Page 269 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sweden

SWEDEN AREA B Y AREA  267

NORTHERN NORRLAND

Stretching from the populated Baltic coast through wild
forests and marshes to the open expanses of the mountains,
Northern Norrland is a vast, almost untouched region. The
biting chill and eternal darkness of the long northern winter
are compensated for by summer’s midnight sun, when nature
seizes its short window of opportunity to flourish and the
reindeer are moved to new pastures.
The three provinces of Västerbotten, such as the church village in Gammelstad,
Norrbotten and Lappland make up a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Norr­
Sweden’s most northerly region. botten archipelago is renowned for being
Västerbotten, on the Gulf of Bothnia, is the sunniest place in the country and its
the most southerly. Its coast and river beach resorts lure holiday­makers. The
valleys had booming settlements for border with Finland lies along the Torne
many centuries. But today commercial river, and here the phrase “two countries,
activity is concentrated in towns such as one people” is the most applicable.
Umeå, with its university and youthful Lappland borders Norway in the west
population, and Skellefteå, known as the and Finland in the northeast, but for
“Town of Gold” because of its proximity the Sami (Lapp) people their land extends
to two of Europe’s largest gold deposits. beyond official boundaries, across the
Inland, the wilderness takes hold with vast mountains and forests and down to
tracts of forest and marsh. After a journey the coast, where their thriving culture
between Lycksele and Sorsele, Carl von of reindeer herding, hunting and fishing
Linné wrote: “A priest could never make prevail. Known as Laponia, this area is also
Hell sound worse than this.” But with a UNESCO World Heritage Site. National
modern transport, today’s traveller can parks such as Sarek protect the alpine
look forward to outdoor adventures landscape with its glaciers and waterfalls.
and wildlife in this unspoilt landscape. The main towns of Kiruna and Gällivare in
North of Västerbotten, Norrbotten’s northern Lappland owe their existence to
coastline harbours features of rural culture the mining industry.

Dog sledding in Jukkasjärvi, Lapland
The amazing spectacle of the Northern Lights over the frozen forests near Kiruna

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