- published: 27 Oct 2015
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Hel Peninsula ( listen (help·info); Polish: Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; Kashubian: Hélskô Sztremlëzna; German: Halbinsel Hela or Putziger Nehrung) is a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
The width of the peninsula varies from approximately 300 m. near Jurata, through 100 m in the most narrow part to over 3 km at the tip. Since the peninsula was formed entirely of sand, it is frequently turned into an island by winter storms. Until the 17th century the peninsula was a chain of islands that formed a strip of land only during the summer.
A road and a railroad run along the peninsula from the mainland to the town located at the furthest point, Hel, a popular tourist destination. Other towns, ports, and tourist resorts are Jurata, Jastarnia, Kuźnica, Chałupy, and Władysławowo.
After the peninsula became part of the Second Polish Republic after World War I, it acquired considerable military significance, and was turned into a fortified region, with a garrison of about 3,000. In the course of the Battle of Hel in 1939, Polish forces dynamited the peninsula at one point, turning it into an island.