| Little Belt | |
|---|---|
| Lillebælt | |
 The Little Belt (labelled with its Danish nameLillebælt), the leftmost of the 3Danish Straits | |
  Little Belt | |
| Coordinates | 55°11′N9°50′E / 55.183°N 9.833°E /55.183; 9.833 |
| Type | strait |
| Basin countries | Denmark |
| Max. length | 50 km (31 mi) |
| Max. width | 28 km (17 mi) |
| Min. width | 800 m (2,625 ft) |
| Designations | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Lillebælt |
| Designated | 2 September 1977 |
| Reference no. | 154[1] |
TheLittle Belt (Danish:Lillebælt,pronounced[ˈliləˌpelˀt]) is astrait between the island ofFunen and theJutland Peninsula inDenmark. It is one of the threeDanish Straits that drain and connect theBaltic Sea to theKattegat strait, which drains west to theNorth Sea andAtlantic Ocean.
The Little Belt is about 50 km (31 mi) long and 800 m (2,600 ft) to 28 km (17 mi) wide, and its deepest point is atMarens Hul west of the island ofFænø, at 81 m (266 ft), which makes it deeper than its sister strait, theGreat Belt. Numerous smallDanish islands lie within the belt. In part because of its depth, 10% of the water moving between the inner Baltic Sea and the Kattegat flows through the Little Belt.
The Little Belt stretches from the town ofJuelsminde in the north to the island ofAls in the south, with a winding course in between. The northern end is the widest at over 15 km (9.3 mi). From there it runs southwest, narrowing to about 1 km (0.62 mi) at a place calledSnævringen (The Narrows), where the two Little Belt Bridges are located. South of Fænø, the strait widens to about 10 km (6.2 mi) until it reaches the Baltic Sea near Als and theSouth Funen Archipelago.
The Little Belt's western coastline is largely broken up by irregular inlets calledfjords, and both sides feature steep sand bluffs.
The area around the Little Belt is shaped by numerous glacialmoraines, the first of which was formed during theearly Weichsel glaciation approximately 22-25,000 years ago. Approximately 14-15,000 years ago, during the late Weichsel glaciation, ice arrived from the south and southeast, one part of which became the Little Belt Glacier, causing hilly terrain with deep fjords. The notabletunnel valleys were formed by meltwater. The terminal moraines from the northeast ice's glacial maximum are some of the oldest in Denmark.
The Little Belt is a protected wetland under theRamsar Convention and a particularly important spot for breeding and migrating birds.[3] Protected species in the area includewhooper swans,white-tailed eagles,western marsh harriers,spotted crakes,corn crakes,pied avocets,ruffs,short-eared owls,common terns,Arctic terns,little terns,greater scaups,common eiders,common goldeneyes, andred-breasted mergansers.[4]
The Little Belt has the highest known density ofharbour porpoises in the world,[2] and is home to several thousand individuals.[5] It is the only residentcetacean in the inner Danish waters.Observation tours are accessible nearby as well.[6] Other species such asminke,humpback, andfin whales visit the waters rather sporadically.[7] The deep waters attract many species of fish, includingcod,herring, andsea trout, and the Little Belt is a destination for recreational fishing.[8]
Human populations lived around the Little Belt during theStone Age, huntingaurochs,reindeer, and other game in the tunnel valleys and forests.[9] Climate and geological changes brought new plants and animals to the area and made the fishery in the fjords and neighboring archipelagoes into an important food source. Around 4000 BC, temperatures rose again, and theFunnelbeaker culture was active in the area. There are many archaeological sites from the Funnelbeaker culture and otherNeolithic cultures in the area.[10]
Throughout theBronze Age,Iron Age, andViking Age, trade with other populations increased, and settlements became larger and more permanent. In the 14th century, the towns ofKolding andVejle received merchant town privileges, and today they are the area's two largest towns.
From the Middle Ages until the end of the 19th century, local fishermen were also involved inharbour porpoise hunting. Harbor porpoises winter in Danish waterways, and fishermen would wait in the narrow parts of the belt and drive them to the shallows where they would be slaughtered. Porpoise oil, a type ofwhale oil, was in widespread use as a lamp oil until the spread of electric lighting undermined the porpoise hunting economy. In the winter of 1854-55, 1,742 porpoises were captured, but otherwise, the catch from most winters was around 700-800 porpoises. Porpoise hunting was regulated by laws dating to at least 1593. The law was overturned by a royal resolution on May 4, 1899, although shortages during World War I and II caused short-lived resurgences in porpoise hunting.
In 1801 the Danish Navy launched a 22-gun warship namedLillebælt for the strait. After the 1807Battle of Copenhagen she was surrendered to the BritishRoyal Navy, where her name was anglicized toHMS Little Belt, and she took part in the then notoriousLittle Belt affair in North American waters. Later the Royal Navy bestowed the name "Little Belt" onanother ship, which had no Danish antecedents.
19th century proponents ofGerman unification advocated considering the Little Belt (German:Kleiner Belt) as the northern border of Germany, and the Belt is mentioned in this context inErnst Mortiz Arndt'sWas ist des Deutschen Vaterland? (1813) and theDeutschlandlied (1841), the third stanza of which is the current German national anthem. This reflects the fact that the Denmark-Germany border has shifted several times over the centuries, so that the current Danish region ofSouthern Jutland was once part of theDuchy of Schleswig.
The Little Belt has historically been an important shipping channel. In the present day, it is popular among divers for its archaeological sites and shipwrecks.[8]
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Variousferry services have crossed the Little Belt over the years, including theSnoghøj-Middelfart ferry, followed by theFredericia-Strib ferry, which became Denmark's firsttrain ferry in 1872.[11] Ferry crossings were replaced by theOld Little Belt Bridge in 1935 and theNew Little Belt Bridge in 1970. Today, the old bridge carries local traffic and train lines, while the new bridge carries theE20 motorway.
Two power lines also previously crossed the Little Belt, the first of which was dismantled and replaced by anundersea cable in 2013.[12]
