77-507: The Narva , formerly also Narwa or Narova , flows 77 kilometres (48 mi) north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge . A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer intermediate lake, Lake Peipus , all together nowadays form the international border between Estonia and Russia . The river gives its name to the archaeological ( Neolithic ) Narva culture , as well as
154-695: A Russian group of scientists found over five thousand airplane wrecks, sunken warships, and other material, mainly from World War II, on the bottom of the sea. Since the end of World War II , various nations, including the Soviet Union , the United Kingdom and the United States have disposed of chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea, raising concerns of environmental contamination. Today, fishermen occasionally find some of these materials:
231-577: A limit to Øresund and Darss Sill (depth of 18 m (59 ft)), and a limit to the Belt Sea. The shallow sills are obstacles to the flow of heavy salt water from the Kattegat into the basins around Bornholm and Gotland . The Kattegat and the southwestern Baltic Sea are well oxygenated and have a rich biology. The remainder of the Sea is brackish, poor in oxygen, and in species. Thus, statistically,
308-657: A substantial part of the Baltic Sea. After 1945, the German population was expelled from all areas east of the Oder-Neisse line , making room for new Polish and Russian settlement. Poland gained most of the southern shore . The Soviet Union gained another access to the Baltic with the Kaliningrad Oblast , that had been part of German-settled East Prussia . The Baltic states on the eastern shore were annexed by
385-629: A trade empire all around the Baltic. Later, the Norse fought for control of the Baltic against Wendish tribes dwelling on the southern shore. The Norse also used the rivers of Russia for trade routes, finding their way eventually to the Black Sea and southern Russia. This Norse-dominated period is referred to as the Viking Age . Since the Viking Age , the Scandinavians have referred to
462-815: Is a shelf sea and marginal sea of the Atlantic with limited water exchange between the two, making it an inland sea . The Baltic Sea drains through the Danish straits into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund , Great Belt and Little Belt . It includes the Gulf of Bothnia (divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea ), the Gulf of Finland , the Gulf of Riga and the Bay of Gdańsk . The " Baltic Proper "
539-421: Is about 349,644 km (134,998 sq mi) and the volume is about 20,000 km (4,800 cu mi). The periphery amounts to about 8,000 km (5,000 mi) of coastline. The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish inland seas by area, and occupies a basin (a Zungenbecken ) formed by glacial erosion during the last few ice ages . The International Hydrographic Organization defines
616-413: Is adapted to reproducing also with no ice in the sea. The sea ice also harbors several species of algae that live in the bottom and inside unfrozen brine pockets in the ice. Due to the often fluctuating winter temperatures between above and below freezing, the saltwater ice of the Baltic Sea can be treacherous and hazardous to walk on, in particular in comparison to the more stable fresh water-ice sheets in
693-752: Is bordered on its northern edge, at latitude 60°N, by Åland and the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga, and in the west by the Swedish part of the southern Scandinavian Peninsula. The Baltic Sea is connected by artificial waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea–Baltic Canal and to the German Bight of the North Sea via
770-645: Is crossed only by a handful of bridges between Narva and Ivangorod. Besides the dam of the Narva Reservoir, these are, in downstream order: Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark , Estonia , Finland , Germany , Latvia , Lithuania , Poland , Russia , Sweden , and the North and Central European Plain . The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 10°E to 30°E longitude. It
847-412: Is described as having had four gates: the " Viru gate" in the west, the "Herd gate" in the north, the "Old gate" leading to the river port in the east, and the "Water gate" (or "Small gate") in the south. The gates were covered with iron plates and preceded by drawbridges. The town wall, with a length of roughly a kilometer, was fortified with at least seven towers, and was surrounded by a moat. Towards
