Holmöarna

Holmöarna is an island group in the Kvarken narrows of the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland, part of Umea Municipality in Vasterbotten County, made up of five principal islands, Holmön, Ängesön, Grossgrunden, Holmögadd and the paired Fjäderägg, home to about 75 permanent residents. The islands owe their existence to post-glacial rebound, with the land rising roughly 8.5 millimeters a year, a process that has turned former underwater shoals and inlets into dry land and sealed off freshwater lakes; the highest point, Strandbjerget, reaches 25.83 meters above sea level at the northern end of Holmön. Since 1980 most of the archipelago has been protected as Sweden's largest island archipelago nature reserve and is recognized by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area for its forests, bogs and lakes.