Øvre Dividal National Park ( no, Øvre Dividal nasjonalpark; sme, Dieváidvuovddi álbmotmeahcci) is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in Målselv Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The park was opened in 1971 and has an area of . The original intention was to preserve a very little disturbed inland valley and mountain area. The hiking trail

Nordkalottruta Nordkalottruta or Arctic Trail (Finnish: ''Kalottireitti'', Swedish: ''Nordkalottleden'') is a marked hiking trail in the Arctic region of the Nordic countries. It has a total length of and lies along the border of Norway, Sweden and Finland. It ...

passes through the national park.

Name

The first element in the name ''Dividal'' is from the river name ''Divielva'' (literally ''Divi River''). ''Divi'' is form the Northern Sami language word ''dievvá'' which means 'round and dry hill'. The last element is from the Norwegian language word ''dal'' which means 'dale' or 'valley'. The word ''øvre'' means 'upper' in Norwegian, thus 'the upper part of Dividal'.

Nature

Flora

Pine forests at the lowest elevations give way to mountain birch higher up, and finally willow and dwarf birch on the open

alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...

. Some

grey alder ''Alnus incana'', the grey alder or speckled alder, is a species of multi-stemmed, shrubby tree in the birch family, with a wide range across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Tolerant of wetter soils, it can slowly spread with runners ...

(''Alnus incana'') grows along the Divi river. A total of 315 plant species have been recorded.

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

(''Rhododendron lapponicum'') grows naturally in the area.

Fauna

All large predators on the mainland are represented in the park ( brown bear, wolf, wolverine,

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

), although wolf is rare and probably has no permanent presence. The wolverine is especially numerous in this area. Reindeer (Sami-owned) are common, as are moose, and the Arctic fox used to be living in the area.

Climate

At above sea level, Dividalen is the second-driest valley in Norway, with average annual precipitation only . The monthly 24-hour averages for the same location varies from in January to in July with a mean annual of . There is no

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

in the lower elevations of the park. At altitudes above , permafrost is common. The Øvre Dividal National Park starts at an elevation of about and reaches up to . Together with areas in bordering

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, as well as almost undisturbed areas nearby in Norway, this park is part of a larger wilderness area.

Geology

The bedrock consists of

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** Co ...

, sandstone and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

. Several rivers have carved ravines. A peculiarity is large rocks placed at unlikely locations. These were carried by the ice-age glaciers, and deposited randomly at the end of the ice age.

References

External links

*
English language information about Øvre-Dividal-National park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ovre Dividal National Park National parks of Norway Protected areas established in 1971 Protected areas of Troms og Finnmark Tourist attractions in Troms og Finnmark 1971 establishments in Norway Målselv