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#1732772698315924-523: Is difficult, being in the border zone and most of the west bank is private, closed industrial land belonging to Krenholm Manufacturing Company . The Narva was used as a trade route during the Viking Age , from the 5th to 11th centuries. It was an offshoot of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks . The Narva has for centuries been an important border river. Beginning in the 13th century it
1001-460: Is likely to be a misspelling. In addition to fish the sea also provides amber , especially from its southern shores within today's borders of Poland , Russia and Lithuania . First mentions of amber deposits on the South Coast of the Baltic Sea date back to the 12th century. The bordering countries have also traditionally exported lumber, wood tar , flax , hemp and furs by ship across
1078-421: Is part of the entrance, but the Bay of Mecklenburg and the Bay of Kiel are parts of the Baltic Sea. Another usual border is the line between Falsterbo , Sweden, and Stevns Klint , Denmark, as this is the southern border of Øresund. It is also the border between the shallow southern Øresund (with a typical depth of 5–10 meters only) and notably deeper water. Drogden Sill (depth of 7 m (23 ft)) sets
1155-471: Is that, while derived from the aforementioned root, the name of the sea is related to names for various forms of water and related substances in several European languages, that might have been originally associated with colors found in swamps (compare Proto-Slavic *bolto "swamp"). Yet another explanation is that the name originally meant "enclosed sea, bay" as opposed to open sea. In the Middle Ages
1232-654: The Archipelago Sea southwest of Finland. The remainder of the Baltic does not freeze during a normal winter, except sheltered bays and shallow lagoons such as the Curonian Lagoon . The ice reaches its maximum extent in February or March; typical ice thickness in the northernmost areas in the Bothnian Bay , the northern basin of the Gulf of Bothnia, is about 70 cm (28 in) for landfast sea ice. The thickness decreases farther south. Freezing begins in
1309-603: The Dutch dominated the Baltic trade in the seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century, Russia and Prussia became the leading powers over the sea. Sweden's defeat in the Great Northern War brought Russia to the eastern coast. Russia became and remained a dominating power in the Baltic. Russia's Peter the Great saw the strategic importance of the Baltic and decided to found his new capital, Saint Petersburg , at
1386-615: The Great Belt , the Little Belt and The Sound ( Öresund / Øresund ), connect the Baltic Sea with the Kattegat and Skagerrak strait in the North Sea . The water temperature of the Baltic Sea varies significantly depending on exact location, season and depth. At the Bornholm Basin, which is located directly east of the island of the same name, the surface temperature typically falls to 0–5 °C (32–41 °F) during
1463-827: The Kiel Canal . The Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area includes the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat , without calling Kattegat a part of the Baltic Sea, "For the purposes of this Convention the 'Baltic Sea Area' shall be the Baltic Sea and the Entrance to the Baltic Sea, bounded by the parallel of the Skaw in the Skagerrak at 57°44.43'N." Historically,
1540-486: The Kingdom of Denmark collected Sound Dues from ships at the border between the ocean and the land-locked Baltic Sea, in tandem: in the Øresund at Kronborg castle near Helsingør ; in the Great Belt at Nyborg ; and in the Little Belt at its narrowest part then Fredericia , after that stronghold was built. The narrowest part of Little Belt is the "Middelfart Sund" near Middelfart . Geographers widely agree that
1617-725: The Latvian capital city of Riga and the Estonian island of Saaremaa . The Northern Baltic Sea lies between the Stockholm area, southwestern Finland, and Estonia. The Western and Eastern Gotland basins form the major parts of the Central Baltic Sea or Baltic proper. The Bornholm Basin is the area east of Bornholm, and the shallower Arkona Basin extends from Bornholm to the Danish isles of Falster and Zealand . In
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#17327726983151694-564: The Neva River). The etymology of the toponym Narva is not clear. According to one hypothesis it is related to the Finnic word narva which, for example, in Veps means 'waterfall' or 'stream'. The Narva River has its source at the northeastern end of Lake Peipus , near the villages of Vasknarva (Estonia) and Skyamya (Russia). There are a few more small villages on the upper section of
1771-540: The North Atlantic Ocean , the Baltic Sea is enclosed by Sweden and Denmark to the west, Finland to the northeast, and the Baltic countries to the southeast. It is about 1,600 km (990 mi) long, an average of 193 km (120 mi) wide, and an average of 55 metres (180 ft) deep. The maximum depth is 459 m (1,506 ft) which is on the Swedish side of the center. The surface area
