The border Finland/Sweden (FI/SE) on Märket / Market Reef

Märket or Market Reef (MR) is an uninhabited small rock island of 3.3 hectares that belongs to the Åland Archipelago in the Baltic Sea. Market Reef is intersected by the border. The border is very particular. This seems to be the story: The Finnish lighthouse (originally built by Russia in 1885, when Finland was not yet a sovereign country) appeared to stand on Swedish territory. To correct that the border was drawn around the complex. As compensation an equal piece of land was transferred from Finland to Sweden. That explains the origin of the border as shown on the map below. The border was a straight line until 1 August 1985. Then the correction was made to get the lighthouse in Finland. There are 11 border markers on the island. These markers are holes, drilled in the rock, since 2007 painted whit a white dot. On MR at border marker #7 is also the westernmost point of Finland on land.

Notice: turning point 10 is not present

More on the borders of Märket

(Source / bron)

Here are some more details on the border of Märket.

Coordinates are about 60:18'16.15''N - 019:07'51.28''E (WGS84)
>>That means the location in the first map is not correct!

MR is one of the worlds smallest divided islands LINK
The border on MR is between:
Countries:           Finland - Sweden
Provinces:           Åland - Stockholm and Uppsala
Municipalities:    Hammarland  - Norrtälje and Östhammar
So at border marker no 7 there is an secondary tripoint.
There are two time zones on the island

Hier nog wat meer details over the grens op MR.
MR is een van 's werelds kleinste gedeelde eilanden, zie link.
De grens verdeelt de genoemde landen, provincies en gemeenten.
Dus bij grens markering nr. 7 bevindt zich een drieprovinciënpunt.
Er zijn twee tijd zones op het eiland.


My first photo of a border marker on Märket

Complete(?) display of the border markers on Märket

I am happy to show these pictures of all the border markers. All photos courtesy of the OJ0UR Radio Amateur Expedition of August 2011.

Compleet(?) overzicht van de grensmarkeringen op Märket Ik ben blij dit overzicht van alle grensmarkeringen op MR te kunnen laten zien. Alle foto's zijn beschikbaar gesteld door de OJ0UR Amateur Radio Expeditie van augustus 2011.
	This photo shows the same marker as on the next photo. Deze foto toont dezelfde markering als de volgende foto. Update July 2023: This is border marker no 7
	This photo shows the same marker as on the previous photo. Deze foto toont dezelfde markering als de vorige foto. Update July 2023: This is border marker no 7
	This is probably no border marker but some kind of compass, probably  pointing to the north. Dit is wellicht geen grens markering maar een soort kompasroos die misschien wel naar het noorden wijst.
	All border markers are on a turning point in the border except for no 1 and 10. So this could be one of them. Alle grens markeringen zitten op draaipunten in de grens behalve nr. 1 en 10. Dus dit kan een van hen zijn. Update July 2023: This is border marker no 1
	The painters made a mistake here. The country indicators S and F are at the same side of the turning point. That is a mistake. De schilders hebben hier een fout gemaakt. De landen letters S en F staan aan dezelfde kant van het draaipunt, dat is een fout. Update July 2023: This is border marker no 9 and the marker is newly painted with the letters in the correct place!
	Update July 2023: This is border marker no 12
	Update July 2023: This is border marker no 6
	This photo shows the same marker as on the next photo. Deze foto toont dezelfde markering als de volgende foto. Update July 2023: This is border marker no 8
	This photo shows the same marker as on the previous photo. Deze foto toont dezelfde markering als de vorige foto. Update July 2023: This is border marker no 8
	Update July 2023: This is border marker no 4
	This is most probably marker no 6. Dit is zeer waarschijnlijk markering nr. 6. Update July 2023: This sure is border marker no 6
	This is most probably marker no 2. Dit is zeer waarschijnlijk markering nr. 2.

Maps of Märket

 

First picture source Swedish map site.                                 Second picture source Finnish map site.
zoom the link to see white border dots                           Notice the numbering;
                                                                                              there are 12 numbers but only 11 border points

This is a composition of both:

Border related links on Märket / Market Reef
Links over de grens op Market Reef

General links on Märket / Market Reef
Algemene links over Market Reef

Links on amateur radio on Märket / Market Reef
Links over radiozendamateurisme op Market Reef

My amateur radio QSL-cards of Märket / Market Reef
Mijn radiozendamateur QSL-kaarten van Market Reef

	SWL NL5493 <> OH0XX/OJ0 28 March 1981 heard on 40 meter. 29 March 1981 heard on 80 meter.
	PA3AKM <> OH2AP/OJ0 9 June 1991 worked on 20 meter.
	The Market Reef lighthouse on a QSL-card from Finland SWL NL5493 <> OH3JR 30 March 1997 heard on 160 meter.
	Market Reef aerial photo on a QSL-card PA8KM <> OJ0B 15 August 2007 worked on 20 meter and 11 June 2011 worked on 20 meter and 12 June 2011 worked on 17 meter.
	Market Reef lighthouse and a border marker (!) on the QSL-card of OJ0UR PA8KM <> OJ0UR 17 August 2011 worked on 40 and 80 meter and 18 August 2011 worked on 20 meter.
	PA8KM <> OJ0C June 2021 worked on 5 different bands.
	PA8KM <> OJ0DX 31 July 2022 worked on 10 and 15 meter.
	PA8KM <> OJ0JW 9 July 2023 worked on 40 meter. (this is the radio amateur that was present during the IBRG visit)

IBRG Expedition to Market Reef

On and around Saturday 8 July 2023, 9 members of the IBRG, The International Border Research Group, made a trip to Market Reef.
Unfortunately I was not in a position to join them but I was very happy to finally find complete info on the location of all the border markers and of course all other information.
There was a group of volunteers of The Finnsh Lighthouse Society on the reef and one of them was a radio amateur.
Juuso, OJ0JW, contacted me via e-mail and on 9 July 2023 we even had a radio contact on the 40 meter band in morse!

I was also sent a postcard and a t-shirt, so I now own some nice souvenirs from Market Reef, including two stamps.

Here are some links to the subject:
Finnsh Lighthouse Society diary
Webpage of Piet van der Giessen
Webpage of Jannis Deeleman
Webpage of Barry Arnold

If you have any information, questions etc., please contact me, Harry ten Veen.
Heb je meer informatie, vragen enz., neem dan s.v.p. contact op.

2023-09-16