Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee

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Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
The Island Committee

Finland

Land of Islands and Waters
Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
ARTO HÄMÄLÄINEN/KUVALIITERI • FRONT COVER PHOTO: AARNI NUMMILA/KUVALIITERI

“     There can be no more
beloved shore than this,
our Northern homeland.”
Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS   3

Dear Reader

Finland has more bodies of water than any other country in the
world, and more islands than most European nations. We boast 76,000
islands with an area of 0.5 ha or more, 56,000 lakes over 1 ha, 647 riv-
ers and 314,000 km of coastline. Every Finnish municipality has waters,
and most contain islands. Every island, lake and river has its place in
the hearts of Finns. This brochure describes these unique riches.

Its multitude of islands and waters makes the Finnish landscape
fragmented, creating extra costs for the economy, the State and local
councils, but it is also an incomparable resource. Our islands, seas,

                                                                               JOUNI KLINGA
lakes, rivers and shores are excellent regional assets in a world that
thrives increasingly on producing unique experiences.

Holiday homes (belonging to around 2 million people), boating
(700,000 boats), fishing (1.8 million recreational fishers), nature pur-
suits and tourism ensure that the development of our islands and
waters touches upon the entire nation. Finland is one of Europe’s top
boating and recreational fishing sites.

Many public authorities operate in the islands and waterways,
including the Defence Forces, the Border Guard, the Police Force,
regional rescue departments, the Maritime Administration (commuter
traffic, piloting, shipping lanes, ports, charting, winter navigation
assistance), the Road Administration (ferries and roads), the environ-
                                                                               MIKKO HAKANEN/KUVALIITERI

mental authorities, the Game and Fisheries Research Institute, other
fisheries authorities and the National Board of Antiquities.

Finland’s islands policy compensates for some of the drawbacks of the
fragmented land area, and maximises the benefits of islands and waters
as a regional development asset. The Island Development Act is an im-
portant tool in these efforts. Consideration for biodiversity as well as cul-
tural and landscape factors forms an essential part of the islands policy.

The Government aims to develop island and water tourism into a
European attraction, and to turn our holiday home customs into a foun-
dation for rural development. We have excellent conditions for this.
Finland offers citizens and foreign visitors a safe environment in which
to experience the warmth of summer, the russet colours of autumn,
the snow and ice of winter and the brightness of spring, on its numer-
ous islands and in its vast marine and freshwater areas.
                                                                               ERKKI MAKKONEN/KUVALIITERI

                                                           Happy reading!

                                                   The Island Committee
                             Ministry of Employment and the Economy
Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
4     LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

Which European country is
the richest in islands and lakes?
Let’s start by looking at islands. Greece has ap-        inhabited islands. Although many islands are       The Sulkava Rowing
proximately 1,400 islands and Denmark around 500.        linked to the mainland by bridges, Finland still   Race is the biggest row-
                                                                                                            ing event in the world.
Although well-known for their islands, these states      has 430 islands with year-round habitation, with   The route around the is-
are dwarfed by the three Nordic “continental” states     no permanent road connections. Greece has just     land of Partalansaari ex-
of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Finland has 76,000        over 200 such islands and Denmark around 100.      tends over 60 km and in
                                                                                                            recent years there have
islands measuring at least half a hectare in size, and   More than 200,000 Finns live on islands with       been some 10,000 par-
a total of 178,947 with an area of 100 m2 or over.       bridge connections, including nearly 50,000 in     ticipants. The church
Although smaller in size, Finland surpasses Sweden       the capital, Helsinki.                             boat race for teams is
                                                                                                            particularly popular, but
in its number of large islands and lakes. Norway also      Nearly 100,000 or more than half of Finland’s    there are always plenty
has a wealth of islands, but their steep cliffs make      islands are located in freshwater, ranking Fin-    of entries for the singles
many of them unsuitable for tourism and recreation.      land close to the top in the quantity of inland    and doubles races too.
The world’s most island-rich country is Canada.          islands. They include more than 150 islands with
    Finland also clearly outstrips certain well-         year-round habitation but with no bridge connec-
known island states in terms of its number of            tions.
Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS   5

                                                     Finnish islands by region
                                                                                    0,5 ha–   1—     Over   Total
                                                                                    1 km2     10 km2 10 km2

                                                       1.   Southwest Finland        9,687     145     21    9,853
                                                       2.   South Savo               8,918     101      5    9,024
                                                       3.   Lapland                  8,594      60      3    8,657
                                                       4.   Åland Islands            8,014      77     14    8,105
                                                       5.   North Savo               5,229      46      1    5,276
                                                       6.   North Karelia            4,386      42      5    4,433
                                                       7.   Ostrobothnia             4,187      51     11    4,010
                                                       8.   Central Finland          3,971      37      2    4,010
                                                       9.   Uusimaa                  3,665      23      3    3,692
                                                      10.   Pirkanmaa                2,897       9           2,906
                                                      11.   Northern Ostrobothnia    2,570      12      1    2,583
                                                      12.
                                                      13.
                                                            Satakunta
                                                            South Karelia
                                                                                     2,493
                                                                                     2,151
                                                                                                12
                                                                                                29
                                                                                                        1
                                                                                                        4
                                                                                                             2,506
                                                                                                             2,184
                                                                                                                                         3.
                                                      14.   Kainuu                   1,933      14      1    1,948
                                                      15.   Eastern Uusimaa          1,783      20      3    1,805
                                                      16.   Kymenlaakso              1,618      16           1,634
                                                      17.   Päijät-Häme              1,318      14      1    1,333
                                                      18.   Central Ostrobothnia       623       3             626
                                                      19.   Häme                       512       1             513
                                                      20.   South Ostrobothnia         480       1             481
                                                                                                                                       11.           14.
                                                      Total                         75,029     713     76   75,818

                                                                                                                                     18.
                                                                                                                            7.
                                                        Finland is also the country with the most bodies                                            5.
                                                     of water in the world. Its freshwater areas cover                       20.                           6.
                                                              2
                                                     33,000 km , accounting for one tenth of Finland’s                                  8.
                                                     surface area. The country’s area also encompasses
                                                              2
                                                     82,000 km of sea and 647 rivers. The length of                                               2.
                                                     the Finnish shoreline is 314,000 km – equivalent                      12. 10.
                                                                                                                                             17.    13.
                        SEPPO PELKONEN/KUVALIITERI

                                                     to a distance of an amazing eight times around the
                                                                                                                          1.     19.
                                                     Earth. The coastline of most other European coun-                                           16.
                                                     tries is only a fraction of this.                                            9.
                                                                                                                     4.                       15.

Timber-floating is still
important in the Vuok-
si waterways. Raw wood
is also transported on
barges, whose use may
increase significantly if
bioenergy transports be-
gin at local power plants.
An extension of the
                                                                                                                                                                    JUHA METSO/KUVALIITERI

Saimaa Canal lease pe-
riod could also lead to
new growth in freight
transport on Eastern
Finland’s waters.
Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
6        LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

                                                                                                                              59 metres of shore
                                                                                                                              per inhabitant
                                                                                                                              ■ Finland’s shoreline is fragmented and comprises
                                                                                                                              many islands. Its lakes are full of capes, bays and is-
                                                                                                                              lands; its rivers are winding. All of this means that the
                                                                                                                              shoreline is much longer than you might expect.
                                                                                                                                  The type and shape of the coastline are important
                                                                                                                              factors for both human and natural life. No detailed
                                                                                                                              classifications have been made of Finland’s entire
                                                                                                                              shoreline, but the seashore has been inventoried. Most

