Nature in BohuslänBohuslän has got it all - the sea and the windswept rocks, with deep coves and lovely bays, the open fields and the meadows as well as deep forest with its small lakes. Located between Göteborg in the south and the Norwegian border in the north, the province is a narrow stretch of coastal land with a length of 160 km. But counting the complete shoreline, along the deep fjords, the total length is about 300 km. The archipelago stretches along the coast of the province. Most of its 3 000 islands are barren and tree-free. If there ever were any trees, they were cut down during the large fishing era in the 18th century, becoming boats, houses and fire-logs for the train oil boileries. Topographic descriptionLow coastal landscape with a pronounced archipelago structure. The coastal land is interlaced with deeply penetrating bays and fjords, such as the Idefjord, Gullmarsfjord and Hakefjord, with islands and peninsulas protruding in between them.The major part of the interior is lowland, sloping slightly westward. It has steep, mountainous hills and plateaux, cut off from each other by deep, straight valleys - the inland continuations of the fjords. The land has risen 70-190 metres since the glacial era 9,000 years ago. In the valleys long, narrow lakes have developed, with the Bullaren lakes being the largest ones. About 1,000 years ago this was a journeyable waterway from Norway all the way down to the Göteborg rivers, using the lakes and the different fjords. In the coastal area the granite and the gneiss bed-rocks can be seen on fells swept clean by the waves. At the Gullmarsfjord there is a pronounced borderline; the gneiss rules south of the fjord, while the pink and reddish granite in the northern part has become characteristic of the province; large smooth stone slabs, with distinctive cracksystems. In the northernmost area the long dark stripes of rock diabase surfaces, especially in the Strömstad archipelago, dominate. Further inland there is a thin layer of moraine and in the valleys there are mighty stratifications of sea clay and bars of shells. Plants and animalsThe climate is strictly coastal/archipelago, with mild winters. The plants are of a western character, related more to western Europe than to the eastern side of Sweden. You will find ivy, private, stonecrop, the Bohus lime and the oyster herb.The archipelago hosts a rich bird life, but the marine plants and animals attract the main interest. Bohuslän has a wide range of research stations in this field, including the Institute of Marine Research. Gullmarsfjorden, with its depths of 120 m and a shallow entrance, hosts a rich and unique fauna. Overall, the extra salty water in the province makes for a fauna with oceanic structure, with species represented that usually dwell in largeger depths or further south. You will find sea anemones, scallops, oysters, common limpets, sea squirts and edible sea bugs, to mention a few. There are some large colonies of harbour seals too. the rise of the land has transformed the bottom of the fjords into narrow valleys, with rich soil for farming, consisting of marine sand and clay-stratifications. Between these are the mountains, some barren , some forested, and some covered by heather. In the northern part there are large fertile plains , surrounded by dense forest which stretch all the way down to the sea. The fishing has always been important to the province, but during the last decades both the amount of employees and the captures landed have diminished. Many of the fishing villages would be completely deserted today, if they did not have great tourist appeal. 
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