Pakri Islands

Pakri Islands (Estonian: Pakri saared, Swedish: Rågöarna, German: Pakri-Inseln) are two Estonian islands in the Finnish Gulf: Suur-Pakri and Väike-Pakri (Swedish: Stora Rågö and Lilla Rågö).

For centuries the islands had been inhabited by Estonian Swedes, until during the Second World War the entire population was forced to leave.

The shallow 3 km wide Kurkse strait separates the islands from the mainland in south.

[4] There were 5 villages, a total of 119 households, a small folk museum (opened in 1935, closed in 1940) and both islands had their own church and school.

[5] During the Soviet Era, until 1992, the islands were used as a proving ground for aerial bombardment by Warsaw Pact countries.

[1] After control of the islands was returned to Estonia in 1994, the main aim became to clear the area of unexploded bombs.

[7] In 2004, the islands got their first permanent inhabitant in decades, when a person born there during the Second World War returned to rebuild his parents' farm.

An aerial photo of the Pakri Islands and the Pakri Peninsula.
Northern coast of Väike-Pakri.
Remains from the time when islands were used as a site for aerial bombardment by Soviet forces.