Märket

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Märket (Swedish and Finnish), Market Reef, or Market Island is a small skerry in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and the autonomous Åland Islands, that since the Treaty of Fredrikshamn defines the border between Sweden and Finland. The westernmost point of Finland is on Märket.

The 6 nautical mile (11 km) wide Understen–Märket Passage links the Bothnian Sea to the Baltic proper.

The area of the skerry is at said to be 30,000 square metres which is argued to make it the smallest "sea island" shared by two countries^[1].

There is an unmanned lighthouse on the Finnish side of the island. However, when it was built in 1885 there were no clear maps of the island. After the completion of the lighthouse, it was discovered that it was built on the Swedish part of the island. As a result, the border was adjusted in 1985 so that the lighthouse is now located on Finnish territory^[2]. However, the overall land area given to each country could not change, and neither could the coastline so as not to interfere with each country's fishing rights. This dilemma resulted in an unusual design of the border. Since the adjustment of the border, it takes the form of an 's', the lighthouse only connected to the rest of Finland by a short stretch of land.

The lighthouse is in immediate need of maintenance and a Finnish interest group is trying to raise funds for its preservation. The lighthouse has been automatic since 1976 and the surrounding buildings are no longer used.

Market Reef, as it is called in English among three million radio amateurs around the world, is a separate country for them since it is the only Finnish territory with another country's territory in between. The Swedish part of the island does not have this status and is therefore not a separate country among radio amateurs. Market Reef is one of the worlds most wanted "countries" among radio amateurs due to its special status and inaccesibility. Usually there are one or more amateur radio expeditions to the island every year, weather permitting. During this expeditions tens of thousands of radio contacts are made with the entire world. At high seas landing is only possible with a helicopter. Probably the best picture available over Märket is shown on a QSL card, a verification card sent out to verify a radio contact among radio amateurs. OJ0MA is the callsign of the station on Market Reef with OJ0 being the special call sign prefix for Market Reef. "Märkets Fyr" means Märket Lighthouse in English^[3].

[edit] External links

Configurable map centred on Märket from Citizen's Mapsite of Finland
The Swedish Lighthouse Society's site on Märket
Joint border survey between Finland and Sweden in progress from Helsingin Sanomat (International Edition), includes paragraph about Märket, with a small map.

[edit] References

^ World island superlatives
^ Märket - a remarkable island by JOAKIM EKMAN, LARS-GUNNAR BRÅVANDER, GABRIEL EKMAN & EBBE ZACHRISSON (Swedish) includes a map of the island
^ Radio Am Ham radio site