Ritsem, among other things has a hydroelectric plant(320MW,160m) which is located where the lake Sitasjaure falls into

Akkajaure Akkajaure (from smj, Áhkájávrre) is one of the largest reservoirs in Sweden. It lies at the headwaters of the Lule River in Norrbotten County, in Swedish Lappland, within the Stora Sjöfallet national park. The lake formed after the cons ...

by a constructed tunnel(16 km made by:"Swedish state powerboard"Vattenfall""). It is located within

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The location also has a camp used by the

Sami people 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 ...

, and there is even a mountain cabin and Caravan camp run by the

Svenska Turistföreningen The Swedish Tourist Association ( sv, Svenska Turistföreningen, ; abbreviated STF), founded in 1885, aims at promoting outdoor life and knowledge among the Swedes about their country. The Association maintains a variety of trails, huts and host ...

.http://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/sv/upptack/Omraden/Lappland/Fjallstugor/STF-Fjallstuga-ritsem/
/ref> The cabin is mostly used by tourists who are traveling to/from Northern

Padjelanta Padjelanta ( sv, Padjelanta nationalpark) is a national park in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Established in 1963, it is the largest national park in Sweden with an area of , and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Laponia establis ...

and Northern

Sarek Sarek is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He is a Vulcan astrophysicist, the Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, and father of Spock. The character was originally played by Mark Lenard in the epi ...

and are using the ferry (run by

) across

. Ritsem is located near the

Stora Sjöfallet National Park Stora Sjöfallet (, ; smj, Stuor Muorkke, lit=Great Portage) is a national park in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden, in Gällivare Municipality and Jokkmokk Municipality. The national park is and the third-largest in Sweden. The park ...

. There is a regular bus line between Ritsem and Gällivare during both summer and winter.

Climate

Ritsem has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

that is significantly moderated by the North Atlantic Current outside of the nearby Norwegian coastline. As a result, summers are chilly and winters cold, but not severely cold when compared to areas on such northerly latitudes elsewhere in the world. Given its very high latitude, Ritsem sees a long

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 ...

period in summer, whereas a shorter polar night period with significant twilight hours occurs in winter. Due to the low sun however, summers can see frost well inside the midnight sun period. Ritsem's all-time June cold record is lower than any other of the 100 stations featured in the national weather service's monthly reports. It does have to be taken into account that these records only date back to 1981. By the time Atlantic depressions set in during late autumn, temperatures are far milder in Ritsem than further east and even further south in

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

. Days above freezing are common throughout November. The ensuing winters very seldom see temperatures fall below , unlike in the aforementioned areas. Even though the maritime air is strong during winter, precipitation in form of snow is normally not extreme in raw content, although large snowpacks form due to the lack of thaws.

References

External links

Svenska Turistföreningen
{{authority control Populated places in Gällivare Municipality Lapland (Sweden)