Abisko National Park ( sv, Abisko nationalpark) is a National Park in Sweden, established in 1909.

Geography

Abisko is situated in the Swedish province of Lapland near the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

border (distance approx. by railway), and belongs to Kiruna Municipality, Sweden's northernmost and largest municipality. It begins at the shores of

Torneträsk Torneträsk or Torne träsk (; Saami: ; Finnish and fit, Tornio or ) is a lake in Kiruna Municipality, Lapland, Norrbotten County in Sweden, in the Scandinavian Mountains. ''Träsk'' is the local word for ''lake'' (in Standard Swedish it me ...

, one of Sweden's largest lakes where the village of Abisko is located, and extends some to the south-west. It is situated about . north of the Arctic Circle. The area of the park is Permafrost is common in the national park, though permafrost at lower elevations is disappearing because of

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and increased snowfall.

History

The park was proposed and established in 1909, the same year Sweden's first laws on nature conservation were created, by a group of prominent Swedish scientists, including the well-known geologist . The purpose of the Abisko National Park was to "preserve an area with northern Nordic fell nature in its original condition and as a reminiscence for scientific research". The region has proved to be of much scientific interest, as is shown by the Abisko Scientific Research Station which exists to study the area. Furthermore, the national park was intended to be a prominent tourist attraction. Abisko is also home to the Abisko Scientific Research Station, first established in 1903 approximately 31 km west of Abisko in Vassijaure. After a fire in 1910 a new station was built in its present location in Abisko in 1912 and opening in 1913. The research station was incorporated within the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1935. It is used primarily for biological, climate, ecological, environmental, and geological research and contains on-site laboratories as well as off-site field research stations.

Tourism

The long

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 protec ...

hiking trail, which follows the

Scandinavian mountain range The Scandinavian Mountains or the Scandes is a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula. The western sides of the mountains drop precipitously into the North Sea and Norwegian Sea, forming the fjords of Norway, whereas to the ...

, starts (or ends) at the Abisko Turiststation (consisting of a railway station of the same name and the Abisko Youth Hostel) (approx. west of the village itself) and follows through the national park. The Nordkalottruta uses trails of the park as part of its longer passage. The ''Abisko Turiststation'', run by the Svenska Turistföreningen (STF), houses many visitors to the park and provides lodging, food, and other amenities, and is one of many similar facilities located periodically along the Kungsleden trail. The national park is known for its cross-country skiing opportunities,

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

ing, and other winter sports (Mount Nuolja and nearby Björkliden provides

backcountry skiing Backcountry skiing ( US), also called off-piste (Europe), alpine touring, or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which i ...

and freeriding opportunities). As its location is 195 km north of the Arctic Circle, summer hikers enjoy 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, ...

, while winter visitors may find the light pollution-free location ideal for viewing the

aurora borealis An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

Transportation

Daily passenger electric trains run by SJ AB connect Stockholm with the Norwegian city of Narvik, stopping at both the Abisko village (the name of that railway station is ''Abisko Östra'' ast and the Abisko Turiststation. Additional regional trains provide links within the Kiruna-Narvik stretch. Abisko is also reachable by car via the highway E10 which links Kiruna and Narvik since early 1980s. Other local forms of local transportation include hiking and dog-sledding in winter. A chair-lift provides access to the summit of nearby Mt. Nuolja.

Animals

There are many species of birds in the park. Of the mammals, smaller ones like the marten,

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

, squirrel, the fell

lemming A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also includ ...

and similar are common parts of the fauna. Of larger animals, the

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

and

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 sub ...

are common, and moose droppings and tracks are found; however,

wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in ...

es, lynx and bears are only seen sporadically.

Image gallery

File:Abisko snow.jpg, Abisko National Park in winter File:Abiskojåkka.jpg, Abiskojåkka File:Aurora near Abisko, Sweden, 2.jpg, Aurora near Abisko File:Lapporten.jpg, View from Björkliden with ''Lapporten'' in the background File:Abisko National Park.jpg, Picture of

Nuolja Nuolja, also known as Njulla, is a field research site in Sweden that stretches across Mt. Njulla. With the mountain to the east, the village of Abisko to the south, and bordering Lake Torneträsk, this is a varied-habitat field site. Mountain bi ...

References

External links

Sweden's National Parks: Abisko National Park
from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Abisko, official site
In Swedish, English, Japanese

at the official mountain page of Norrbotten County, www.fjallen.nu
Abisko Scientific Research Station

Photos of Abisko National Park

{{authority control National parks of Sweden Protected areas established in 1909 1909 establishments in Sweden Geography of Norrbotten County Tourist attractions in Norrbotten County Lapland (Sweden)