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GEOLOGY ON POST STAMPS |
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GEOLOGY ON POST STAMPS |
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Estonia / Estonia
Klif wapienny u północnych wybrzeży wyspy Pakri (nie podano, Małej czy
Dużej); znaczek wydany w 2002 roku.
Limestone cliff at the northern
shore of the Pakri Island (not specified, Little or Great); stamp issued in 2002.
Coll A. Kozlowski
Pakri
Islands in Estonia
Suur- and Väike- Pakri (Little- and Great-Pakri) are situated in Harju county
and belong to the municipality of Paldiski town-government. The area of
Suur-Pakri is 11.6 km2 and Väike-Pakri is 12.9 km2. The
nearest point from the mainland is 3 km. The islands have no permanent
population.
The islands were populated on 1345 when five
Swedes bought them from Padise monastery. There were 341 people on the island in
1934, most of them Swedes. As a result of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, all
inhabitants were deported in 1940 and the island became the base of the Soviet
Army. Most of Pakri Swedes left for Sweden. Twenty people lived on Väike-Pakri
after the war, but in 1965 two last families left the island.
Both of the islands, but particularly the northern part
of Suur-Pakri was used as a training gunnery-practice area by all European
communist countries till 1992, and the current problem is to clear the islands
from waste, gunnery shells and explosives and to return the islands to Pakri
Swedes.
On the northern sides of the islands steep limestone
cliffs, coastal meadows, areas covered with thin soil and stunted vegetation,
former farm sites, chapel ruins and stone fences abound and a unique flora need
to be protected. For that reason Pakri Landscape Reserve was founded.
The two islands are connected with a dam, which was
built mainly of the stones from the fences of the islands by the Soviet
soldiers, and with the bridge that is in a very poor condition. You can walk and
ride bicycle across the country on the island. Some of the former owners plan to
build the summer houses on the islands. (2002)
(Information from: http://www.archipelago.nu/SKARGARD/ENGELSKA/ESTONIA/pakri%20islands.htm
)