                                                                                      HANNU HUTTU/KUVALIITERI
                                                                                                                              of the shore (approx. 43%) consists of moraine, which
                                                                                                                              is most common on the shores and islands of the Gulf
                                                                                                                              of Bothnia. A similar proportion (42%) is composed of
                                                                                                                              rocky shores, which are found particularly in the Archi-
                                                                                                                              pelago Sea and the Gulf of Finland. Loam, clay and
                                                                                                                              soft-soil shores account for 10%, and gravel and sand
Many islands close to the coast are connected to the mainland by a                                                            for 5%. Only just over 1% (approx. 550 km) consists of
causeway or bridge. Island of Alanne in Lake Kiantajärvi, Suomussalmi.                                                        man-made shore; this includes diverse embankments,
                                                                                                                              harbours, bridges and dams.
Largest maritime islands in Finland
    Order      Name                     Municipality                     Area (km2)

    1.         Mainland Åland           7 municipalities                    685
    2.         Kimito                   Kimitoön, Salo                      524
    3.         Hailuoto                 Hailuoto                            195
    4.         Replot                   Korsholm                            160
    5.         Aasla/Otava              Naantali                            105
    6.         Lemland                  Lemland                              92
    7.         Eckerö                   Eckerö                               91
    8.         Öja                      Kokkola, Luoto                       90
    9.         Storlandet               Väståboland                          72
    10.        Ålön                     Väståboland                          70
    11.        Kyrklandet               Väståboland                          64
    12.        Kivimaa                  Kustavi                              57
    13.        Pyhämaa                  Uusikaupunki                         53
    14.        Vessölandet              Porvoo                               52
    15.        Kirjalaön                Väståboland                          49
    16.        Oxkungar-Tengmo-Kvimo    Vörå-Maxmo, Oravais                  46
    17.        Lillandet                Väståboland                          38
    18.        Stortervolandet          Väståboland                          37
    19.        Luoto                    Luoto                                37
    20.        Kaurissalo               Kustavi                              36

Largest freshwater islands in Finland
                                                                                 2
    Order      Name                    Municipality                      Area (km )

    1.         Soisalo                 Heinävesi, Kuopio,                1,638
                                       Leppävirta, Varkaus
    2.         Kerimäensaari           Enonkoski, Kerimäki, Savonlinna   1,069
    3.         Hurissalo               Mikkeli, Puumala                    174
    4.         Partalansaari           Puumala, Sulkava                    170
    5.         Viljakansaari           Puumala                             115
    6.         Manamansalo             Vaala                                76
    7.         Äitsaari                Ruokolahti                           74
    8.         Moinniemensaari         Savonlinna                           53
    9.         Oravisalo               Rääkkylä                             49
    10.        Kirkkosaari             Taipalsaari                          47
    11.        Väisälänsaari           Hirvensalmi, Mikkeli                 35
    12.        Virmaila                Padasjoki                            35
    13.        Kuivainen               Savitaipale                          33
    14.        Pyylinsaari             Heinävesi                            28
    15.        Varpasalo               Rääkkylä                             27
    16.        Paalasmaa               Juuka                                27
    17.        Salosaari               Ruokolahti                           26
    18.        Judinsalo               Luhanka                              25
                                                                                                                JARI KOSTET

    19.        Lintusalo               Puumala                              25
    20.        Kyläniemi               Taipalsaari                          23
Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS          7

     In terms of recreational value, flat, firm shores with   Composition of shoreline
an inclination of less than 10 degrees are considered
the most valuable. Ideally, such shores should also                                              km     %
have unrestricted access, scant aquatic vegetation
                                                               Total seashore                 46,198    15
and medium-depth water. These top-quality shores
                                                               – mainland coast                6,299
account for just a few per cent of the entire shoreline.
                                                               – islands                      39,675
     Variations in water level also affect usability. Un-      – lakes on islands                 96
der one tenth of Finland’s shoreline is such that the          – inland islands on islands       128
tidal level change is less than one metre, measured
over a long period of time – all of this is on lakeshores.     Total lakeshore               214,896    68
Around one half of the total shoreline has tidal chang-        – mainland shore              171,506
es exceeding two metres, including the entire marine           – islands                      39,443
coast. Level changes of more than five metres particu-         – lakes on islands              2,242             Hailuoto is the third-
larly appear on the Ounasjoki and Tornionjoki (Torne)          – inland islands on islands     1,705             largest sea island in
rivers, and in some regulated lakes.                                                                             Finland. Its population
     However, most of Finland’s shores are highly appro-       Total riverbanks               53,510    17       is on the increase: in
priate for recreational use and construction, compared         – mainland shore               51,142             1980 it was 897 but
for instance to the steep cliffs of Norway and Greece.         – islands                       2,368             by 2007 it was 987.
In France, Britain and Ireland, the tide may change by                                                           The island also hosts
more than five metres in a single day. Also, tidal flats       Total shoreline               314,604   100       700 summer resi-
may be several kilometres in width in those areas.                                                               dents.
Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
8     LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

Sparkling blue gold

”“Finland is called the Land of a Thousand Lakes,
but that figure is not even close to the truth.”
    Zacharias Topelius was right in his Book of Our
Land (Maammekirja) in 1875. More than a cen-
tury would pass before the exact number was cal-
culated, and it was 187,888. The smallest ponds
included in the count were only 500 m2 in size,
                                                                                     MARKKU TANO/KUVALIITERI

however; lakes and ponds exceeding one hectare
in size numbered 56,012.
    Topelius was not always right; in 1838 a Lapp
man had told him a story according to which Lake
Inari would not let anyone measure its depth. On
the basis of this, Topelius wrote a poem that flatly                                                              Most of Finland’s large lakes were formed dur-      Lake Pielinen con-
states: “It is as deep as it is long.” A native Inari-                                                         ing the Ice Age and shaped by the land uplift. Päi-   tains 1,259 islands. Visi-
                                                                                                                                                                     ble from the Koli quartz-
dweller might well have said “Nuuvt kukke lii ko                                                               jänne and some other major lakes were born from       ite peak, they have been
čieŋâl-uv.”                                                                                                    cracks in the bedrock formed hundreds of millions     immortalised in millions
    An echo depth sounding of Inari was completed                                                              of years ago. Lappajärvi and Paasivesi have a heav-   of photographs. The
                                                                                                                                                                     view is bewitching at any
in 1961–62. The maximum depth found was 95                                                                     enly origin, having been caused by meteorites.        time of year.
metres. A verifying measurement two decades                                                                      In its number of ponds, Finland is fairly even
later took off another three metres, meaning that                                                               with Sweden, both having more than 100,000
Inari comes second to Lake Päijänne in depth.                                                                  lakelets of less than one hectare. The rest of
                                                                                                               the EU can only wonder at its northern neigh-
European champions in                                                                                          bours’ wealth of waters. More than half of Fin-
large and small lakes                                                                                          land’s ponds are in the municipalities of Inari and
The European Union contains 93 lakes with an                                                                   Utsjoki. Since the central and eastern parts of the
                         2
area exceeding 100 km . Forty-seven of these are                                                               country are known as the Lake District, this might
in Finland, meaning we have more than all the                                                                  be termed the Pond District.
other EU states put together. There are few statis-                                                              Water quality is good or excellent in over 80
tics in which one country is so dominant.                                                                      per cent of Finland’s lakes, although many shal-
                                                                                                               low lakes are eutrophic and require attention.
                                                                                                               Almost 1,000 rehabilitation projects have been
                                                                                                               completed in recent decades. The most common
                                                                                                               methods are removal of aquatic plants, improve-
                                                                                                               ment of food chains, and oxygenation. Another
                                                                                                               factor in improving water quality has been signif-
                                                                                                               icant investments in the removal of nutrients from
                                                                                                               urban and industrial wastewaters.
                                                                                                                 The Water Framework Directive of the EU came
                                                         HEIKKI KETOLA/KUVALIITERI

                                                                                                               into effect in 2000, with the aim of achieving a
                                                                                                               high ecological status for surface waters by 2015.
                                                                                                               Collaboration is closer between authorities and
                                                                                                               local residents in Finland than in most other coun-
Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS     9

                             tries. Due to their love of local lakes and the scar-   Lappeenranta to Joensuu and Varkaus, with a few
                             city of public funding, lakeshore residents have        centimetres’ difference in Savonlinna. However,
                             been inspired to start up lake protection groups        according to the ice, temperature and flow condi-
                             and to work together in maintaining their lakes.        tions, the many pools of Saimaa could also be con-
                                                                                     sidered separate lakes.
                             Diversity of forms                                        In 1933, poet-geographer Aaro Hellaakoski pro-
                             Finland’s lakes differ in character from almost          posed the names Satanen or Satajärvi (derived
                             all of their European counterparts. It is difficult       from the word sata, meaning “one hundred”) for
                             to determine where one lake ends and the next           the lake, but these never caught on. Like Saimaa,
                             one begins. The most interesting is Great Saimaa,       many other pools in the Lake District form chains
                             which can be viewed as either one or up to a hun-       extending over hundreds of kilometres. These
                             dred lakes. It is one lake in the sense that the        are broken up by short rivers or narrow passages
                             water level is almost constant all the way from         where the water level can drop by several metres.