1848-644: The Victual Brothers held Gotland . Starting in the 11th century, the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic were settled by migrants mainly from Germany , a movement called the Ostsiedlung ("east settling"). Other settlers were from the Netherlands , Denmark , and Scotland . The Polabian Slavs were gradually assimilated by the Germans. Denmark gradually gained control over most of
1925-516: The shipworm . Storm surge floods are generally taken to occur when the water level is more than one metre above normal. In Warnemünde about 110 floods occurred from 1950 to 2000, an average of just over two per year. Historic flood events were the All Saints' Flood of 1304 and other floods in the years 1320, 1449, 1625, 1694, 1784 and 1825. Little is known of their extent. From 1872, there exist regular and reliable records of water levels in
2002-479: The Åland War . They bombarded Sveaborg , which guards Helsinki ; and Kronstadt , which guards Saint Petersburg; and they destroyed Bomarsund in Åland . After the unification of Germany in 1871, the whole southern coast became German. World War I was partly fought in the Baltic Sea. After 1920 Poland was granted access to the Baltic Sea at the expense of Germany by the Polish Corridor and enlarged
2079-521: The 13th century, established a border stronghold, initially built of wood, at the intersection of the Narva river and an old road in the mid-13th century. Under the protection of the stronghold, which is first mentioned in writing in 1256, the earlier settlement developed into the town of Narva , which obtained the Lübeck town rights in the first half of the 14th century. Following several conflicts with
2156-559: The Baltic Sea almost entirely surrounded by the alliance's members, leading some commentators to label the sea a ″NATO lake″. Such an arrangement has also existed for the European Union (EU) since May 2004 following the accession of the Baltic states and Poland. The remaining non-NATO and non-EU shore areas are Russian: the Saint Petersburg area and the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave . Winter storms begin arriving in
2233-656: The Baltic Sea as Austmarr ("Eastern Sea"). "Eastern Sea", appears in the Heimskringla and Eystra salt appears in Sörla þáttr . Saxo Grammaticus recorded in Gesta Danorum an older name, Gandvik , -vik being Old Norse for "bay", which implies that the Vikings correctly regarded it as an inlet of the sea. Another form of the name, "Grandvik", attested in at least one English translation of Gesta Danorum ,
2310-517: The Baltic Sea"). Eventually, it was Sweden that virtually encompassed the Baltic Sea . In Sweden, the sea was then referred to as Mare Nostrum Balticum ("Our Baltic Sea"). The goal of Swedish warfare during the 17th century was to make the Baltic Sea an all-Swedish sea ( Ett Svenskt innanhav ), something that was accomplished except the part between Riga in Latvia and Stettin in Pomerania. However,
2387-687: The Baltic Sea. The highest was the flood of 1872 when the water was an average of 2.43 m (8 ft 0 in) above sea level at Warnemünde and a maximum of 2.83 m (9 ft 3 in) above sea level in Warnemünde. In the last very heavy floods the average water levels reached 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) above sea level in 1904, 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) in 1913, 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) in January 1954, 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) on 2–4 November 1995 and 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) on 21 February 2002. An arm of
Narva (river) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2464-571: The Baltic coast, until she lost much of her possessions after being defeated in the 1227 Battle of Bornhöved . In the 13th to 16th centuries, the strongest economic force in Northern Europe was the Hanseatic League , a federation of merchant cities around the Baltic Sea and the North Sea . In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Poland , Denmark , and Sweden fought wars for Dominium maris baltici ("Lordship over
2541-584: The Baltic. Sweden had from early medieval times exported iron and silver mined there, while Poland had and still has extensive salt mines. Thus, the Baltic Sea has long been crossed by much merchant shipping. The lands on the Baltic's eastern shore were among the last in Europe to be converted to Christianity . This finally happened during the Northern Crusades : Finland in the twelfth century by Swedes, and what are now Estonia and Latvia in
