Raudvatnet ( en, the red lake) is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the municipality of

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a histori ...

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The

European route E12 European route E12 is a road that is part of the International E-road network. It begins in Mo i Rana, Norway, transverses Sweden and ends in Helsinki, Finland, with a ferry line between Sweden and Finland. The part within Finland is Finnish n ...

highway passes along the northern and eastern shores of the lake between the town of

Mo i Rana Mo i Rana () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city, and the administrative centre of the Municipalities of Norway, municipality of Rana, Norway, Rana, in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Helgeland region of Nordland, just sou ...

and the border with

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 ...

. A

Red cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

hut (''Rauvasshytta'') is located east of the lake Raudvatnet. Water flows into the lake Raudvatnet primarily from the nearby lake Tverrvatnet to the south. From Raudvatnet, the water flows into the river

Tverråga Tverråga is a river in the municipality of Rana in Nordland county, Norway. The river flows from lake Tverrvatnet north until it joins the river Ranelva. The river absorbs seven other rivers during its course, the last one by ''Hamaren'' near ...

, a tributary to the main river

Ranelva Ranelva is a long river in the municipality of Rana, Norway, Rana in Nordland county, Norway. It is one of the longest rivers in Nordland county. The Drainage basin, catchment area of the river is . Before the power stations of ''Reinforsen'' ( ...

. Raudvatnet is rich on

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

and

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populatio ...

, and is a popular lake for hobby fishermen, both in the summer and the winter (

ice fishing Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities. Shelters Longer ...

). Raudvatnet and the surrounding area is a popular recreation area. ''Blåvegenløpet Skifestival'' ("the Blue road ski festival") begins at Raudvatnet. It is organized by the

IL Stålkameratene Idrettslaget Stålkameratene, Stål for short, is a Norwegian sports club from Mo i Rana, Nordland. It has sections for judo, biathlon, Nordic skiing and football. History The club was founded on 11 January 1935 as ''Mo AIL'', a club with mem ...

sports club. There are also about 550 cabins located around the lake, and work is going on to make electricity available to their owners.

Name

Raudvatnet has its name from the mountain Raudfjellet ("the red mountain"), north of the lake. The mountain is red due to

hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...

, which historically was extracted in order to make house paint in

. From 1911 to 1919, the mining company ''Bossmo Gruber'' extracted

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...

from ''Raudfjellet'' in the mine ''Mossgruven''.

Hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...

from this red mountain was also the source of house painting in Northern

. It explains why most houses there are red, and also the

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 ...

common name ''den Røda Stugan'' ("the red house") when referring to their homes in the Swedish municipalities of

Sorsele Sorsele (; sma, Suarsa; Ume Sami: ) is a locality and the seat of Sorsele Municipality in Västerbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 1,277 inhabitants in 2010. Sorsele is also the nearest town to the ski resort Nalovardo. It is known ...

and

Storuman Storuman ( sma, Luspie, Ume Sami: ''Lusspie'') is a locality and the seat of Storuman Municipality in Västerbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 2,207 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated by the Ume River, at the southeastern end of ...

. The lake ''Litle Raudvatn'' ("small Raudvatn") is located nearby in the

Plura River Plura is a river in the municipality of Rana in Nordland county, Norway. The river begins at the lake Kallvatnet, flows through the Plurdalen valley, and ends up as a tributary to the river Ranelva, about north of the town of Mo i Rana. The r ...

watershed. In order to distinguish between these lakes, Raudvatnet is sometimes also called ''Store Raudvatn'' ("large Raudvatn").

Inhabitants

The lake Raudvatnet is located in

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 ...

territory, where the traditional speakers of the

Ume Sami language ''Prunus mume'' is an East Asian and Southeast Asian tree species classified in the ''Armeniaca'' section of the genus ''Prunus'' subgenus ''Prunus''. Its common names include Chinese plum, Japanese plum, and Japanese apricot. The flower, long ...

once flourished. Breeding

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

is an essential part of the economy of the Samis around the lake. During wintertime the reindeer are corralled east of the lake Raudvatnet and south of the mountain Raudfjellet. In the summertime, they graze on grass in the areas east of Raudvatnet and south of Tverrvatnet. File:Reindeers on eastern shores of Raudvatnet A.JPG File:Reindeers on eastern shores of Raudvatnet B.JPG File:Reindeers on eastern shores of Raudvatnet C.JPG File:Reindeers on eastern shores of Raudvatnet D.JPG File:Reindeers on eastern shores of Raudvatnet E.JPG File:Reindeers on eastern shores of Raudvatnet F.JPG File:Reindeers on eastern shores of Raudvatnet G.JPG

Media Gallery

Winter

File:Raudvatnet Wintertime A.JPG, Eastern side File:Raudvatnet wintertime.JPG, Eastern side File:Raudvatnet Wintertime B.JPG, Eastern side

Summer

File:Raudvatnet A.JPG, Northern side File:Raudvatnet B.JPG, Northern side File:Raudvatnet C.JPG, Northern side File:Raudvatnet D.JPG, Northern side File:Raudvatnet E.JPG, Eastern side File:Raudvatnet F.JPG, Eastern side File:Raudvatnet G.JPG, Eastern side File:Raudvatnet H.JPG, Eastern side File:Raudvatnet I.JPG, Eastern side File:Raudvatnet J.JPG, Eastern side

Autumn

File:RaudvatnetAutumn A.JPG, Eastern side File:RaudvatnetAutumn B.JPG, Eastern side File:RaudvatnetAutumn C.JPG, Eastern side File:RaudvatnetAutumn D.JPG, Eastern side

Name

Inhabitants

Media Gallery

Winter

Summer

Autumn

See also

References

Literature

Notes