Bothnian Bay
The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (Swedish: Bottenviken, Finnish: Perämeri) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has been removed, and within 2,000 years the bay will be a large freshwater lake. The bay today is fed by several large rivers, and is relatively unaffected by tides, so has low salinity. It freezes each year for up to six months. Compared to other parts of the Baltic it has little plant or animal life.
Extent
The bay is divided from the Bothnian Sea, the southern part of the Gulf of Bothnia, by the Northern Quark (Kvarken) strait.
The Northern Quark has a greatest depth of 65 metres (213 ft), with two ridges that are just 25 metres (82 ft) deep. It lies between a group of islands off Vaasa in Finland and another group at Holmöarna in Sweden.
The bay is bounded by Finland to the east and Sweden to the west.
The bay is asymmetric, with a smoother and shallower bottom slope on the Finnish side, and a deeper bottom with a steeper and more rugged coast on the Swedish side.
