The land upplift
The Kvarken archipelago is young. The first reefs emerged from the sea about 2000 years ago and people started to settle in the area a thousand years later. The land area of the Kvarken archipelago grows by 1 km2/year. The land uplift makes boat channels continuously more shallow so they have to be re-situated, a phenomenon which applies also to harbours and boat-houses. Evidence of the last ice age and the consequences of the land uplift on life in the archipelago are features readily to be seen in the surroundings.