2618-575: The Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea were frozen with solid ice near the Baltic coast and dense floating ice far from it. In 2008, almost no ice formed except for a short period in March. During winter, fast ice , which is attached to the shoreline, develops first, rendering ports unusable without the services of icebreakers . Level ice , ice sludge , pancake ice , and rafter ice form in
2695-684: The Elder . Pliny mentions an island named Baltia (or Balcia ) with reference to accounts of Pytheas and Xenophon . It is possible that Pliny refers to an island named Basilia ("the royal") in On the Ocean by Pytheas. Baltia also might be derived from "belt", and therein mean "near belt of sea, strait". Others have suggested that the name of the island originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰel meaning "white, fair", which may echo
2772-595: The Gulf of Bothnia normally thaw in late April, with some ice ridges persisting until May in the eastern extremities of the Gulf of Finland. In the northernmost reaches of the Bothnian Bay, ice usually stays until late May; by early June it is practically always gone. However, in the famine year of 1867 remnants of ice were observed as late as 17 July near Uddskär . Even as far south as Øresund , remnants of ice have been observed in May on several occasions; near Taarbaek on 15 May 1942 and near Copenhagen on 11 May 1771. Drift ice
2849-465: The Gulf of Riga. This description meant that the whole of the Baltic Sea was covered with ice. Since 1720, the Baltic Sea has frozen over entirely 20 times, most recently in early 1987, which was the most severe winter in Scandinavia since 1720. The ice then covered 400,000 km (150,000 sq mi). During the winter of 2010–11, which was quite severe compared to those of the last decades,
2926-735: The Mare Suebicum, named for the Suebi tribe, during the spring months, as a brackish sea where the ice broke apart and chunks floated about. The Suebi eventually migrated southwest to temporarily reside in the Rhineland area of modern Germany, where their name survives in the historic region known as Swabia . Jordanes called it the Germanic Sea in his work, the Getica . In the early Middle Ages , Norse (Scandinavian) merchants built
3003-733: The Soviet Union. The Baltic then separated opposing military blocs: NATO and the Warsaw Pact . Neutral Sweden developed incident weapons to defend its territorial waters after the Swedish submarine incidents . This border status restricted trade and travel. It ended only after the collapse of the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s. Finland and Sweden joined NATO in 2023 and 2024, respectively, making
3080-413: The city limits of Narva . Between the southeast part of the city of Narva and the rest, facing the Russian city of Ivangorod, the river flows over the Baltic Klint , forming Narva Falls , at times, as it historically was, the most powerful in Europe. Before the water reaches the falls it is split into two branches by the Kreenholm island, thus the falls consist of two branches. Kreenholm Falls, west of
3157-416: The city of Narva , in northeastern Estonia . The castle was established around 1256, when the area was part of the Danish Realm . The first entirely stone fortifications were built in the beginning of the 14th century. The Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order purchased the castle in August 1346, and owned it for much of its later history. The Kingdom of Denmark , having conquered northern Estonia in
Narva (river) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3234-413: The city of Narva . Narva is the third most populous urban area in Estonia, and nowadays faces the Russian town of Ivangorod right across the border over the river. At the coast the river passes part of the resort of Narva-Jõesuu . Its mouth opens into WNW -facing Narva Bay of the Gulf of Finland . Narva gives the second-greatest discharge into the Gulf of Finland (the greatest discharge comes from
3311-402: The climates transition from moderate continental to subarctic on the northernmost coastlines. On the long-term average, the Baltic Sea is ice-covered at the annual maximum for about 45% of its surface area. The ice-covered area during such a typical winter includes the Gulf of Bothnia , the Gulf of Finland , the Gulf of Riga , the archipelago west of Estonia, the Stockholm archipelago , and
3388-436: The early thirteenth century by Danes and Germans ( Livonian Brothers of the Sword ). The Teutonic Order gained control over parts of the southern and eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, where they set up their monastic state . Lithuania was the last European state to convert to Christianity . In the period between the 8th and 14th centuries, there was much piracy in the Baltic from the coasts of Pomerania and Prussia , and
