The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Documents WHC-06/30.COM/8B and WHC-06/30.COM/INF.8B.2,
2. Approves the extension of the High Coast, Sweden, to include the Kvarken Archipelago, Finland, on the basis of natural criterion (i):
Criterion (i): The Kvarken Archipelago with its 5,600 islands and surrounding sea is of exceptional geological value for two main reasons. First, it is an area of rapid glacio-isostatic uplift with rates that are among the highest in the world. The uplift is ongoing and is associated with major changes in the water bodies in post glacial times. The Kvarken, along with the existing High Coast, its Swedish equivalent on the west coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, are key areas for the understanding of the processes of crustal response to the melting of the continental ice sheet. Second, the Kvarken area possesses a distinctive array of glacial depositional landforms, such as De Greer moraines, which add to the variety of glacial landscapes features in the region and reinforce the previous validity of the High Coast inscription.
3. Notes that the property thus becomes a serial transboundary property of both Finland and Sweden with the new name of Kvarken Archipelago / High Coast, Finland and Sweden. The total size of the transboundary serial property will be 336,900 hectares.