Many of our inland
cities were originally
built on a lakeshore.
The water’s power at-
tracted several large in-
dustrial plants to the
Tammerkoski rapids in
the 19th century. Most
heavy industry has now
left the area, and the old
factory buildings have
been put to cultural use.
                                                                                                                                          TIMO NIEMINEN/KUVALIITERI
Land of Islands and Waters - Finland The Island Committee
10     LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

Canals and locks are often built at these points for   Largest lakes in Finland
boats. The rivers Vuoksi, Kymijoki and Kokemäen-
                                                         Lake                 Region                  Area (km2)                     Max. depth (m)
joki contain a total of almost 40 locks and 30 open
canals.                                                  Suur-Saimaa          South Karelia,          4,380                               86
                                                                              South Savo,
     The most extensive network of boating routes is                          North Karelia
in the Vuoksi waters, reaching as far north as Nur-      Päijänne             Central Finland,        1,100                               95
mes and Iisalmi. This includes nearly 600 km of 4.2-                          Päijät-Häme
                                                         Inari                Lapland                 1,060                               92
metre deep-water channels, some 1,000 km of 2.4-         Pielinen             North Karelia             960                               60
metre channels and several hundred kilometres            Iso-Kalla            North Savo                900                               90
of 1.8-metre and 2.1-metre channels. It discharges       Oulujärvi            Kainuu                    890                               35
                                                         Keitele              Central Finland           500                               65
into the sea at Vyborg, making this, the EU’s larg-      Lokka                Lapland                   417                               12
est lake network, important to Eastern Finland’s         Längelmävesi         Pirkanmaa                 410                               73
economy. New connections have also been planned          Puulavesi            South Savo                325                               60
                                                         Kitkajärvet          Lapland,                  305                               34
between the Kymijoki and the sea, and between                                 Northern Ostrobothnia
the waterways of Kymijoki and Vuoksi.                    Juojärvi             North Savo                297                               67
     Casting an eye over a map of Finland, one sees      Höytiäinen           North Karelia             293                               54
                                                         Kemijärvi            Lapland                   288                               40
the blue colour of the Lake District forming an          Pielavesi-Nilakka    North Savo                278                               27
extensive labyrinth, in which individual lakes are       Näsijärvi            Pirkanmaa                 265                               63
difficult to discern. Further north, the eye is drawn
to the two large lakes of Inari and Oulujärvi, and
then to Western Europe’s largest artificial lakes,        The Finnish Environment Institute’s lake data-
Lokka and Porttipahta. The region of Kuusamo           base now has depth data for more than 6,000 lakes.
also has plenty of blue-tinged areas, and southern     As more data is charted, it is included on maps.
Lapland is split by a belt of medium-sized lakes.      Approximately 30,000 hectares can be charted in
The most obvious waters in the west are Pyhäjärvi      one year; at that rate, all lakes over the size of 50
and Lappajärvi, and the eye-catcher in the south is    ha will have depth maps within a decade.
Lohjanjärvi. Many of the smaller bodies of water         Lakes have constant flows that are very impor-
along the coast contain no lakes, however.             tant to their ecosystems. Today’s technology can
     If lakes were chosen to represent Finland’s       determine a lake’s flow field in great detail from
provinces, size might not be the main criterion;       the surface to the bottom; this is another sector in
for instance in Uusimaa, Lake Tuusula could come       which Finnish researchers are at the forefront.
into contention due to its cultural significance as
                                                                                                                               Up to 50 cm of water
the home of many artists and writers.                                                                                          can evaporate from Fin-
                                                                                                                               land’s lakes during the
Research                                                                                                                       summer. This has been
                                                                                                                               ascertained using trian-
High-level research on lakes is conducted in Fin-                                                                              gular rafts, in use for in-
land. The freezing and thawing of Kallavesi and                                                                                stance on Lake Tuusula.
Näsijärvi have been recorded since the 1830s,
longer than anywhere else in the world. The water
level in Lake Saimaa has been recorded daily since
1847. On some lakes, surface water temperatures
and ice thickness have been monitored for nearly
a century.
     Depth charts were being published on many
lakes with boating lanes as early as the 19th
century. For a long time, progress was slow and
sounding points were difficult to pinpoint accu-
rately on a map. A major revolution took place in
                                                                                                                                                             HANNU VALLAS/KUVALIITERI

the mid-1980s with the advent of tachymeters for
positioning. Further progress was on the way: the
                                                                                                               ESKO KUUSISTO

first GPS applications appeared in the early 1990s.
Today, all depth data is produced digitally.
SUOMI – SAARTEN JA VETTEN MAA      11

Also a land of rivers

Although known for its lakes, Finland also has          est tributaries surpass many of the main rivers;
plenty of rivers. They have always been impor-          Ounasjoki, for example, covers the same area as
tant travel and transport routes, and the first          the three largest rivers in Ostrobothnia (Kyrön-
chains of villages appeared on their banks. The         joki, Siikajoki and Kalajoki) put together.
best fields were on riversides, and mills were pow-         Finland’s major riverine area is Lapland, which
ered by rapids. They were used for fishing and           has many of the country’s largest streams. The
for driving timber to sawmills. Historically, rivers    catchment area of the Kemijoki covers more
have provided employment for many Finns.                than half of Lapland, with a total of 10,000 km of       Beginning in Lake Päi-
                                                                                                                 jänne, the Kymijoki river
  If a river is defined as a stream with an aver-        river. It has the largest floods in all of Finland. Its   discharges the waters of
                   3
age flow of 1.0 m /s or a catchment area of 100          power stations provide nearly 40% of the hydro-          more than 12,000 lakes
  2
km , then Finland has around 650. Of these, 90          power generated in Finland, and, besides being           into the sea. Down-
                                                                                                                 stream, there are cultural
are major rivers that run into the sea or across        a prolific salmon-fishing river, it used to be the         heritage sites punctuated
national borders; the rest are tributaries. The larg-   main artery for log-floating.                             by fields.
12     LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

                                                                                                                  Largest rivers in Finland, by region

                                                                                                                    Region                  River             Area (km2)      Average flow (m3/s)

                                                                                                                    Lapland                 Kemijoki             50,910                    538
                                                                                                                                            Tornionjoki          39,820                    378
                                                                                                                                            Paatsjoki            14,570                    146
                                                                                                                                            Tenojoki             13,780                    165
                                                                                                                    Northern Ostrobothnia   Oulujoki             22,920                    254
                                                                                                                                            Iijoki               14,320                    173

