Finland's geographical features are emphasized by the countless number of lakes that originated when the last glaciation period ended. Saimaa, is the largest natural lake in Finland, and is also the fourth largest in Europe. Where there is no inland water, the landscape is covered by a thick forest sheet. The only place of some real mountains are on the far north, on the Norwegian border, that is also where the highest peak of Finland, the Haltitunturi at 1328 meters is located.
The glaciation of the ice age not only created innumerable lakes in the Finnish Lake district, but also a solid amount of islands, that explains the name Archipelago Sea given to the relatively small sea that hosts these thousands of islands. The most notable group of islands, the Åland Islands occupy a significant location at the mouth of Gulf of Bothnia, not far from Sweden.
