Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainlands of Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Öresund, the Great Belt and the Little Belt. Kattegat then continues in the Skagerrak into the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Baltic Sea is linked to the White Sea by the White Sea Canal and directly to the North Sea by the Kiel Canal.

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 Sea 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. Bay of Gda?sk lies east of the Hel peninsula on the Polish coast and west of Sambia in Kaliningrad Oblast. Bay of Pomerania lies north of the islands of Usedom and Wolin, east of Rügen. Bornholm Basin is the area east of Bornholm and Arkona Basin extends from Bornholm to the Danish isles of Falster and Zealand. Between Falster and the German coast lie the Bay of Mecklenburg and Bay of Lübeck. The westernmost part of the Baltic Sea is the Bay of Kiel. The three Danish Straits, the Great Belt, the Little Belt and The Sound (Öresund) connect the Baltic Sea with the Kattegat bay and Skagerrak strait in the North Sea. The confluence of these two seas at Skagen on the northern tip of Denmark is a visual spectacle visited by many tourists each year.

Related Topics:
Gulf of Bothnia - Bay of Bothnia - Sea of Åland - Gulf of Finland - St. Petersburg - Northern Baltic Sea - Stockholm - Central Baltic Sea - Gulf of Riga - Riga - Saaremaa - Bay of Gda?sk - Hel peninsula - Sambia - Kaliningrad Oblast - Bay of Pomerania - Usedom - Wolin - Rügen - Bornholm Basin - Bornholm - Arkona Basin - Falster - Zealand - Bay of Mecklenburg - Bay of Lübeck - Bay of Kiel - Danish Straits - Great Belt - Little Belt - The Sound - Kattegat - Skagerrak - North Sea - Skagen - Denmark

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Including all subdivisions, the total area of the baltic sea is 370,000 km² and its volume about 21,000 km³. http://www.envir.ee/baltics/geograph.htm

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