Pakri islands in Estonia

Suur- and Väike- Pakri (Big- and Small-Pakri) are situated in Harju county and belong to the municipality of Paldiski town-government. The area of Suur-Pakri is 11.6 km² and Väike-Pakri is 12.9 km². The nearest point from the mainland is 3 km. The island has no permanent population.

The islands were populated on 1345 when five Swedes bought them from Padise monastry. There were 341 people on the island in 1934, most of them Swedes. As a result of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact all inhabitants were deported in 1940 and the island became the base of the Soviet Army. Most of Pakri Swedes left for Sweden. 20 people lived on Väike-Pakri after the war, but in 1965 two last families deserted the island.

Both of the islands, but particularly the northern part of Suur-Pakri was used as a training gunnery-practice ground by all European communist countries till 1992, and the current problem is to clear the islands from waste, gunnery shells and explosives and to return the islands to Pakri Swedes.

On the northern sides of the islands steep limestone cliffs, coastal meadows, areas covered with thin soil and stunted vegetation, former farm sites, chapel ruins and stone fences abound and a unique flora need to be protected. For that reason Pakri Landscape Reserve was founded.

The two islands are connected with a dam, which was built mainly of the stones from the fences of the islands by the soviet soldiers, and with the bridge that is in a very poor condition. You can walk and ride a crosscountry bicycle on the island.

Some of the former owners plan to build the summerhouses on the islands.