                                                        KEIJO PENTTINEN/KUVALIITERI
                                                                                                                                            Siikajoki             4,440                     40
                                                                                                                    Kainuu                  Kiehimäjoki           8,700                    102
                                                                                                                    Central Ostrobothnia    Perhonjoki            2,690                     20
                                                                                                                    South Ostrobothnia      Kyrönjoki             4,900                     45
                                                                                                                                            Lapuanjoki            4,110                     32
                                                                                                                    North Karelia           Pielisjoki           21,770                    240
                                                                                                                                            Lieksanjoki           8,260                     94
A rubber dinghy in the Kuusankoski rapids in                                                                        South Karelia           Vuoksi               61,560                    554
Central Finland. Whitewater adventures are offered by                                                               Satakunta, Pirkanmaa    Kokemäenjoki         27,100                    216
dozens of tourism businesses around the country.                                                                    Southwest Finland       Paimionjoki           1,090                      9
                                                                                                                    Uusimaa                 Karjaanjoki           2,010                     18
Fluvial power                                                                                                       Eastern Uusimaa         Porvoonjoki           1,260                     13
                                                                                                                    Kymenlaakso             Kymijoki             37,230                    304
“Let not the waters flow in vain.” This was a clause
contained in the laws of Sweden-Finland in 1649.
By then, rivers had been in use for diverse pur-                                                                  must closely examine research by climate scien-          In some provinces, the
poses for a long time.                                                                                            tists, particularly in relation to changes in annual     largest river is by no
                                                                                                                                                                           means the most famous

                                                                                                                                                                                                        VEIKKO VASAMA/KUVALIITERI
     The first mill rights had been granted to Bishop                                                              flow rhythms. Predicted increases in winter flow           one. The river Vantaa
Hemming at the Halistenkoski rapids in the river                                                                  rates would be beneficial for power generation,           is famous as the Hel-
Aurajoki in 1352. Water-driven sawmills had been                                                                  but might increase the problems caused by frazil         sinki region’s main ar-
                                                                                                                                                                           tery, while Aurajoki is
in use since the late 16th century, and the first                                                                  ice, for example.                                        the heart and symbol of
ironworks with a tilt hammer were built in Mus-                                                                                                                            Turku.
tio, on the Karjaanjoki river, in 1616.                                                                           Salmon: more excitement than nutrition
     In the mid-nineteenth century, Finland had                                                                   Salmon was one of the major causes for early set-
around 4,000 water mills and nearly 200 water-                                                                    tlements along rivers, particularly those running
driven sawmills. The father of Finland’s paper indus-                                                             into the Bay of Bothnia. The economic significance
try, Fredrik Idestam, opened the first pulp factory in                                                             of this pink-fleshed migrant was understood early
Alakoski, Tampere, in 1865. Tampere also saw the                                                                  by the Crown, which declared salmon-fishing the           Verla mill village was
                                                                                                                                                                           appointed a UNESCO
lighting of Finland’s first light bulb in 1882.                                                                    exclusive right of the State. In practice this meant
                                                                                                                                                                           World Heritage site in
     When the first turbines of the Imatra water-                                                                  levying a tax on anyone fishing salmon.                   1996. The first pulp fac-
power plant were switched on in 1929, people                                                                        After the Second World War, conflicts arose             tory was built in the area
                                                                                                                                                                           in 1872. Beautifully re-
were sceptical: “Can Finland ever need such an                                                                    between Finland’s electric power industry and
                                                                                                                                                                           stored, the old buildings
amount of electricity?” Its power output was 56                                                                   the centuries-old privileges enjoyed by Finland’s        now house a museum.
MW, while today’s electricity consumption peaks
at nearly 15,000 MW. Imatra remains Finland’s
largest hydropower plant, with a maximum out-
put of approx. 180 MW.
     Although Finland’s rapids now only produce
around one sixth of the country’s electricity, hydro-
power is highly valued due to its swift adjustabil-
ity. The corporate tax paid by power plants is an
important source of income for some regions, par-
ticularly in northern Finland.
     There has been much debate recently over
whether to build more hydropower capacity. In
                                                                                      MATTI YLÄTUPA/KUVALIITERI

techno-economical terms, there is potential to
extend it by 900 MW, of which one half could
be built by 2020. Some people disagree with the
proposal, however. Any foray into such a project
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS      13

Kitkajoki in Kuusamo                                     river fishers. They particularly centred around the      Today’s salmon fishing is a varying combination
is known for its wilder-                                 Oulujoki and Kemijoki rivers. In 1951, a new water   of sea, coastal and river fishing. The Tornionjoki
ness areas and numer-
ous rapids. The river is                                 law decreed that fish passes no longer had to be      river supplies 20-40 tonnes of salmon annually,
challenging for canoeists                                built when a waterway was dammed; instead,           while on the Teno, the average catch is 130 tonnes.
and also popular for rec-                                the dam builder must cover the cost of a certain     Fishing tourism is a major source of income for
reational fishing.
                                                         amount of fish farming.                               entrepreneurs along these rivers. Tourism oper-

Salmon leaping in                                                                                             ators in the Tornionjoki and Simojoki areas are
Näätämöjoki river. Fin-                                                                                       worried about their future, as are professional
land’s only natural and                                                                                       fishers in the Gulf of Bothnia, who consider their
original salmon popula-
tions exist here and in                                                                                       ancient profession to be in peril. This is an inter-
the rivers Teno, Tornion-                                                                                     national issue; salmon-related decisions are made
joki and Simojoki.                                                                                            in all Baltic Sea nations, as well as in Brussels.
                                                                                                                 Projects are underway in many Finnish rivers
                                                                                                              to restore migrant fish populations: these include
                                                                                                              the Kymijoki, Vantaa and Aurajoki rivers, as well
                                                                                                              as the three greats of the north: the Oulujoki, Kem-
                                                                                                              ijoki and Iijoki. Since 1993, salmon have accessed
                                                                                                              the downstream Kemijoki along the Isohaara fish
                                                                                                              pass, while the Oulujoki sea rapids’ pass was com-
                                                                                                              pleted in 2003. Many more passes and a lot of hard
                                                                                                              work is still needed before most salmon spawning
                                                                                                              grounds have been restored.
                            PERTTI TURUNEN/KUVALIITERI

                                                                                                                 Salmon play a central part in the attraction
                                                                                                              of river waters to tourists. The value of recrea-
                                                                                                              tional fishing lies not just in the value of the catch.
                                                                                                              “Salmon is more about excitement than nutrition,”
                                                                                                              says “fish professor”, Hannu Lehtonen.
14     LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

                                                                                                                                             SEPPO KERÄNEN
Islands and waters matter to Finns
A lake or river can be found near most Finnish            Many of Finland’s most popular tourist attrac-      There are 400 visitors’
villages and built-up areas. Around 80 municipal-       tions are islands. Every year, 1.6 million tourists   marinas in our sea are-
                                                                                                              as and more than 700 in
ities are located by the sea. Holiday homes, boat-      visit Åland, 700,000 visit Suomenlinna, 500,000       freshwater areas. The re-
ing, canoeing, cruises, recreational fishing, bird-      Korkeasaari zoo, nearly 300,000 the “Moomin           spective numbers of fish-
watching and other nature pursuits, diving, cross-      Islands” of Naantali, and 60,000 Manamansalo          ing ports are 24 and 15,
                                                                                                              and cargo ports serving
country skiing on ice, tour skating and traditional     in Lake Oulujärvi. Built in the 15th century on a     freight traffic total 23 and
skating, kicksledding and snowmobiling are activ-       tiny islet off Savonlinna, Olavinlinna Castle draws    five. Excluding the winter
ities that have made many Finns familiar with the       200,000 visitors a year, one third of them during     months, the Saimaa Ca-
                                                                                                              nal connects the water-
archipelagos.                                           the annual Opera Festival. Even the Bengtskär         ways of eastern Finland
     Almost all Finns visit an island at least once a   Lighthouse, with its remote outer sea location,       to the sea.
year, although they may not always realise it: few      attracts 15,000 visitors.
visitors to Savonlinna, Kotka or Pargas, for exam-        Excluding permanent island residents, the
ple, are aware that the main parts of these towns       Finns with the deepest relationship with islands
are built on islands.                                   are those who have a holiday home on one. In
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS                       15

late 2007, there were around 478,000 recreational                                                                          Enjoying a first summer
residences in Finland, of which 85% were on the                                                                            in the archipelago.
coast. People spend an average of 80-100 days at
their holiday home each year, and the number
is growing. In many island municipalities, the
number of summer residents exceeds that of per-
manent residents: Kustavi tops the chart with
a ratio of four to one; when you include people
other than the owners of holiday homes, the fig-
ure can be ten to one.
  Around EUR 4 billion is spent on recreational
homes in Finland each year. In fact, this has
become one of the main development factors in
rural Finland. Summer residents help maintain
shops and other services in small municipalities,
and their wide-ranging competencies and con-
tacts can be even more important assets. There-

