Holmöarna (Swedish, literally the islet islands) is an island group in the Kvarken narrows of the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland. The islands form part of Umeå Municipality in Västerbotten County. The islands have 75 year-round inhabitants and the largest islands are Holmön, Ängesön, Grossgrunden, Holmögadd and Lilla and Stora Fjäderägg. Large areas of the islands have been set aside as nature reserves. Nature and geography The islands are situated in the Norra Kvarken narrows between the Bothnian Sea to the south and the Bothnian Bay to the north. Holmöarna's nature is quite diverse with areas covered in forest, bogs and lakes, and the islands have a rich birdlife. The islands' natural life is so special that the whole of Holmögadd, Stora Fjäderägg and Grossgrunden, nearly all of Ängesön and the eastern half of Holmön and all waters surrounding these have been protected as a nature reserve since 1980, incidentally the largest island nature reserve in Sweden. Many of the lakes and pools on Holmöarna are former bays and inlets which were severed from the sea due to the rising of the underlying land mass by about 8.5 mm (approx. ⅓") each year. Strandbjerget, the islands' highest point at 25.83 meters above sea level, is found at Holmöns northern end. Holmön Holmön (in the local dialect: Höḷmöʸn) is the main island of the group and is still largely covered in spruce forest. The preserved main village of Holmö By is surrounded by open fields separated by narrow bands of woodland and stone walls with the occasional heap of cleared rocks. The main part of Holmö By was built alongside Hallen esker, and about 20 farms adjoin the road leading south through cultivated moorland. The village has a church and primary school as well as a fire station and a trade cooperative offering groceries, alcoholic beverages and petrol as well as apothecary, library and postal services. Byviken village on the northwestern tip of Holmön hosts the islands' ferry and marina facilities. The Ship Museum is also located here, as well as a tourist information centre, restaurant, bathing beach and the Holmögården youth hostel. Berguddens fyrplats is a locality southwest of Byviken sporting a lighthouse from 1896 and some lighthouse keepers' cabins now converted to a hostel. Gäddbäckssundet ("Jäbbäckssundet" in local dialect) is a sound located to the southeast of Holmön, separating it from the island of Ängesön, and offering