The Republic of Finland (Suomi in Finnish) is a country of northern Europe with coastlines facing south on the Gulf of Finland (Suomenlahti) and west on the Gulf of Bothnia (Pohjanlahti), both arms of the Baltic Sea. Finland also administers the Åland Islands (Ahvenanmaa), an archipelago at the junction of the two gulfs. After centuries of rule by Sweden, Finland was conquered by Russia in 1809 and became an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire. The country declared its independence from Russia at the start of the Russian Revolution in 1917. It lost some of its eastern territory to Russia as a result of World War II but has retained its independence. Finland is divided into nineteen regions (maakunta) and the regions are divided into municipalities. This page includes the lighthouses of the Lappi (Lapland) Region at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia, locally called the Bothnian Bay (Perämeri in Finnish, Bottenviken in Swedish). It is shallow, with numerous shoals and islands, creating a need for many navigational aids. The Finnish word for a lighthouse is majakka (plural majakat). Saari is an island, luoto is an islet or skerry, niemi is a cape or headland, niemimaa is a peninsula, lahti is a bay, salmi is a strait, joki is a river, and satama is a port or harbor. Swedish is a second official language in Finland, and some of the lighthouses are commonly known by their Swedish names. Lighthouses in Finland are maintained by the Waterways Section of the Finnish Transport Agency (Liikennevirasto). Special thanks to Teemu Vehkaoja for photos and information on lighthouses of this area. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. SU numbers are from the official Finnish light list. Admiralty numbers are from volume C of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 116.
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: South: North Ostrobothnia | West: Sweden: North Bothnia
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Posted October 8, 2007. Checked and revised December 14, 2024. Lighthouses: 14. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.