                                                                                                          JYRKI HEIMONEN
fore, efforts are being made to include holiday-
makers in municipal and village functions. Devel-
oping such participatory mechanisms is an impor-
tant challenge.                                      energy consumption is being reduced with new
  More and more people are converting holiday        technology, including frost-resistant water pipes,
homes into second homes without changing their       heat pumps and insulation. Coastal construction
place of residence. Recreational properties are      does have an impact on local natural conditions,
increasingly spacious and well-equipped. Develop-    including the waters, coastal ecology and land-
ments in ICT have allowed for an increase in tele-   scapes. Recreational residences currently take
commuting, and people are keen to convert holi-      up one tenth of the total Finnish coastline, but
day homes into permanent dwellings.                  this ratio is considerably higher in the most pop-
  The environmental impact of recreational resi-     ular areas.
dences has been studied in recent years, and has       On the other hand, spending time at a holiday                       Millions of passen-
been found to be reasonable. Travel to and from      home provides a great environmental education                         gers feast their eyes on
holiday homes amounts to 7% of all car traffic in      for many Finns, with positive effects on attitudes                     the islands of Uusimaa,
                                                                                                                           Southwest Finland and
Finland. Summer houses account for less than         toward environmental protection and a simple,                         Åland while travelling on
1% of phosphorus and nitrogen discharges into        natural lifestyle. From the viewpoint of sustain-                     the ferries between Fin-
waters, and this is further decreased by new leg-    able social development, these recreational resi-                     land and Sweden, which
                                                                                                                           usually call in at Åland.
islation concerning wastewater from households       dences constitute a key form of urban-rural inter-                    The island province of
in sparsely populated areas. Year-round heating      action, promoting the maintenance of a vital and                      Åland receives 1.6 million
is increasingly common in holiday homes and its      diverse countryside.                                                  tourists every year.         JARI KOSTET
16   LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

Traditional and new industries
side by side

Winter seine net fishing of vendace in Lake Kostonjärvi, Taivalkoski. In recent dec-
ades, technological advances have made winter fishing less strenuous and considera-
bly more efficient, but the number of seine cooperatives has declined.
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS      17

                                                      Island life continues to be bustling and diverse
                                                      in Finland. Statistics show that the economic
                                                      structure of islands clearly diverges from the
                                                      national average.
                                                         While the service industry does already employ
                                                      almost half of our island population, this is below
                                                      the national average. The development of tourism
                                                      and recreational services is a critical issue for the
                                                      future of our islands. There are excellent develop-
                                                      ment opportunities. Islands, lakes and rivers can

                                                                                                              THE COAST GUARD IN THE GULF OF FINLAND
                                                      be turned into tourist attractions. Entrepreneur-
                                                      ial training, intensified marketing efforts and net-
                                                      working all play a key role. It would be particu-
                                                      larly important to extend the tourism season: the
                                                      islands have a lot to offer at any time of the year.
                                                         Government activities have a major impact
                                                      on employment and well-being in the archipel-
                                                      agos. The Defence administration, the Maritime
                                                      Administration, the Border Guard and the Road                                                    been on the decrease, particularly in the Border     Search and rescue
                                                      Administration employ many people in the island                                                  Guard and Defence Forces, which is highly taxing     exercise by the Coast
                                                                                                                                                                                                            Guard in the Gulf of Fin-
                                                      municipalities. The most significant research sec-                                                on certain insular municipalities.
                                                                                                                                                                                                            land. Other authorities
                                                      tor employer is the Finnish Game and Fisheries                                                     The marine cluster employs island residents        and NGOs also contrib-
                                                      Research Institute. In recent years, state jobs have                                             on ferry traffic, in the Maritime Administration, in   ute to maritime safety.

                                                      Hot baths and cold plunges at the SaimaaHoliday nature tourism centre in Rantasalmi. Plenty of high-quality
                                                      accommodation, catering and activity services have sprung up on our islands and coasts. In fact, developing is-
                                                      land and lake tourism into a European attraction is one of the objectives of the Finnish government.
                            SAMI VASKOLA/POINTLEVEL
HEIKKI KETOLA/KUVALIITERI
18   LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

Finland has top-level
expertise in boatbuilding.
The sector has many
enterprises, and exports
account for more than
two thirds of revenue.
Seppo Suurnäkki is build-
ing a wooden fishing boat
in Hamina.

                                                                                                      international shipping, at boat harbours, in boat-
                                                                                                      building and maintenance, and on docks.
                                                                                                         Agriculture and forestry account for some 15%
                                                                                                      of the jobs in island and part-island municipalities,
                                                                                                      while the corresponding national rate is less than
                                                                                                      5%. Islands enjoy the benefit of a strong image of
                                                                                                      purity and reliability, which can be utilised in mar-
                                                                                                      keting local specialities. The growth season is also
                                                                                                      longer in the southwestern archipelago than in
                                                                                                      the rest of the country. On the other hand, it is dif-
                                                                                                      ficult to create the relatively large units favoured
                                                                                                      by modern farming, as fields are small and frag-
                                                                              MUNICIPALITY OF VAALA

                                                                                                      mented. Specialised farming is therefore a prime
                                                                                                      asset. Farming has decreased on the smaller and
                                                                                                      outer islands, although new forms, including
                                                                                                      sheep farming, have emerged on a smaller scale.
Kassu Halonen Taidetalo, a centre for courses, popular music concerts
and fine art, was opened in a former school on the island of Manamansalo in                              There are only around 1,000 full-time fishers
Lake Oulujärvi in summer 2000.                                                                        left in Finland; two thirds of them fish at sea. In
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS         19

                                                                                                                                                                                      LOHIMAA
                              Lohimaa in Äyskoski, Tervo, is the biggest fishing
                              destination in Finland. In all, there are almost 100 busi-
                              nesses specialised in fishing tourism, and thousands
                              offer fishing as an ancillary service.

                              addition, there are some 2,000 part-time profes-

                                                                                                                                                                                    MARJA VEHKALA/KUVALIITERI
                              sional fishers. In 2007, their catch totalled around
                              130 million kilograms. In the sea, the main attrac-
                              tion is Baltic herring, whereas in fresh waters
MARTTI LINTUNEN/KUVALIITERI

                              it is vendace. The number of professional fish-
                              ers has halved in two decades, and their average
                              age is high. What remains, however, is the most              October’s Baltic Herring Fair is Helsinki’s oldest traditional event, bringing
                                                                                           fishers and entrepreneurs from the islands to central Helsinki. It dates back to
                              efficient and most professional part of the indus-             a royal edict by King Frederick I of Sweden in 1743: “Let the miserable town of
                              try, which has a major employment impact in the              Helsinki be enlivened by a new fair at Michaelmas.”
                              fields of trade, food processing and equipment
                              production. Challenges for fish farming include
                              cheap imported salmon and emissions from fish-
                              eries. There are still around 600 jobs in the sector
                              in Finland, most of them in island areas.
                                 Recreational fishing is an essential part of
                              island culture. In 2006, Finland had 1.8 million
                              recreational fishers, and the value of their annual
                                                                                                                                                                                      FINNISH ROAD ENTERPRISE, FERRY SHIPPING

