Nikkaluokta () is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

village in

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares border ...

. The village belongs to

Gällivare Municipality Gällivare Municipality ( sv, Gällivare kommun, fi, Jällivaaran kunta, no, Gällivare kommune, se, Jiellevárri gielda or ''Váhčira gielda'') is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is Gällivare. The municipa ...

, bordering Kiruna Municipality, the closest urban area some 60 kilometers away. In its vicinity lie the areas of two Sami communities, Laevas and Girjas, who still herd semi-domesticated reindeer in the region. Nikkaluokta has a mountain lodge, complete with a small grocery store and restaurant, a chapel, and, during the summer months, a commercial helicopter base. It is a popular starting point for several hiking and skiing trails in the

Kebnekaise Kebnekaise (; from Sami or , "Cauldron Crest") is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif, which is part of the Scandinavian mountain range, has two main peaks. The glaciated southern peak used to be the highest at above sea leve ...

area, including the notable

Kungsleden Kungsleden (King's Trail) is a hiking trail in northern Sweden, approximately long, between Abisko in the north and Hemavan in the south. It passes through, near the southern end, the Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve, one of the largest protected ...

. On foot, it takes around five hours to travel the 19 kilometer distance between the two mountain lodges in Nikkaluokta and Kebnekaise. Nikkaluokta is sited in the centre of three valleys, where the tarmac road from Kiruna Municipality ends. To travel farther, trails and mountain paths of varying size and condition must be used. Nikkaluokta Bay in Lake Ladtjojaure is also the starting point for the water route into scenic Vistas Valley.

Image gallery

File:Nikkaluokta July 2012.jpg, Aerial view of Nikkaluokta from nearby height File:Nikkaluokta_kyrka_view1.jpg, The chapel File:Nikkaluokta mountains.jpg, The tarmac road leading into Nikkaluokta File:Nikkaluoktavägen March 2008.jpg, The same road in winter

Climate

Nikkaluokta has an arctic climate ( Dfc) since only one month exceeding means above 10 degrees with long and very cold winters followed by short summers with moderate temperatures and perpetual daylight to the

midnight sun The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, t ...

polar night The polar night is a phenomenon where the nighttime lasts for more than 24 hours that occurs in the northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnig ...

-circle. Considering its far northerly latitudes, winters are less extreme than on similar latitudes elsewhere in the world, but temperatures below are not infrequent, as are yearly frosts during the midnight sun period, with May lows averaging below freezing.

References

{{authority control Tourist attractions in Norrbotten County Populated places in Gällivare Municipality Lapland (Sweden) Kebnekaise