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TheHeligolandBight, also known asHelgoland Bight, (German:Helgoländer Bucht,pronounced[ˈhɛlɡoˌlɛndɐˈbʊxt]) is a bay which forms the southern part of theGerman Bight, itself a bay of theNorth Sea, located at the mouth of theElbe river. The Heligoland Bight extends from the mouth of the Elbe to the islands ofHeligoland and lies between theEast Frisian island ofWangerooge and theNorth Frisianpeninsula ofEiderstedt.
The bight is named after Heligoland. It was the location ofWorld War I naval battles in1914[1] and1917. In 1939 it also had aWorld War IIaerial battle named after it.
In the Heligoland Basin (Helgoländer Becken), abasin lying directly southwest of Heligoland, the bight is up to 56 metres (184 ft) deep.
One of the busiestshipping lanes in the world, fromHamburg and the mouth of the Elbe to theStraits of Dover and theEnglish Channel, runs through the Heligoland Bight. The area also includesnature reserves such as theHeligoland Felssockel and the protectedWadden Sea, in which theWadden Sea National Parks ofSchleswig-Holstein (East),Hamburg (southeast) andLower Saxony (south) are located.
Besides the aforementioned islands of Heligoland, which form the northwestern boundary of the Heligoland Bight, there is the small island ofNeuwerk in the southeast, which is located in theWadden Sea off the Elbeestuary. South of this island is the estuary of theWeser and, to its west, theJade Bight. Southwest of the Heligoland Bight is theEast Frisian island of Wangerooge. East of the bight theEider enters the sea with, to its north the Eiderstedt Peninsula and, to its south,Meldorf Bay.
54°03′N8°09′E / 54.05°N 8.15°E /54.05; 8.15
| West Frisian Islands (Netherlands) |
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| East Frisian Islands (Germany) |
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| Heligoland Bight (Germany) | |||||||
| North Frisian Islands (Germany) |
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| Danish Wadden Sea Islands (Denmark) |
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