3465-428: The establishment of the Republic of Estonia in 1918, the Narva was the border of Governorate of Estonia and Saint Petersburg Governorate , with the exception of the town of Narva, which was part of the latter. By the Treaty of Tartu , signed in 1920, the Estonian– Russian border went slightly east of the river, up to 10 kilometres (6 mi), and, in particular, the town of Ivangorod was assigned to Estonia. In 1944
3542-433: The former Estonian territory east of the river was transferred to Russian SFSR and the Narva was thus established as the eastern border of Estonian SSR , an internal border within USSR . In 1991 the same border became the de facto border of Estonia and Russia. Although no official border treaty has been ratified since then, today the Narva is the eastern border of the European Union and Schengen Zone . The Narva River
3619-500: The geographical location of the sea (in Germanic languages), or its size in relation to smaller gulfs (in Old Latvian), or tribes associated with it (in Old Russian the sea was known as the Varanghian Sea). In modern languages, it is known by the equivalents of "East Sea", "West Sea", or "Baltic Sea" in different languages: At the time of the Roman Empire , the Baltic Sea was known as the Mare Suebicum or Mare Sarmaticum . Tacitus in his AD 98 Agricola and Germania described
3696-431: The ice further into the north, and much of the waters north of Gotland were again free of ice, which had then packed against the shores of southern Finland. The effects of the afore-mentioned high-pressure area did not reach the southern parts of the Baltic Sea, and thus the entire sea did not freeze over. However, floating ice was additionally observed near Świnoujście harbor in January 2010. In recent years before 2011,
3773-443: The interior lakes. The Baltic Sea flows out through the Danish straits ; however, the flow is complex. A surface layer of brackish water discharges 940 km (230 cu mi) per year into the North Sea . Due to the difference in salinity , by salinity permeation principle, a sub-surface layer of more saline water moving in the opposite direction brings in 475 km (114 cu mi) per year. It mixes very slowly with
3850-430: The island, is 60 metres (200 ft) wide and 6.5 metres (21 ft) high with multiple terraces. Joala Falls, to the east, is 110 metres (360 ft) wide and makes the same descent. The international border follows the latter. Since the creation of Narva Reservoir, an anabranch, in 1955, the falls are usually near-dry, but water is allowed to flow in them for a few days each year. When in flow non-flying viewing access
3927-419: The limits of the Baltic Sea as follows: The northern part of the Baltic Sea is known as the Gulf of Bothnia , of which the northernmost part is the Bay of Bothnia or Bothnian Bay . The more rounded southern basin of the gulf is called Bothnian Sea and immediately to the south of it lies the Sea of Åland . The Gulf of Finland connects the Baltic Sea with Saint Petersburg . The Gulf of Riga lies between
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#17327726983154004-404: The main reasons behind this. Treaties from the 15th century between the Livonian Order and Novgorod Republic, later Tsardom of Russia , also recognize the Narva as the border. In the 17th century during the time of Swedish Estonia , when Ingria was also part of Sweden, the importance of the river as a border diminished. During the Russian Empire , from the end of the Great Northern War until
4081-546: The maximum ice cover was 315,000 km (122,000 sq mi), which was reached on 25 February 2011. The ice then extended from the north down to the northern tip of Gotland , with small ice-free areas on either side, and the east coast of the Baltic Sea was covered by an ice sheet about 25 to 100 km (16 to 62 mi) wide all the way to Gdańsk . This was brought about by a stagnant high-pressure area that lingered over central and northern Scandinavia from around 10 to 24 February. After this, strong southern winds pushed
4158-431: The more of the entrance that is included in its definition, the healthier the Baltic appears; conversely, the more narrowly it is defined, the more endangered its biology appears. Tacitus called it the Suebic Sea, Latin: Mare Suebicum after the Germanic people of the Suebi , and Ptolemy Sarmatian Ocean after the Sarmatians , but the first to name it the Baltic Sea ( Medieval Latin : Mare Balticum )
4235-411: The more open regions. The gleaming expanse of ice is similar to the Arctic , with wind-driven pack ice and ridges up to 15 m (49 ft). Offshore of the landfast ice, the ice remains very dynamic all year, and it is relatively easily moved around by winds and therefore forms pack ice , made up of large piles and ridges pushed against the landfast ice and shores. In spring, the Gulf of Finland and
