Administratively Hiiumaa is the "main island" of theHiiu County, calledHiiumaa orHiiu maakond inEstonian. TheSwedish andGerman name of the island isDagö orDagden ('Day' island) andDagø inDanish. In modernFinnish, it is calledHiidenmaa, literally 'Hiisi's Land'. InOld Gutnish, it wasDagaiþ ('day isthmus'), from which the localNorth Germanic nameDaë is derived.[4]
Hiiumaa emerged from the Baltic Sea 8500 years ago due toisostatic uplift after the retreat of theice cap.[6][5]Mesolithic settlements are found on the island's Kõpu Peninsula from about 5500 BC.[5][7] These settlements seem to be related mostly toseal hunting and extend into the earliestNeolithic. As Hiiumaa is constantly uplifting the localsea level was 20 m higher than today at this time. For this reason these settlements are located far from the modern coastline. The pottery found at these sites is of the Narva Type and is similar to that found on Saaremaa and the Estonian mainland.[7]
The island was part ofSwedish Estonia from 1563 to 1721, after which it passed to theRussian Empire as part of theGovernorate of Estonia, though Dagö's Swedish population kept most of their privileges. Most of the island's previously numerousSwedish-speaking population emigrated or were "Estonianised" during the period of Imperial Russian rule, although a minority remained until the 20th century.Estonian Swedes are also known asaibofolke ("the island people" in thelocal Swedish) orrannarootslased ("coastal Swedes" in Estonian). Administratively the island of Hiiumaa belonged to Lääne County.
Hiiumaa remained under Soviet control until Estonia regained independence in August 1991. During the period of Soviet occupation (1944–1991), Hiiumaa was declared a restricted zone, closed to foreigners and to most mainland Estonians. A number of derelict Soviet forts and communication towers are still present on the island's northern coast.[10]
Hiiumaa is an island inEstonia located north ofSaaremaa in theBaltic Sea. It is the northernmost island in the Muhu archipelago, which includes Saaremaa andMuhu.[4] Hiiumaa has a low relief (up to 68 m above sea level)[5] and is mostly formed of limestone, that is exposed in cliffs around parts of the island's coast.[4] In the north of the island there are a series of fossilized beaches preserved as uplift has occurred. The modern beaches are primarily on the northern and western coast lines.[11] The natural environment is protected within theTahkuna Nature Reserve andWest Estonian Archipelago Biosphere Reserve.
TheHiiu Shoal (Nekmangrund) is located off the northwestern shore of Hiiumaa Island. The Soela Strait separates Hiiumaa from Saaremaa to its south, and the Muhu Strait separates it from the mainland ofEstonia.[4]
The fauna and flora of Hiiumaa are similar to the Estonian mainland. Themammal fauna includeselk,red deer,roe deer,wild boars, foxes,lynxes andmartens.[5] Wolves have recently started to repopulate the island after being made locally extinct.[12]
Minks were also reintroduced in 2000, after they were exterminated bytrappers.[13] Since the end of the 1990s the island shelters a conservation project aimed at restoring populations ofEuropean mink, an endangered species of which there is about only 1,000 individual specimens left in Europe as of 2017. This project started with removing from the island allAmerican minks that had escaped frombreeding farms, and reintroducing some European minks. The latter started breeding.[14]
The bird species found on the island includeblack storks,golden eagles,cranes,avocets andswans. The forests are dominated by pine anddeciduous trees, the rest of the uncultivated land is covered by swamps and dunes. The island has about 1000 species of large plants of which 50 are protected.[5]
In theOrdovician (c. 455 million years ago) the sea floor was hit by ameteorite forming the 4 km wide Kärdlaimpact structure.[16][15] This structure was then filled with Paleozoic sediment. It located about 4 km west-southwest ofKärdla and is barely visible in the moderngeomorphology. Thecrater is well preserved at depth, with a clear rim,breccia and minerals and rocks formed from the heat and pressure of the impact.[16]
The limestone is overlain byPleistocene glacial deposits that were deposited as the ice cap retreated 11 to 12 thousand years ago. These includeterminal moraines, the two most prominent being one in the South of Island running towards the North-East and another forming theKõpu Peninsula.[11]
The island has several villages, as well a small town ofKärdla (pop. 3,287) and small boroughs ofKäina andKõrgessaare. The oldest surviving church was built in Pühalepa in 1259, though it was rebuilt in the 18th century.[5] TheHanseatic League built a lighthouse in Kõpu near the start of the 16th century. It is the third oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the world.[5]
Road transport from Estonian mainland to Hiiumaa involves a 75-minute (28 km) ferry crossing fromRohuküla toHeltermaa, which is 25 km by road fromKärdla. There are up to 10 ferry departures a day operated byTS Laevad.[27] In the summer weekends, getting car space on the ferry usually requires advance booking. There are about 2 scheduled buses a day betweenTallinn (the capital of Estonia) and Kärdla.[28]In the winter, the island can be reached, conditions permitting, via a 26.5 kmice road (the longest inEurope) across the frozen Baltic Sea.[29][30] A bridge to the mainland of Estonia has been occasionally proposed.[31]
Hiiumaa is served byKärdla Airport, with regular flights to Tallinn. Bicycle rental is also available in Kärdla and there is a goodbicycle path built from Kärdla towardsKõrgessaare.
2007 Estonia election. Social Democratic Party (Red), Estonian Reform Party (yellow), Estonian Center Party (green), Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica (Blue), People's Union of Estonia (brown)
The island is part of the B7 Network, a loose grouping of the major islands of the Baltic Sea.[32] Smoked cookedplaice is a traditional summertime delicacy. There is a friendly rivalry with the neighboring island ofSaaremaa.[33]
^Mäntykoski, Jorma (1991).The Finnish Navy At War in 1939-1945 (Suomen Laivasto Sodassa 1939-1945). Espoo: Tietoteos Ky. p. 154.ISBN978-951-8919-05-9.OL1778118M.
^The Baltic coast, video byFree High-Quality Documentaries, onyoutube.com. For the European mink conservation project on Hiiumaa, see 32'20 - 34-02. For the American mink having supplanted the European mink and the former's removal from the island, see 33'40 - 34'02.
^"Kliimanormid-Päikesepaiste kestus" (in Estonian). Estonian Weather Service. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved28 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Ristna Climate Normals 1991–2020".World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved20 October 2024.
^Ahas, Rein; Aasa, Anto; Mark, Ülar; Pae, Taavi; Kull, Ain (2007). "Seasonal tourism spaces in Estonia: Case study with mobile positioning data".Tourism Management.28 (3):898–910.doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2006.05.010.ISSN0261-5177.
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