                              catch amounted to EUR 56 million. Services
                              related to fishing increase the economic signifi-
                              cance of this pastime four to sixfold. Fishing is an
                              essential part of Finnishness, and it is promoted
                              by our country’s richness in waters and our exten-
                              sive fishing rights.
                                 There is little industrial employment in the
                              deepest archipelago, but many municipalities                 State jobs and services are important for islanders. Today public roads have more
                                                                                           than 40 ferry crossings. The ferries carry around ten million people and five million ve-
                              with good sea ports do host some of the country’s            hicles annually. There are also 19 commuter ferries operated by the Finnish Maritime
                              major industrial plants.                                     Administration and 21 cable ferries on private roads, most of them in Lake Pihlajavesi.
20     LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

Growing demand
for genuine island
and lake culture

Rising tourism is increasing demand for a gen-
uine island culture. The culture of our islands
and waters consists of history, tradition, nature
and the environment. Culture is all the things
that islanders do and appreciate; it encompasses
architecture, food, clothes, language, thoughts,
beliefs... Fortunately, it is impossible to precisely
define island culture.
     It is no coincidence that the Savonlinna Opera
Festival, perhaps the best-known Finnish cultural
event, takes place on an island. Other insular
attractions include Moominworld and the Seuras-
aari Open-Air Museum, which displays Finland’s
architectural heritage. The historic Suomenlinna
fortress island is one of the country’s major tour-
ist sites.                                              islands: ancient fortresses include Suomenlinna                       The popular and in-
     Our islands boast many buildings and struc-        in Helsinki, Bomarsund in Åland, Gustafsvärn in                       fluential 19th-centu-
                                                                                                                              ry authors Johan Lud-
tures that cannot be found elsewhere in Finland.        Hanko and the Kotka fortresses.                                       vig Runeberg and Zach-
These include lighthouses, pilot posts, historical        The first impressions visitors have of an island                     arias Topelius inspired a
navigation marks and also our underwater her-           usually relate to the village community spread                        special love for the coun-
                                                                                                                              try among Finns, partic-
itage. Military history is strongly present on sea      around a harbour. One’s eye may be caught by a                        ularly through the stun-
                                                                                                                              ning waterways. Golden-
                                                                                                                              age painters who delight-
                                                                                                                              ed in watery themes in-
                                                                                                                              cluded Albert Edelfelt, Ak-
                                                                                                                              seli Gallen-Kallela and
                                                                                                                              Eero Järnefelt. Many art-
                                                                                                                              ists also retreated to live
                                                                                                                              at the lake or seaside,
                                                                                                                              and our great compos-
                                                                                                                              er Jean Sibelius drew in-
                                                                                                                              spiration from the Finnish
                                                                                                                              waterscape.

                                                                                                                              Loggers’ games have
                                                                                                                              remained popular, espe-
                                                                                                                              cially in the eastern and
                                                                                                                              northern parts of the
                                                                                                                              country. The tradition be-
                                                                                                                              gan on the river Lieksan-
                                                                                                                              joki in the 1930s. Typi-
                                                                                                            ANTERO AALTONEN

                                                                                                                              cal events include pol-
                                                                                                                              ing, rolling, the logger’s
                                                                                                                              oath and riding rapids on
                                                                                                                              a log.
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS                       21

                                           lighthouse on a rock, an old windmill or the har-
                                           monious beauty of rows of red wooden houses.
                                           The lifestyle and sparse living of the islands have
                                           helped to preserve old settlements more com-
                                           monly than elsewhere. In freshwater areas the vil-
                                           lages are often located toward the island’s interior,
                                           so the visitor may not have such a strong sense of
                                           human habitation and activity as by the seaside.
                                             Even the smallest of island municipalities
                                           often have a museum of local history and culture,
                                           showing old objects and buildings. The Maritime

                                                                                                                                                                                                       MUNICIPALITY OF KORSHOLM
                                           Museum of Finland, which transferred from Hel-
                                           sinki to Kotka in 2008, is responsible for archiv-
                                           ing our maritime heritage. It is located in the
                                           Maritime Centre Vellamo, which is also home
                                           to the Museum of Kymenlaakso. Other maritime
                                           and seafaring museums can be found in Marie-
ALBERT EDELFELT/FINNISH NATIONAL GALLERY

                                           hamn, Turku, Rauma, Kristinestad and Raahe.             ums, loggers’ games, old canals, fishing ports and                      Postal traffic across
                                           The Museum of Finnish Recreational Fishing is           fish markets, as well as marinas and old steam-                         the Quark – the thresh-
                                                                                                                                                                          old between Finland
                                           located in Asikkala, and Kerimäki has a Lake Fish-      boats. By the seaside, the number of volunteers                        and Sweden – began
                                           ing Museum.                                             participating in the painstaking task of building                      in 1617 and continued
                                             Our sea and freshwater areas boast plenty of          and restoring traditional sailing ships is a telltale                  for almost two centu-
                                                                                                                                                                          ries. Today, this tradition
                                           prehistoric remains: stone labyrinths, rock paint-      sign of love for the old archipelago culture.                          is honoured by an annu-
                                           ings, ancient settlements and harbours. Island cul-       The living culture of our islands and waters is                      al rowing event for old-
                                           ture features extensively in literature, fine arts,      upheld by permanent and holiday residents, boat-                       style boats. The starting
                                                                                                                                                                          point alternates annually
                                           drama, music, song and film. The waters have a           ers, professional and recreational fishers, tourists                    between Replot, Finland,
                                           strong presence in the Finnish national epic, the       and many others. Despite the strong tradition, it                      and Holmö, Sweden.
                                           Kalevala, and composer Jean Sibelius was also           is also important to build a new culture on the
                                           inspired by them.                                       basis of the old heritage; this has been achieved
                                             The cultural heritage of our freshwater areas         in many of the fine cultural events organised on
                                           and islands is kept alive by timber floating muse-       the Finnish islands in the summer.

                                                                                                                                                                          Korppoo Jazz repre-
                                                                                                                                                                          sents modern island
                                                                                                                                                                          culture that is largely a
                                                                                                                                                                          result of the expertise of
                                                                                                                                                                          recreational residents.
                                                                                                                                                           KORPPOO JAZZ
PETRI ASIKAINEN/GORILLA
Sixty years of island policy
The Islands Policy is the oldest systematic              The part-island municipalities are Asikkala,         An estimated half a
regional policy in Finland. In March 1949, the         Helsinki, Hirvensalmi, Ingå, Joutsa, Juuka,            million Finns have jobs
                                                                                                              suited to teleworking. It
Council of State set up a committee to investi-        Jyväskylä, Kaarina, Kesälahti, Kivijärvi, Kor-         is particularly beneficial
gate living conditions on the islands and to make      sholm, Kotka, Kuhmoinen, Kuopio, Lieksa, Liperi,       for island and rural mu-
development proposals. The main reason for             Luhanka, Luoto, Masku, Mikkeli, Naantali, Närpiö,      nicipalities to invest in
                                                                                                              improving their facilities
this related to problems in the fishing industry.       Oravais, Parikkala, Pernå, Porvoo, Pyhtää, Rase-       for telecommuting from
Although growth was still healthy in other rural       borg, Ruokolahti, Ruotsinpyhtää, Rääkkylä, Salo,       summer homes.
areas, the population of island areas had taken a      Savonlinna, Sipoo, Taipalsaari, Taivassalo, Tervo,
downturn.                                              Uusikaupunki, Vaala and Vörå-Maxmo.
  The Island Committee was established in its            Five of the island municipalities are on the sea-
current form by government decree in 1961. In          shore and three are inland, while the part-island
1981 it proposed new legislation to promote the        municipalities are distributed evenly. Before the
development of the islands. In the Island Devel-       current wave of municipal mergers, there were 13
opment Act, the concept of “island” covers sea         island municipalities, but the number fell due to
and freshwater islands without permanent road          amalgamations, particularly in southwestern Fin-
access, as well as other islands and mainland          land. The part-island municipalities contain 13 cit-
                                                                                                              Seminars on islands
regions with otherwise insular conditions. The Act     ies, Helsinki being the largest.
                                                                                                              and waters have been
obliges the State and municipalities to safeguard        The old Island Committee’s final report in 1957       held around the country
the development of islands by providing support        emphasised the significance of a geographically         since 1990. This annual
                                                                                                              event takes place in an
in diverse political areas, especially in developing   widespread policy on coastal and water areas.
                                                                                                              island or part-island mu-
sources of livelihood, maintaining state employ-       This has remained the approach in the govern-          nicipality. In 2005, it was
ment, funding basic services and building trans-       ment’s islands projects and decisions-in-principle     hosted by Uusikaupunki.
port and other infrastructure. The islands’ nature     in the 1990s and beyond.
and environment must also be protected.                  The Island Committee is a permanent statu-
  In early 2009, Finland had eight island munic-       tory advisory body that operates in connection
ipalities and 40 part-island municipalities. The       with the Department for Regional Development
related decree expires at the end of 2011.             of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
  Our island municipalities are Enonkoski,             The Committee participates in the development of
Hailuoto, Kimitoön, Kustavi, Väståboland, Malax,
                                                                                                                                                                      FOTOMIKA

