Sonfjället, also spelled Sånfjället (;

local dialect Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

: ''Sôna''), 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 ...

situated in

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

, in central

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 ...

. It was established in 1909, making it one of Europe's oldest national parks. Following a land extension in 1989, it now covers . The mountainous area is filled with large boulders, intersected by streaming lakes. Trailing around the mountain area is also a widespread forest area. The park is noted for the animals living in it: a resident

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

tribe, and a large elk tribe. Other animals are also common, including

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

and

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 ...

Etymology

The national park is named after the mountain ''Sonfjället'' which reaches above sea level. The exact meaning of the word ''son'' in this context is not known. It may be related to the

Old West 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 settlement ...

word ''sunna'', meaning

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, and Sonfjället would thus literally mean "the sun

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

". This theory has however been disputed and claimed to be inconsistent with the local pronunciation. From 1919 to 2010, the name was officially spelled as ''Sånfjället'', which the governing body thought better represented the pronunciation, however in June 2010, the official spelling was reverted to Sonfjället.

References

External links

*
Sweden's National Parks: Sånfjället National Park
from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonfjallet National parks of Sweden Protected areas established in 1909 1909 establishments in Sweden Geography of Jämtland County Tourist attractions in Jämtland County