The history of the archipelago begins at about 4 500 B.C., at which time the first rocky peaks began to rise from the sea following the close of the Ice Age. Rising of the land still continues, altering the coastline at a rate of 4 to 5 mm per year. The south-western archipelago, a unique maritime landscape with over 20,000 islands and skerries has during centuries been a challenge for vessels to find a passage through a labyrinth of islands to the harbours on the coast.
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