Suomenselkä

The Suomenselkä is a series of terminal moraines in western Finland that is one of the main watersheds in the country.

It begins at Sideby south of Kristinestad and continues inland for hundreds of kilometers parallel to the coastline of Ostrobothnia to Oulujärvi in the north. It limits the Finnish Lake District and thus the catchment area of ​​the Vuoksi and Kymijoki rivers to the west; the rivers on its eastern slope drain into the Gulf of Bothnia . Unlike the Salpausselkä , the other major watershed in the country, the Suomenselkä does not form a distinctive range of mountains, but rather presents itself as an extensive hilly landscape, some of which is dozen of kilometers wide. The Suomenselkä is therefore also understood as a large landscape.

Suomenselkä is one of the most sparsely populated areas in Finland. The harsh climatic conditions and extensive moorland have always made intensive land use impossible. Today the area is home to some of the most pristine forests in Finland, home to rare species such as wood reindeer .