Karesuando (; fi, Kaaresuvanto or ;

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 ...

: , or ) is the northernmost locality in Sweden. It is situated in Kiruna Municipality,

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 ...

, with 303 inhabitants in 2010 and 350 in 2011. It is a church village, located alongside the

Muonio River The Muonio ( fi, Muonionjoki; sv, Muonio älv ; fit, Muonionväylä) is a river in northern Finland and Sweden. It is a tributary of the Tornio. Together the two rivers form the national border between Finland and Sweden Sweden, formal ...

on the border with Finland. The Finnish village of

Karesuvanto Karesuvanto or Kaaresuvanto ( se, Gárasavvon, sv, Karesuando) is a village in Enontekiö municipality, located in Finnish Lapland, the largest and northernmost region in Finland. It is located on the Muonio River, which follows Finland's wes ...

(population about 140) is located on the Finnish side of the river. According to Finnish tradition, they are one and the same village (with a combined population of about 470), but are usually considered to be separate villages since there is a national border between them (although both are called Karesuvanto in Finnish). The village's buildings were built in 1670, when Måns Mårtensson Karesuando, called "Hyvä Maunu Martinpoika" in Finnish and "Good Maunu, Son of Martin" in English, bought land from

Henrik Nilsson Nikkas. The Lutheran

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Lars Levi Laestadius served in Karesuando from 1826 to 1849. It was here that he founded the revivalist movement known to this day as

Laestadianism Laestadianism, also known as Laestadian Lutheranism and Apostolic Lutheranism, is a pietistic Lutheran revival movement started in Sápmi in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Swedish Lutheran state church administrator and temperanc ...

. The area is traditionally Finnish speaking, and the border was drawn for political reasons in 1809, not because of any cultural or any other border existing at that time. There was not even a parish border, so

Karesuando Church The Karesuando Church ( sv, Karesuando kyrka) is a wooden church building in Karesuando, Sweden. Belonging to the Karesuando Parish of the Church of Sweden. It was inaugurated on 3 December 1905 by Bishop Olof Bergqvist of the Diocese of Luleå ...

was built because the older church was on the Finnish side. School and church influences have since resulted in cultural and linguistic differences. The area had a training camp for the

Norwegian police troops in Sweden during World War II The Norwegian police troops in Sweden during World War II consisted of around 15,000 men, recruited from Norwegian refugees and trained at a number of secret camps in Sweden. Background During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany many Norwegi ...

. Karesuando is located along the

European route E45 The European route E45 goes between Norway and Italy, through Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria. With a length of about , it is the longest north–south European route (some east–west routes are longer). The route passes throug ...

, and is the northern terminus of Swedish national road 99.

Climate

Karesuando has a continental type of 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 ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfc'') with short and cool summers and long, cold and sometimes very cold winters. Snowfall varies from year to year, but is often quite moderate due to dry polar air. Still, accumulation in spring is usually quite high since the snow cover does not thaw at all during winter due to the cold averages. The warmest temperature of the month usually goes above freezing in winter, but for very brief spells. Summers on the other hand, see quite a bit of rainfall. With Karesuando being quite far inland, it is prone both to sizeable warmth for short spells and temperatures either approaching or below . In spite of this cold, however, Karesuando sees some moderation from the

North Atlantic Current The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. The NAC originates from wher ...

passing by Scandinavia's western shore near land on those latitudes, which results in winter temperatures being less severe than some climates on latitudes way further south. Due to its high latitude, Karesuando experiences

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 ...

and

polar night The polar night is a phenomenon where the nighttime lasts for more than 24 hours that occurs in the northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnig ...

. The

UV index The ultraviolet index, or UV index, is an international standard measurement of the strength of the sunburn-producing ultraviolet (UV) radiation at a particular place and time. It is primarily used in daily and hourly forecasts aimed at the general ...

in summer is low due to the high latitude. Karesuando itself is below the arctic

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

. The road on the Finnish side of the river however has bushes and marginal taiga north of the Karesuando area. To its south, west and east, boreal forest begin. Higher areas nearby are tundra. The snow depth is usually modest due to the relative dryness of winters. It was not measured between 2013 and 2018 until the SMHI restored the snow depth station in early 2019.

References

External links

* {{authority control Populated places in Kiruna Municipality Lapland (Sweden) Divided cities Finland–Sweden border crossings Populated places in Arctic Sweden

Climate

See also

References

External links