Utö (Finland)
| Utö (Finland) | ||
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| Waters | Baltic Sea | |
| Geographical location | 59 ° 47 ' N , 21 ° 22' E | |
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| surface | 0.81 km² | |
| Residents | 40 | |
Utö [ ˈʉːtøː ] is an island on the edge of the archipelago off the coast of Finland . It belongs administratively to the city of Pargas (until 2008 to Korpo ) and is 40 km south of the main island of Korpo and 90 km west of Hanko . Utö has been settled since 1540. Today the island is inhabited by around 40 people all year round. It is the southernmost settlement in Finland.
There is a Finnish army base on Utö. Military service workers were trained on the island until 2005, today it only functions as a guard post. The Utö lighthouse is the oldest operating lighthouse in Finland. It goes back to a building from 1814.
The sinking of the Baltic Sea ferry Estonia in 1994, with 852 fatalities, the worst shipping accident in European post-war history to date, occurred 35 km southeast of Utö. The rescue work of the Finnish Navy was coordinated from the island.
The lighthouse of Utö
Web links
- Website of Utö (swed./finn./engl.)