4312-438: The most part preserved the original ground plan, with its massive wings and a courtyard in the middle. The Hermann Tower was also completed by the Livonian Order, necessitated by the establishment of the Ivangorod fortress by Muscovite Russia on the opposite side of the Narva river in 1492. The Order surrounded the town with a fortified wall, which has not been preserved (it was ordered to be demolished in 1777). The wall
4389-494: The most recent available report from the Helsinki Commission notes that four small scale catches of chemical munitions representing approximately 105 kg (231 lb) of material were reported in 2005. This is a reduction from the 25 incidents representing 1,110 kg (2,450 lb) of material in 2003. Until now, the U.S. Government refuses to disclose the exact coordinates of the wreck sites. Deteriorating bottles leak mustard gas and other substances, thus slowly poisoning
4466-411: The mouth of the Neva river at the east end of the Gulf of Finland . There was much trading not just within the Baltic region but also with the North Sea region, especially eastern England and the Netherlands : their fleets needed the Baltic timber, tar, flax, and hemp. During the Crimean War , a joint British and French fleet attacked the Russian fortresses in the Baltic; the case is also known as
4543-401: The naming of seas after colours relating to the cardinal points (as per Black Sea and Red Sea ). This '*bʰel' root and basic meaning were retained in Lithuanian (as baltas ), Latvian (as balts ) and Slavic (as bely ). On this basis, a related hypothesis holds that the name originated from this Indo-European root via a Baltic language such as Lithuanian. Another explanation
4620-407: The neighbouring East Slavic states of Novgorod and Pskov , the Danish rulers started building a stone stronghold at the beginning of the 14th century as a border defense. It was initially a small castellum -like building with 40-meter-tall (130 ft) sides and a tower, the predecessor of today's Hermann Tower , at its northwestern corner. At the beginning of the 14th century, a small forecourt
4697-413: The northern extremities of the Gulf of Bothnia typically in the middle of November, reaching the open waters of the Bothnian Bay in early January. The Bothnian Sea , the basin south of Kvarken , freezes on average in late February. The Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga freeze typically in late January. In 2011, the Gulf of Finland was completely frozen on 15 February. The ice extent depends on whether
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#17327726983154774-415: The peak of the winter and rises to 15–20 °C (59–68 °F) during the peak of the summer, with an annual average of around 9–10 °C (48–50 °F). A similar pattern can be seen in the Gotland Basin , which is located between the island of Gotland and Latvia. In the deep of these basins the temperature variations are smaller. At the bottom of the Bornholm Basin, deeper than 80 m (260 ft),
4851-481: The port of Gdynia in rivalry with the port of the Free City of Danzig . After the Nazis' rise to power, Germany reclaimed the Memelland and after the outbreak of the Eastern Front (World War II) occupied the Baltic states. In 1945, the Baltic Sea became a mass grave for retreating soldiers and refugees on torpedoed troop transports . The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff remains the worst maritime disaster in history, killing (very roughly) 9,000 people. In 2005,
4928-402: The preferred physical border between the Baltic and North Seas is the Langelandsbælt (the southern part of the Great Belt strait near Langeland ) and the Drogden -Sill strait. The Drogden Sill is situated north of Køge Bugt and connects Dragør in the south of Copenhagen to Malmö ; it is used by the Øresund Bridge , including the Drogden Tunnel . By this definition, the Danish straits
5005-414: The region during October. These have caused numerous shipwrecks , and contributed to the extreme difficulties of rescuing passengers of the ferry M/S Estonia en route from Tallinn , Estonia, to Stockholm , Sweden, in September 1994, which claimed the lives of 852 people. Older, wood-based shipwrecks such as the Vasa tend to remain well-preserved, as the Baltic's cold and brackish water does not suit
5082-409: The river after Narva and Ivangorod. The Plyussa is the largest tributary, joining the Narva River at the reservoir from the right. The large Lake Peipus notably drains the much longer Russian river, the Velikaya , and a large, splayed drainage basin in the two countries. Kreenholm ( German : Krähnholm for crow islet ) is a river island in Estonia , located in the Narva River , within
