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63°00′N24°30′E / 63.0°N 24.5°E /63.0; 24.5
Suomenselkä[1] is adrainage divide in westernFinland. Roughly 500 kilometres (310 mi) long and 30–50 kilometres (19–31 mi) wide, it is marked by an ensemble of northeast–southwest orientedmoraines parallel to theBothnian coastline. Rivers flowing west from Suomenselkä drain to the Gulf of Bothnia and the lakes in the east drain to theGulf of Finland. Geographically, the area is relatively flat, with highest altitude variations being 20 m. Because of the low relief, there arebifurcation lakes. Historically, this very sparsely populated region separatedOstrobothnia from the southern and eastern lake regions of Finland. The landscape is marked by moraines,eskers,bogss andforests and is difficult to cultivate or settle in. Most of the forests arepine barrens, where the main species isScots pine (Pinus sylvestris). Large bogs are common. Because it contains some of the few remaining patches ofold-growth forest in southern Finland, it is one of the few remaining habitats forFinnish Forest Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennica). Suomenselkä is often calledLapin sormi ("a finger of Lapland"), because it extends Lapland's high snowfall and poor plant growth far south into Finland.
