Bastuträsk (;) is a locality situated in

Norsjö Municipality Norsjö Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its administrative centre, seat is located in Norsjö. In 1974 Norsjö and Malå Municipality, Malå municipalities were amalgamated, ...

Västerbotten County Västerbotten County (), sometimes called Westrobothnia, is a county or '' län'' in the north of Sweden. It shares the borders with the counties of Västernorrland, Jämtland, and Norrbotten, as well as the Norwegian county of Nordland and the ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

with 392 inhabitants in 2010. The village was mainly constructed around its

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

being built there in 1892, when a railway line connecting Långsele and Boden opened. In the 1950s, Bastuträsk had as much as approximately 1000 inhabitants but has since then become strongly depopulated. Bastuträsk has many small

businesses Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

, among those persistent for decades have been a

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

factory and a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

/woodshop. It is also still a fairly trafficked railway hub, which serves

Skellefteå Skellefteå (, locally ) is a Cities in Sweden, city in Västerbotten County, Sweden, with a population of 36,388. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 77,322 inhabitants in 2024. The city is historically industrial, with mining ...

(approximately 40 km to the east) via buses. Approximately 5 kilometers north from the town, along the lake after which it is named (''Bastuträsket'') is the traditional village ''Bastuträsk By''. Bastuträsk is located just 200 km south of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. With only three months of the year having average temperatures over 10 °C it features a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental 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 ...

which however like the rest of northern Sweden has surprisingly mild winters due to oceanic influences such as the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

. During his return journey in 1917,

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

passed Bastuträsk on the way to the Russian border in

Haparanda Haparanda (; Meänkieli and Finnish: ''Haaparanta'', ) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda has a population of 9,166 inhabitants (2024). Haparanda is ...

Tornio Tornio (; ; ; ) is a city and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border Twin cities, twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is wat ...

, getting off in order to change trains. The name of the town is attested since 1619 and is named after the adjacent lake Bastuträsket, attested since 1553. The name consists of ''bastu'' ’fireplace-equipped building for temporary dwelling or food-drying’ + ''träsk'' ’large lake’.

References

Populated places in Norsjö Municipality {{Västerbotten-geo-stub