Ljusnan (from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ''Lusn'' —

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in Sweden, which is 440 kilometers long. The river starts in northwestern

Härjedalen Härjedalen (; no, Herjådalen or ) is a historical province (''landskap'') in the centre of Sweden. It borders the Norwegian county of Trøndelag as well as the provinces of Dalarna, Hälsingland, Medelpad, and Jämtland. The province origi ...

and then continues throughout the province into

Hälsingland Hälsingland (), sometimes referred to as Helsingia in English, is a historical province or ''landskap'' in central Sweden. It borders Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is part of the land of Norrland. ...

all the way to the

Bothnian Sea The Bothnian Sea ( sv, Bottenhavet; fi, Selkämeri) links the Bothnian Bay (also called the Bay of Bothnia) with the Baltic proper. Kvarken is situated between the two. Together, the Bothnian Sea and Bay make up a larger geographical entity, t ...

. The biggest

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

is Voxnan. The river is heavily used for hydropower with 18 hydro powerplants. During 2001 Ljusnan produced 4,5 TWh.

References

Rivers of Jämtland County Härjedalen Hälsingland Drainage basins of the Baltic Sea {{Sweden-river-stub