Skagerrak

The Skagerrak strait runs between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat strait, which leads to the Baltic Sea.

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It is roughly triangular in shape, measuring 240 km in length, and between 80 and 140 km in width. It deepens toward the Norwegian coast, reaching over 700 metres at the Norwegian Trench.

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The Skagerrak has a salinity of 30 practical salinity units and provides a habitat for approximately 2000 marine species.

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In both world wars, the Skagerrak was strategically very important for Germany. One of the biggest sea battles of World War I, the Battle of Jutland, also known as the Battle of the Skagerrak, took place there May 31 to June 1, 1916. The importance of controlling this waterway, the only access to the Baltic, provided the motivation for the German invasion of Denmark and Norway during World War II.

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Strait: A strait is a narrow channel of water that connects two larger bodies of water, and thus lies between two land masses. The terms strait, channel, and passage can be synonymous and interchangeable, although channel has other meanings. Many straits are economically important. Straits can lie on import...

Norway: The Kingdom of Norway is a Nordic country on the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, bordering Sweden, Finland and Russia, with territorial waters bordering Danish and British waters. It has a very elongated form and has an extensive coastline along the North Atlantic Ocean, where Norway'...

Sweden: The Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: ') is a Nordic country in Scandinavia, in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the northeast, the Skagerrak Strait and the Kattegat Strait on the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia on the east. Sweden has a low populatio...