The Baltic

Baltic Sea
Map of the Baltic Sea region
Location	Europe
Coordinates	58°N 20°E / 58°N 20°E / 58; 20Coordinates: 58°N 20°E / 58°N 20°E / 58; 20 (slightly east of the north tip of Gotland Island)
Type	Sea
Primary inflows	Daugava, Kemijoki, Neman (Nemunas), Neva, Oder, Vistula, Lule, Narva, Torne
Primary outflows	The Danish Straits
Catchment area	1,641,650 km2 (633,840 sq mi)
Basin countries	Coastal: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden Non-coastal: Belarus, Czech Republic, Norway, Slovakia, Ukraine
Max. length	1,601 km (995 mi)
Max. width	193 km (120 mi)
Surface area	377,000 km2 (146,000 sq mi)
Average depth	55 m (180 ft)
Max. depth	459 m (1,506 ft)
Water volume	21,700 km3 (1.76×1010 acre·ft)
Residence time	25 years
Shore length1	8,000 km (5,000 mi)
Islands	Abruka, Aegna, Archipelago Sea Islands (Åland Islands), Bornholm, Dänholm, Ertholmene, Falster, Fårö, Fehmarn, Gotland, Hailuoto, Hiddensee, Hiiumaa, Holmöarna, Kassari, Kesselaid, Kihnu, Kimitoön, Kõinastu, Kotlin, Laajasalo, Lauttasaari, Lidingö, Ljusterö, Lolland, Manilaid, Mohni, Møn, Muhu, Poel, Prangli, Osmussaar, Öland, Replot, Ruhnu, Rügen, Saaremaa, Stora Karlsö, Suomenlinna, Suur-Pakri and Väike-Pakri, Ummanz, Usedom/Uznam, Väddö, Värmdö, Vilsandi, Vormsi, Wolin
Settlements	Copenhagen, Gdańsk, Gdynia, Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Kiel, Klaipėda, Lübeck, Luleå, Oulu, Riga, , Saint Petersburg, , Tallinn, Turku
References
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

The Baltic Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltic countries, and the North European Plain. It includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bay of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga, and the Bay of Gdańsk. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 10°E to 30°E longitude. A mediterranean sea of the Atlantic, with limited water exchange between the two bodies, the Baltic Sea drains through the Danish islands into the Kattegat by way of the straits of Øresund, the Great Belt, and the Little Belt.

The Baltic Proper is bordered on its northern edge, at the latitude 60°N, by the Åland islands and the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga, and in the west by the Swedish part of the southern Scandinavian Peninsula.