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The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Öresund, the Great Belt and the Little Belt. The Kattegat continues through the Skagerrak into the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Baltic Sea is linked to the White Sea by the White Sea Canal and to the North Sea by the Kiel Canal.

The origin of the name is speculative. The first to mention "Mare Balticum" was Adam of Bremen in the 11th century. He may have alluded to the mythical North European island of Baltia mentioned by Xenophon. Another possibly is connected to the Germanic word belt, a name used for some of the Danish straits, while others claim it to be derived from Latin balteus (belt).

The Baltic sea is about 1610 km (1000 miles) long, an average of 193 km (120 mi) wide, and an average of 55 m (180 ft, 30 fathoms) deep. The maximum depth is 459 m (1506 ft), on the Swedish side of the center. The surface area is about 377,000 km² (145,522 sq mi) and the volume is about 21,000 cubic km (3129 cubic miles). The periphery amounts to about 8000 km (4968 miles) of coastline.