Gulf of bothnia

The Gulf of Bothnia (Finnish: Pohjanlahti, Swedish: Bottniska viken) is a gulf located between western Finland and the eastern Sweden. Its surface area is 116,300 km², it is 725 km long, between 80 and 240 km wide and an average depth of 60 m, its maximum being 295 m. It is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. Its waters are shallow, quite cold, the northernmost part remaining frozen for five months a year, and low salinity, and various species of freshwater fish can even live in its waters.

The Gulf of Bothnia has its narrowest part in the area between the cities Umeå (Sweden) and Vaasa (Finland).

Etymology of the name

Botnia is a Latinization of the Old Norse expression botn, meaning "under". The name botn was applied to the gulf as Helsingjabotn in the Old Norse language, as opposed to Hälsingland, which was the name given to the coastal area west of the gulf. Later, botten was applied to the regions Västerbotten in the western part and Österbotten in the eastern part. Österbotten's Finnish name, Pohjanmaa, or "Pohja"-land, provides a clue to its meaning in both languages: pohja means "low" and "North" to the time.

Botn/botten is a word of the same origin as the English word «bottom», and can be part of a general way of referring to low land areas, as opposed to highlands, such as the Dutch region, Samogitia (Lithuania), and Sambia (Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia).

A second possibility is that botten has the meaning of an alternative Scandinavian way of referring to "the furthest away". Thus, the Gulf of Bothnia would be the furthest extension of the ocean.

Julius Pokorny states that the word derives from the Indo-European root «*bhudh-m(e)n» with the variant «*bhudh-no-», from which the Latin fundus derives, from which it derives, deep. The original meaning of the English word North (North), coming from the Indo-European term «*ner-», «below», suggests an original meaning of «low lands». Also, some classical authors used to give it the meaning of "the most external", since the lands of the North were the furthest away from them.

Finding out which meaning prevailed in the term is difficult to determine, especially given the extensive interaction, assimilation, and cultural exchange between European cultures. The question of whether Pohjanmaa translates as botten or vice versa is a question for history and archaeology, related to who first settled in the region.

Geology

The Gulf of Bothnia, together with the Baltic Sea, is part of what prehistorically, until the Pleistocene, formed the wide plain of the Eridanos river basin. This river was born in the Lapland region, flowed through what is today the Gulf of Bothnia, and emptied into the North Sea, forming a delta of immense proportions. From the Pleistocene there were several episodes of glacialism through which the area sank below sea level due to the weight of the ice. This happened about 700,000 years ago. From then on, the characteristics that determined what the current gulf is were made up of the weight of the ice sheet that sank the region and the subsequent isostatic adjustment.

Towns on the shores of the gulf

Some of the most important towns that have a coast in this gulf are:

• In Finland: Vaasa, Pori, Oulu and Kokkola.
• Sweden: Luleå, Umeå, Örnsköldsvik, Härnösand, Sundsvall, Gävle.

Gulf tributary rivers

The Gulf of Bothnia drains much of Sweden and Finland. The main rivers are, going from west to east, that is, from the extreme south-west, in Sweden, counterclockwise, the following:

• in Sweden:

• Dal river (Dalälven), on the coast of the province of Upsala, with a length of 541.7 km;
• river Ljusnan (Ljusnanälven), in the province of Gävleborg, with a length of 443,3 km;
• Ljungan River (Ljungan River)Ljunganälven), in Gävleborg, with a length of 399.3 km;
• Indals river (Indalsälven), in the province of Västernorrland, with a length of 430 km;
• Ångerman riverÅngermanälven), in Västernorrland, with a length of 463 km;
• River Ume (Ume River)Umeälven), in the province of Västerbotten, with a length of 460 km;
• Skellefte river (Skellefteälven), in Västerbotten, with a length of 410 km;
• Pite river (Piteälven), in the province of Norrbotten, with a length of 400 km;
• River Lule (Luleälven), in Norrbotten, with a length of 460.8 km;
• Kalix river (Kalixälven), in Norrbotten, with a length of 460.6 km;

• border Sweden-Finland:

• Torne RiverTorneälven), with a length of 570 km;

• in Finland:

• Kemi river, in the Finnish Lapland, with a length of 550 km, the longest river in Finland;
• Oulu (u Oulujoki)

Culinary specialty

The Swedish gulf in its southernmost part is famous for Kalix löjrom caviar, a culinary specialty with an EU Protected Geographical Indication. In the vicinity of the city of Kalix and the islands that surround it, the white whitefish spawns, which is the raw material for this caviar, whose unique flavor seems to be due to the low salinity of the gulf waters.

Economy

There is an important forest mass in the lands that surround the gulf, and there are several paper companies.