                                                       island areas jointly with municipalities, regions,
Puumala and Sulkava.                                   State authorities and other parties.
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS    23

Successes and regrets                                     the Border Guard, and the coastal artillery and
The islands policy has produced results. Ferries,         some Navy units by the Defence Forces, mainly
rafts, hydrocopters, private roads, public roads          due to technological advances. Ferries have been
and bridges have been put in place for island traf-       replaced by bridges, reducing the number of Road
fic. Some businesses have received higher subsi-           Administration jobs. Since the 1980s, the Tax
dies from the state and the EU than their main-           Administration, the Employment Administration,
land counterparts. The provision of municipal             the Police Force and regional State offices have
social services is facilitated by island supplements      cut their staff in island municipalities. Meanwhile,
in the municipalities’ state grants.                      Post Office operations have been privatised.
   Electrification spread swiftly in the archipel-
agos in the 1950s and 60s, and phone lines were           International context
laid around the same time with support from               Finland’s accession to the European Union in 1995      Island and part-
the State. Finland’s government is committed to           had an impact on the country’s island policy. Fish-    island munici-
                                                                                                                 palities.
bringing today’s fast data communications out             ing and agriculture, which are crucial in the archi-
to the islands. Many archipelagos have national           pelagos, and to an extent also regional politics,
parks and conservation areas, which form treas-           are now led from Brussels. In regional policies,
ure-troves of the ecosystem and are essential for         the number of islands is not a criterion for the
tourism. Landowners receive appropriate com-              EU’s structural fund agenda. In practice, however,
pensation for this.                                       island-based regions have often been granted a
   Nationwide island development projects have            better status than their socioeconomic figures
focused on promoting tourism, fishing, small-scale         might have entitled them to. A fairly good level of
processing and telecommuting. Island municipali-          EU funding has been provided, which is important
ties aim to enhance their image as tourist destina-       for the islands. This is in line with the European
tions and permanent residence areas, sometimes            Charter of Fundamental Social Rights, which rec-
with shared marketing campaigns. The number               ognises the fact that insular regions have special
of recreational residences has been increased             characteristics that must be addressed.
with research and development projects aiming               From 2010, the Finnish government will make
for more flexible town planning and exceptional            regular decisions-in-principle on island policy,
permit policies, building and repairing holiday           replacing the earlier islands programme. This is
homes, and utilising summer residents’ purchas-           now the main national vehicle for island policy-
ing power and competence.                                 making.
   The number of State jobs in the archipelagos             The island policy is also linked to the EU’s pol-
remained high and even grew between the 1950s             icies on the use and maintenance of coastal and
and 70s; since then, it has fallen, proving a challenge   maritime areas. The Island Committee maintains
to the fulfilment of the Island Development Act.           contact with other European island regions, for
   Pilot stations have been closed down by the            instance through the Conference of Peripheral
Maritime Administration, coastguard stations by           Maritime Regions.
24     SUOMI – SAARTEN JA VETTEN MAA

Finland: born of an island

When Finland rose from the sea after the last         islands. The mainland gradually began to emerge      Ristisaari, Pyhtää. Ice
Ice Age, it started as an island. No one knows pre-   at today’s eastern border. Finland was no longer     and waves prevent veg-
                                                                                                           etation from spread-
cisely where that embryo of Finland was located.      wholly insular.                                      ing onto the expanse of
It might have been the top of Tiirismaa, the high-      Some 10,200 years ago, the level of the Baltic     smooth rock.
est point of today’s southern Finland (222 m).        glacial lake suddenly dropped by almost thirty
Some 12,000 years have since elapsed.                 metres and the Yoldia Sea was created. Many of
     In addition to water, the first island may have   the islands grew, the largest one being in today’s
been fringed by the edge of the continental glacier   southern Häme. A few centuries later, glimpses of
receding northwest. A millennium after the first       Åland could be caught amid the waves. The last
glimpse, Finland already consisted of hundreds of     remnants of the continental glacier melted away
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS              25

                 from what is now Finland around 9,000 years
                 ago. The Baltic was a lake, with its largest island
                 stretching from Jämsä to Suomenselkä – its area
                 was four times that of Zealand, which is now the
                 largest island in the Baltic Sea.
                   Around 7,500 years ago, the Baltic became a
                 sea again. Compared with today, the coast was
                 further inland by 50–100 km at the Bay of Bothnia,
                 30–60 km at the Sea of Bothnia and 20–40 km at
                 the Gulf of Finland. There were not many islands
                 at that time, but tens of thousands of them were
                 waiting to rise from the depths. With the contin-
                 uing land uplift, they began to emerge over an
                 extensive area. While the movement of the coast-

                                                                                                                                                                                   SEPPO LAAKSO
                 line merged former islands with the mainland,
                 the largest of Finland’s archipelagos – the Archi-
                 pelago Sea – was gradually formed in the south-
                 west. Today it has almost 40,000 islands, which is                                                                               In 1873, the author
                 more than in South Pacific Polynesia. These days                                                                                  Zacharias Topelius
                 the number of Finnish sea islands over 100 m2 in                                                                                 wrote that “every century
                                                                                                                                                  the Baltic Sea donates
                 area totals 80,897, with their coastline stretching                                                                              to its daughter, Finland,
                 over 39,803 km.                                                                                                                  enough land for a new
                   Some of our freshwater islands are older than                                                                                  principality.” Accord-
                                                                                                                                                  ing to current estimates,
                 their home waters: they were already islands                                                                                     around 300 hectares of
                 before the lake separated from the sea. Over the                                                                                 new land emerges on
                 millennia, the land uplift has tilted lake basins,                                                                               the coast of the Gulf of
                                                                       Metres above
                                                                       the surface of                                                             Bothnia every year.
                 resulting in the appearance and disappearance         the Ancylys Lake
                 of islands. The creation of new discharge chan-                 1200 m

                 nels dramatically altered the size and island com-
                 position of many major lakes, including Saimaa
                                                                                 700 m
                 and Päijänne. Small islands have been destroyed                                              Rovaniemi
                 by ice and waves, and when lakes have become                    500 m
                                                                                 400 m
                 overgrown, their islands have naturally also been               300 m                Kemi
                                                                                 200 m
                 obliterated. Humans have drained many lakes                      150 m
                                                                                 100 m
                                                                                   50 m
                 or lowered their water levels, causing islands to       –50 m
                                                                       –100 m                               Oulu
                                                                        –150 m
                 emerge or fuse with the mainland.                     –200 m
                                                                       –250 m
                   Today the number of our freshwater islands                                                                                     The Finnish islands
                                                                                                                          Kajaani                 around 9,000 years
                 is 98,050. Almost 1,000 of them are islands on
                                                                                                                                                  ago. The Baltic Sea was
                 islands, located in lakes that are themselves on                          Kokkola                                                then the freshwater An-
                 islands. Such lakes-on-islands number around                                                                                     cylus Lake, with its run-
                                                                                 Vaasa                                                            off outlet on the west-
                 2,000. The total island shoreline in freshwater                                                          Kuopio
                                                                                          Seinäjoki                                               ern side of today’s Lake
                 areas stretches over 43,496 km, of which islands                                                                      Joensuu    Vänern in Sweden. The
                 in rivers account for 2,368 km. Thus our fresh-                                Jyväskylä
                                                                                                                                                  coastline was 60 metres
                                                                                                                                                  above the current level in
                 water areas just beat the marine areas in terms                                                                   Savonlinna
                                                                                                                      Mikkeli
                                                                                                                                                  the south, and even over
                 of both the number of islands and the length of                             Tampere                                              200 metres in the Bay of
                                                                             Pori                                                                 Bothnia.
                 coastline. The same applies to the total area of                                            Lappeenranta
                                                             2
                 islands: inland islands cover about 7,200 km and                Hämeenlinna
                                                                                                            Lahti
                                                                                                                                                  Source: Matti Tikkanen,
JYRKI HEIMONEN

