Kattegat

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The Kattegat (Danish), or Kattegatt (Swedish), is a bay of the Baltic Sea and a continuation of the Skagerrak, bounded by Denmark and Sweden. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Oresund and the Danish Straits.

Geography

Waterways that drain into the Kattegat are the rivers of Göta älv at Gothenburg, together with Lagan, Nissan, Ätran and Viskan from the province of Halland on the Swedish side, and the river of Gudenå from Jutland, in Denmark.

The main islands of the Kattegat are Samsø, Læsø and Anholt, where the latter two, due to their dry summer climate, are referred to as the Danish desert belt.

A number of noteworthy coastal areas abut the Kattegat, including the Kullaberg Nature Reserve in Sweden, which contains a number of rare species and a scenic rocky shore; and the town of Mölle, Sweden, which has a picturesque harbour and views into the Kullaberg.

Etymology

According to Den Store Danske Encyklopædi and Politikens Nydansk Ordbog, the name derives from the Dutch words Kat (cat) and Gat (hole). It refers to late medieval navigation, where captains compared this region to a hole so narrow that even a cat would have difficulty creeping through due to the many reefs and shallow waters.^[1][2] At one point, the passable waters are a mere 3.84 kilometers (2.38 miles) wide. An older name for both the Skagerrak and Kattegat was the Norwegian Sea or Jutland Sea. Knýtlinga saga mentions the name Jótlandshaf. The name of the Copenhagen street, Kattesundet, is derived from the same root.^[2]

References

Coordinates: 56°55′42″N, 11°25′41″Eaf:Kattegat ar:كاتيغات bg:Категат ca:Kattegat cs:Kattegat da:Kattegat de:Kattegat et:Kattegat es:Kattegat eo:Kategato fr:Cattégat gl:Kattegat id:Teluk Kattegat is:Kattegat it:Kattegat sw:Kattegat ku:Kattegat hu:Kattegat nl:Kattegat ja:カテガット海峡 no:Kattegat nn:Kattegat pl:Kattegat pt:Kattegat ru:Каттегат simple:Kattegat sk:Kattegat sr:Категат fi:Kattegat sv:Kattegatt zh:卡特加特海湾

Wikipedia information about Kattegat This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kattegat". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.