or is a river 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 river flows out of the eastern part of the lake

Virvatnet or is a lake in the municipality of Rana in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the southeastern corner of the municipality, about south of the mountain Bolna and less than west of the border with Sweden. See also * List of lakes in N ...

. The stream ''Boneselva'' meets Virvasselva about east of the lake

. This is a large, continuous, very rich and untouched

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

area with tarns,

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 wate ...

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es, and very tight vegetation. Virvasselva has a good population of

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 populat ...

. After about , the river Virvasselva reaches a pumping station where most of the water is diverted through a tunnel to flow west to supply the Rana power station. The much smaller river then continues north and meets 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'' ( ...

at ''Elvmøtheia'' in the

Dunderland Valley The Dunderland Valley ( no, Dunderlandsdalen, smj, Dunndaravuobme) is a valley in the municipality of Rana in Nordland county, Norway. It reaches from just below the eastern Saltfjellet plateau about south of the Arctic circle. The mountain ...

Media gallery

Virvasselva A.JPG, The lowest part of Virvasselva Virvasselva B.JPG, The lowest part of Virvasselva Virvasselva C.JPG, The lowest part of Virvasselva Virvasselva E.JPG, Virvasselvas meeting with Ranelva (on the right)

References

Rana, Norway Rivers of Nordland Rivers of Norway {{Norway-river-stub