Залив Ботнический: История, География и Происхождение Названия

Northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea – between Sweden and Finland

The Gulf of Bothnia ('/b//ɒ//θ//n//i//ə/; ; Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast (East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast (West Bothnia and North Bothnia). In the south of the gulf lies Åland, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.

Bothnia is a latinization. The Swedish name Bottenviken was originally just Botn(en), with botn being Old Norse for "gulf" or "bay", which is also the meaning of the second element vik. The name botn was applied to the Gulf of Bothnia as Helsingjabotn in Old Norse, after Hälsingland, which at the time referred to the coastland west of the gulf. Later, botten was applied to the regions of Västerbotten on the western side and [[Ostrobothnia (region) on the eastern side ('West Bottom' and 'East Bottom'). The Finnish name of Österbotten, Pohjanmaa (maa, meaning 'land'), gives a hint as to the meaning in both languages: the meaning of pohja includes both 'bottom' and 'north'. Pohja is the base word for north, pohjoinen, with an adjectival suffix added. Botn/botten is cognate with the English word bottom, and it might be part of a general north European distinction of lowlands, as opposed to highlands, such as the Netherlandic region, Samogitia (Lithuanian), and Sambia (Russia). Julius Pokorny gives the extended Proto Indo European root as with a variant, from which the Latin fundus, as in fundament, is derived. The original meaning of English north, from Proto Indo European 'under', indicates an original sense of 'lowlands' for bottomlands. On the other hand, by north the classical authors usually meant 'outermost', as the northern lands were outermost to them. In Saami, the cardinal directions were named according to the different parts of the typical tent used by this nomadic people. The door of the tent was traditionally pointed south, in the most sunny direction, and the bottom of the tent would be aligned with the north. Thus the origin of the word pohja in its use as 'north'. According to Lönnrot, north was viewed as the bottom direction because the lowest point of the sun's path is there.

Geologically the Gulf of Bothnia is an ancient depression of tectonic origin. The depression is partly filled with sedimentary rock deposited in the Precambrian and Paleozoic. Nearby plains adjoining the gulf are part of the Sub Cambrian peneplain. While being repeatedly covered by glaciers during the last 2.5 million years glacial erosion has had a limited effect in changing the topography. It is estimated that within about 2,000 years, ongoing post glacial rebound will raise the seafloor in the Norra Kvarken area above water, splitting the Gulf of Bothnia into a southern gulf and northern lake.

The gulf was not known by ancient and medieval geographers and as late as in 1427 not indicated by the Danish cartographer Claudius Clavus, not even in the map of Hartmann Schedel, printed in 1493. The first map, in which the gulf has been delineated, although without name, is that of Nicolaus Germanus from the year 1482.

The land surrounding the Gulf of Bothnia is heavily forested. Trees are logged, then transported to the coast for milling. The gulf is also important for oil transport to the coastal cities and ore transport to steel mills, for instance in Raahe. In terms of tonnage in international traffic, the largest ports on the Finnish side are Rauma, Kokkola and Tornio. The main ports of the Swedish side are in Luleå, Skellefteå, Umeå, Sundsvall, Gävle and Hargshamn. In Luleå, iron ore pellets are exported and coal is imported. Gävle is Sweden's third largest container port. It also ships forest products and oil. In port operations in the Gulf of Bothnia, icebreaker assistance can be required for an ice season that averages as long as six months; whereas in the Gulf of Finland, the icebreaking season averages only three months. There is some fishery, mainly Baltic herring, for domestic needs. A persistent problem has been pollution, because the sea is enclosed by a large drainage basin and is poorly connected to fresher waters from the Atlantic. Mercury and PCB levels have been relatively high, although the Finnish Food Safety Authority considers the herring edible. Although the levels exceed the limits, the fatty acids have health benefits that offset this risk.