5159-420: The river, Permisküla and Kuningaküla on the Estonian side and Omuti on the Russian side, but up to the city of Narva the shores of the river are mostly forested or marshy land. The river is dammed entering Narva and Ivangorod, forming the Narva Reservoir , which extends up to 38 kilometres (24 mi) upstream. The Narva empties into Narva Bay near the Estonian town of Narva-Jõesuu , third largest settlement on
5236-418: The sea was known by a variety of names. The name Baltic Sea became dominant after 1600. Usage of Baltic and similar terms to denote the region east of the sea started only in the 19th century. The Baltic Sea was known in ancient Latin language sources as Mare Suebicum or even Mare Germanicum . Older native names in languages that used to be spoken on the shores of the sea or near it usually indicate
5313-416: The source of the Germanic word, Latin balteus "belt". Adam of Bremen himself compared the sea with a belt, stating that it is so named because it stretches through the land as a belt ( Balticus, eo quod in modum baltei longo tractu per Scithicas regiones tendatur usque in Greciam ). He might also have been influenced by the name of a legendary island mentioned in the Natural History of Pliny
5390-416: The south, the Bay of Gdańsk lies east of the Hel Peninsula on the Polish coast and west of the Sambia Peninsula in Kaliningrad Oblast . The Bay of Pomerania lies north of the islands of Usedom/Uznam and Wolin , east of Rügen . Between Falster and the German coast lie the Bay of Mecklenburg and Bay of Lübeck . The westernmost part of the Baltic Sea is the Bay of Kiel . The three Danish straits ,
5467-421: The temperature typically is 1–10 °C (34–50 °F), and at the bottom of the Gotland Basin, at depths greater than 225 m (738 ft), the temperature typically is 4–7 °C (39–45 °F). Generally, offshore locations, lower latitudes and islands maintain maritime climates , but adjacent to the water continental climates are common, especially on the Gulf of Finland . In the northern tributaries
5544-403: The upper waters, resulting in a salinity gradient from top to bottom, with most of the saltwater remaining below 40 to 70 m (130 to 230 ft) deep. The general circulation is anti-clockwise: northwards along its eastern boundary, and south along with the western one . Hermann Castle Hermann Castle , also known as the Narva castle or Narva fortress , is a medieval castle in
5621-437: The winter is mild, moderate, or severe. In severe winters ice can form around southern Sweden and even in the Danish straits . According to the 18th-century natural historian William Derham , during the severe winters of 1703 and 1708, the ice cover reached as far as the Danish straits. Frequently, parts of the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland are frozen, in addition to coastal fringes in more southerly locations such as
5698-414: Was also observed on 11 May 1799. The ice cover is the main habitat for two large mammals, the grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus ) and the Baltic ringed seal ( Pusa hispida botnica ), both of which feed underneath the ice and breed on its surface. Of these two seals, only the Baltic ringed seal suffers when there is not adequate ice in the Baltic Sea, as it feeds its young only while on ice. The grey seal
5775-522: Was established at the north side of the stronghold and, in the middle of the century, a large forecourt was added to the west side, where citizens were allowed to hide in case of war, as the town of Narva was not surrounded by a wall during Danish rule. In 1346, King Valdemar IV of Denmark sold northern Estonia, including Narva, to the Livonian Order , who rebuilt the building into a convent building according to their needs. The stronghold has for
5852-490: Was the border of Medieval Livonia and the Novgorod Republic . Though in earlier periods Narva was part of a larger buffer zone between the two territories, gradually the river emerged as the exact border. Castles built on the river banks (Narva Hermann Castle , founded at the beginning of the 14th century, Ivangorod fortress , established in 1492 and Vasknarva Castle, first built in the 14th century) were one of
5929-515: Was the eleventh-century German chronicler Adam of Bremen . The origin of the latter name is speculative and it was adopted into Slavic and Finnic languages spoken around the sea, very likely due to the role of Medieval Latin in cartography . It might be connected to the Germanic word belt , a name used for two of the Danish straits, the Belts , while others claim it to be directly derived from
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