Baltic Sea Gulf of Riga, and the Bay of Gdańsk. The Baltic Proper is bordered on its northern edge, at the latitude 60°N, by the Åland islands and the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga, and in the west by the Swedish part of the southern Scandinavian Peninsula. The Baltic Sea is connected by artificial waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea Canal and to the German Bight of the North Sea via the Kiel Canal. Administration The Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the
White Sea–Baltic Canal and Caspian coasts. The White Sea Canal was also constructed with military use in mind, and early in its history the canal was used to transfer the Northern Fleet's first warships to the White Sea from the Baltic. According to historians, in the years between the canal's completion and the Soviet entry into World War II, the canal was used for the transfer of military vessels between the two seas on 17 occasions. During World War II, in August–September 1941, the canal was used to move a number of submarines from the Baltic Fleet to the White Sea. That included