Saaret

Saaret is the Finnish term for islands. In Finnish, saari refers to a landmass surrounded by water, and saaret is the plural form meaning “the islands.” The word is used across geographic descriptions, navigation, and local names to denote landmasses separated from the mainland by a sea or lake.

Geography and major concentrations. Finland has thousands of islands along its Baltic Sea coast and in its large lakes. The Archipelago Sea, a subregion of the Baltic Sea between Turku and the Åland Islands, contains around 20,000 islands and islets, making it one of the world’s most extensive island systems by landforms. The Turku Archipelago is the largest continuous group within the Archipelago Sea. The Åland Islands, situated between Finland and Sweden, comprise roughly 6,700 islands, of which around 60 are inhabited; Åland is an autonomous, demilitarized region with Swedish as the official language. Near the capital, Helsinki, is the Helsinki archipelago, consisting of hundreds of islands, while the Gulf of Bothnia along the northern coast features numerous smaller islands.

Ecology, access, and economy. Islands range from sizeable inhabited communities to isolated rocky islets. They host boreal forests, coastal meadows, and important bird habitats, with many areas protected as nature reserves or parks. The archipelago landscapes have been shaped by glacial history and ongoing post-glacial rebound. Human activity includes fishing, tourism, summer housing, and transportation networks such as ferries and bridges that connect island communities.

In Finnish geography, saaret symbolize a distinctive coastal and aquatic landscape that influences culture, economy, and daily life.