Baltic Sea Facts for Kids

Map of the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sea is a sea in northern Europe between Scandinavia, Finland, Russia, the Baltic countries, Poland, and Germany.

Many big rivers in the surrounding countries drain into the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is connected to the ocean through the narrow and shallow Danish straits and belts. For this reason, the water has a low amount of salt, so the northern parts of the sea freeze over in the winter. The ice can carry cars, and roads are established every winter between the islands in the archipelagos between Sweden and Finland.

For several thousand years, the Baltic Sea has connected the countries at her shores. For that reason there are many cultural similarities in these countries. Since all of these countries are European, this sea is also considered European.

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Danish Straits and southwestern Baltic Sea
Åland between Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia
Cape Arkona on the island of Rügen in Germany, was a sacred site of the Rani tribe before Christianization.
Main trading routes of the Hanseatic League (Hanse).
In 1649 the settlement of the Latvian-speaking Kursenieki spanned from Klaipėda to Gdańsk along the coast of the Baltic Sea.
The naval Battle of the Sound took place on 8 November 1658 during the Dano-Swedish War.
The burning Cap Arcona shortly after the attacks, 3 May 1945. Only 350 survived of the 4,500 prisoners who had been aboard
Curonian Spit in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia
Regions and basins of the Baltic Sea: 1 = Bothnian Bay 2 = Bothnian Sea 1 + 2 = Gulf of Bothnia, partly also 3 & 4 3 = Archipelago Sea 4 = Åland Sea 5 = Gulf of Finland 6 = Northern Baltic Proper 7 = Western Gotland Basin 8 = Eastern Gotland Basin 9 = Gulf of Riga 10 = Bay of Gdańsk/Gdansk Basin 11 = Bornholm Basin and Hanö Bight 12 = Arkona Basin 6–12 = Baltic Proper 13 = Kattegat, not an integral part of the Baltic Sea 14 = Belt Sea (Little Belt and Great Belt) 15 = Öresund (The Sound) 14 + 15 = Danish Straits, not an integral part of the Baltic Sea
Satellite image of the Baltic Sea in a mild winter
Traversing Baltic Sea and ice
On particularly cold winters, the coastal parts of the Baltic Sea freeze into ice thick enough to walk or ski on.
Piles of drift ice on the shore of Puhtulaid, near Virtsu, Estonia, in late April
Depths of the Baltic Sea in meters
Baltic Sea near Klaipėda (Karklė).
Skerries form an integral and typical part of many of the archipelagos of the Baltic Sea, such as these in the archipelago of Åland, Finland.
Stockholm archipelago
Aerial view of Bornholm, Denmark
Vasilyevsky Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Stockholm in Sweden
Riga in Latvia
Helsinki in Finland
Gdańsk in Poland
Tallinn in Estonia
Satellite photo of the Baltic Sea surrounding Gotland, Sweden, with algae bloom (phytoplankton) swirling in the water
Pedestrian pier in Sellin, Germany
Svetlogorsk resort town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia
Mrzeżyno beach in Poland

Baltic Sea facts for kids

Images for kids

See also