                                     2                                                                                                            University of Helsinki
                 sea islands 5,800 km .                                          Turku                                                            © National Land Survey of
                                                                                                                    Kotka                         Finland 192/Mar/98

                                                                                                      HELSINKI              0 km         100 km
26     LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

Island nature
Finnish sea islands are a veritable paradise for
researchers. They are young and undergo constant
growth and change. Land uplift is still pulling new
islands from the sea. An islet born on the open sea
often remains almost without vegetation for some
three centuries, until it has risen high enough to
provide a habitat for a few grasses, rushes and
other herbaceous plants rooted in rock crevices.
     As the island grows in height, seaweed washed
in by waves is deposited in crevices and depres-
sions. Increasing in density, the root layer binds
composting matter underneath. This creates a
                                                      ERKKI SANTAMALA/KUVALIITERI

miniature meadow with blooming plants includ-
ing sea mayweed (Tripleurospermum maritimum),
chives (Allium schoenoprasum) or biting stonecrop
(Sedum acre). Purple loosestrife (Lythrum sali-
caria), yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris)
LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS     27

                                                                                                                                                       PETTERI TOLVANEN
                                        Bird-watching on Hailuoto. The most abundant nesting waterfowl on the island is the tufted duck (Aythya
                                        fuligula), but teals (Anas crecca) and Eurasian wigeon (Anas penelope) are also common. Almost 20 species of
                                        waders nest on the island, with the most common ones being ruffs (Philomachus pugnax), common redshanks
                                        (Tringa totanus) and common snipes (Gallinago gallinago).

                                        and meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) thrive in         habitats are destroyed by storms and ice. It takes
                                        damp depressions. These depressions can also            persistence and luck to survive. The largest mam-
                                        become swampy and plants such as crowberry              mals, such as elks, enjoy spending time on large,
                                        (Empetrum nigrum), bog bilberry (Vaccinia uligi-        forested inland and sea islands, sometimes even
                                        nosum), marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris) and     attracting bears in their wake.
                         JOUNI KLINGA

                                        even cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) can rise
                                        from the mossy ground. The first immigrant trees         Toward diversity
                                        are prostrate junipers, followed by rowans and          The larger an island grows, the greater its number
                                        twisted and knotted pines. Spruces carpet vast          of species and their genetic diversity. Often only
                                        depressed areas.                                        around ten species of vascular plants can be found
The oystercatcher                         Insects are the first representatives of the ani-      on small islands, while medium ones may have fifty
(Haematopus ostrale-                    mal kingdom to arrive, although by no means vol-        and reasonably large ones over one hundred.
gus) is a wader with
a loud, piping call. To-                untarily but blown in by winds. With more and              Not enough time has passed for endemic spe-
day, around 4,000 pairs                 more areas available for shelter, feeding and           cies to evolve on Finland’s sea islands, as they
nest in Finland, and they               reproduction, insect diversity increases. Larger        have on other islands worldwide. The migration
can be spotted in urban
parks and even nesting                  winged creatures also appear relatively early:          of our islands from the outer sea to the bosom of
on roofs.                               gulls, waterfowl and wading birds efficiently fer-        our inner archipelago, finally to merge with the
                                        tilise the islets. The majority of island birdlife is   mainland, has been too fast for the evolution of
                                        only present in summer. An even larger group            new species. A level of microevolution has, how-
                                        consists of passing migrating birds, which on           ever, taken place: our sea islands have forty-odd
                                        peak days can flock in their tens of thousands.          species of vascular plants whose features differ
                                        Larger birds, such as sea eagles, golden eagles         clearly from those of their inland ancestors.
Sea mayweed (Tripleu-                   and ospreys, are easy to spot.                             The homes of some of these subspecies are
rospermum maritimum)                      Among the first mammal invaders are voles,             apparent in their scientific names: the common
and chives (Allium schoe-               which can at times decimate a young island’s veg-       bird’s foot trefoil native to Åland (Lotus cornicu-
noprasum) are common
on the outer islets of the              etation. An island is always a harsh environment        latus var. alandicus), the field mugwort of the Bay
Archipelago Sea.                        for many species: reproduction is difficult and           of Bothnia (Artemisia campestris bottnica) and the
28   LAND OF ISLANDS AND WATERS

                                          hair-grass of the Sea of Bothnia (Deschampsia bott-      land to Åland across the Skiftet strait.

                         JUHA LAAKSONEN
                                          nica).                                                     The largest island in the Bay of Bothnia and the
                                             The impact of land uplift is particularly pro-        third-largest in Finland’s sea areas is Hailuoto.
                                          nounced on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia. These      Despite now rising up to 30 metres above sea
                                          landscapes undergo dramatic transformations in           level, the island was only born a little under 2,000
                                          just one century in areas such as the Quark. The         years ago. The land uplift has not been quite that
                                          geological structure of the islands changes, with        extreme: winds have piled sand onto the island.
                                          moraine replacing rock. Plants growing near the          When Hailuoto was 100 years old, it covered only
                                          waterline on rocky shores include sea aster (Aster       one square kilometre; by its first millennium it
                                                                                                                          2
                                          tripolium), salt-marsh rush (Juncus gerardii) and        was approximately 50 km , and today, approaching
                                                                                                                                                  2
                                          creeping bent (Agrostis stolonifera), with purple        its second millennium, the island covers 195 km .
                                          loosestrife and the seashore subspecies of com-          The Hailuoto landscape is characterised by vast
A long history of hu-                     mon valerian (Valeriana sambucifolia s. salina) fur-     lichen-rich pine heaths. Tar pines buried in sand
man activity has had its                  ther up. Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)            and bottle logs sticking out of drifts are interest-
impact, especially on the
state of the Gulf of Fin-                 is typical of many coastal stretches. Deciduous          ing local sights.
land and the Archipela-                   woods dominated by birch or aspen are common.              Our sea islands are usually divided into three
go Sea, but protection                    The Quark’s birdlife is characterised by black guil-     zones. The outer archipelago is dominated by
measures have succeed-
ed in restoring the en-                   lemots (Cepphus grylle), razorbills (Alca torda), arc-   water, and most islands lack trees. Moreover, the
dangered white-tailed                     tic terns (Sterna paradisea) and mew gulls (Larus        middle archipelago is a balancing act between
eagle (Haliaeetus albicil-                canus). Even the stately white-tailed eagle is no        land and water, with barren islands dotted
la) population: more than
200 young eagles hatch                    longer a rare sight in the area.                         between forested ones. The inner archipelago is
every year. Even the                         In about 2,000 years, the land uplift at the          dominated by land, with meandering waters in
crayfish (Astacus asta-                   Quark will have created a new land connection            the form of narrow straits and bays. Woodland

                                                                                                                                                                          TAPIO HEIKKILÄ
cus) is thriving, despite
the poor state of the sea                 between Finland and Sweden. In 3,000 years there         constitutes the most barren areas. Former sea
bottom in some places.                    will also be a land connection from mainland Fin-        bays are most often farmed clay soil.

                                                                                                                                                          PEKKA TURUNEN
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