A tiny piece of land in the Baltic Sea is the world’s smallest ‘divided island’ shared by two countries.
Despite being just 8.2-acres in size, Märket island has belonged to both Sweden and Finland for centuries.
Considered to be a skerry, the countries split the island by a strange, bendy border. But it actually used to be divided differently.
When the remote island was originally split in 1809, the Treaty of Fredrikshamn decided the border would be a straight line.
However, this changed when in 1885 Russians, who controlled Finland at the time, built a lighthouse.
The building happened to be located slightly over the border line.
It didn’t spark any conflict, and wasn’t even dealt with until almost 100 years later in 1981.
Sweden and Finland redrew the border to move the lighthouse onto Finland’s side, but still kept the land distribution balanced.
Despite being just 8.2-acres in size, Märket island has belonged to both Sweden and Finland for centuries. Pictured: The lighthouse on Märket island
Considered to be a skerry, the countries split the island by a strange, bendy border. But it actually used to be divided differently
The border line could even move again, as every 25 years it is reassessed.
It was last resurveyed back in August 2006 and is distinguished by 11 border markers.
The markers are drilled holes in the rocky landscape of the island and were painted white back in 2007.
Number seven also marks the westernmost point in Finland.
However, the divide isn’t strictly enforced, and there are no checks required to cross over the border.
Märket is only accessible by boat under good weather conditions, and can be reached from Käringsund, a port in Finland located around 30km away from the island.
It takes around one hour and 20 minutes to reach the island by boat.
The main point of interest on Märket is the lighthouse, which is maintained by Finland’s Lighthouse Society.
When the remote island was originally split in 1809, the Treaty of Fredrikshamn decided the border would be a straight line. However, this changed when in 1885 Russians, who controlled Finland at the time, built a lighthouse
The building happened to be located slightly over the border line. It didn’t spark any conflict, and wasn’t even dealt with until almost 100 years later in 1981. Pictured: The view from the lighthouse
Though it is no longer used, it previously helped to guide boats in the area.
What’s more, the two countries are both in different time zones, with Finland in GMT+3 and Sweden in GMT+2, meaning the island technically also is.
Märket is also split across different areas within the countries, with the Swedish side part of Uppsala County and Stockholm County.
The Finnish section is in the Municipality of Hammarland.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .