokari, Utö, and Bengtskär
