Inlandsvägen (''The Inland Road'') is a road passing through the center of

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 ...

from

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

in the south to

Karesuando Karesuando (; or ; Northern Sámi: ; Meänkieli: ''Karesuanto'') is the northernmost locality in Sweden. It is situated in Kiruna Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden, with 303 inhabitants in 2010 and 350 in 2011. It is a church village, l ...

in the north. Inlandsvägen is at the same time the

European route E45 in Sweden {{Short description, Highway in Sweden European route E45 in Sweden, previously Swedish national road 45, is a national road and the longest road in Sweden, with a length of 1,690 km (1,050 mi). It is one of the longest national roads in Europe. ...

. The term Inlandsvägen is also used about Riksväg 26 (''National Road 26'') that begins in

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational urban areas of Sweden, city at the mouth of the Nissan (river), Nissan river, in the provinces of Sweden, province of Halland on the Sweden, Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat ...

in the south and ends in

Mora Mora may refer to: People * José Maria Mora (1847–1926), Cuban-American photographer, often credited as "Mora" * Mora (singer) (born 1996), a Puerto Rican singer * Mora (surname), a Spanish name (includes a list of people with the name) Plac ...

in the midst of Sweden, even though this is called Inlandsvägen Syd (''The Inland Road South'').

The route

Starting in

by the Kattegatt in southwestern Sweden, the road passes

Lake Vänern A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

to the west through

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

and

Dalarna Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Nor ...

Lake Siljan Siljan, in Dalarna in central Sweden, is Sweden's seventh largest lake. The cumulative area of Siljan and the adjacent, smaller lakes Orsasjön and Insjön is . Siljan reaches a maximum depth of , and its surface is situated above sea level. Th ...

. The road then continues via Orsa through

Härjedalen Härjedalen () is a historical province (''landskap'') in the centre of Sweden. It borders the Norwegian county of Trøndelag, as well as the provinces of Dalarna, Hälsingland, Medelpad and Jämtland. The province originally belonged to Norway, ...

and

Jämtland Jämtland () is a historical provinces of Sweden, province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland, Sweden, Lapland to the north and Trøndelag and Norw ...

Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...

at the Lake Storsjön. From then on the route goes through Lapland and its

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

, via the towns

Vilhelmina Vilhelmina ( Southern Sami: ''Vualtjere'') is a locality and the central town of Vilhelmina Municipality in Västerbotten County, in the province of Lapland, Sweden with 3,657 inhabitants in 2010. Vilhelmina is situated by Lake Volgsjön in the ...

Storuman Storuman (, Ume Sami language, Ume Sami: ''Lusspie'') is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Storuman Municipality in Västerbotten County, provinces of Sweden, province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland, Sweden with 2,207 inhabitants in 2 ...

Arvidsjaur Arvidsjaur (; ; ) is a locality and the seat of Arvidsjaur Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 4,635 inhabitants in 2010. Arvidsjaur is a center for the European car industry. During the winter months, major car-m ...

Jokkmokk Jokkmokk () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Jokkmokk Municipality in Norrbotten County, provinces of Sweden, province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland, Sweden, with 2,786 inhabitants in 2010. The Lule Sámi name of the place (compos ...

and

Gällivare Gällivare (; ; or ; or ; ) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns Malmberget ...

to its northern terminus in

at the Finnish border. Inlandsvägen is simultaneously the European route E45 in Sweden, between

and

Svappavaara Svappavaara ( Meänkieli: ''Vaskivuori'') is a locality situated in Kiruna Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 417 inhabitants in 2010. It is a mining village. Mining was started around 1650. Large scale iron mining started in 1965. The ...

it is also the

European route E10 European route E10 is the second shortest Class A road which is part of the International E-road network. It begins in Å, Norway, and ends in Luleå, Sweden. The road is about in length. The Norwegian part of the road is also named Kong Ol ...

. The European route E45 and Riksväg 26 follows the same route for approximately between Johannisholm and Mora, the latter being the end of the road for Riksväg 26. Only the first few kilometers of road after Gothenburg is

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

. Most parts of Inlandsvägen have just two lanes with two-way-traffic; a wide asphalted road that follows the terrain. About south of Jokkmokk Inlandsvägen crosses 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 ...

at . Inlandsvägen Syd (''The Inland Road South'') is a term used about Riksväg 26 (''National Road 26'') that begins in Halmstad in the south and ends in Mora in the midst of Sweden, The most parts of Inlandsvägen Syd also just have two lanes with two-way-traffic.

History

The name is related to the famous

Inland Line The Inland Line () is a railway line between Kristinehamn and Gällivare in Sweden. It runs through the central parts of northern Sweden, and was built between 1908 and 1937. History There were several reasons for constructing the railway. ...

(''Inlandsbanan''), a railroad line that used to run almost parallel between

Kristinehamn Kristinehamn is a locality and the seat of Kristinehamn Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden, with 24,053 inhabitants in 2022. Geography Kristinehamn is situated by the shores of lake Vänern where the small rivers ''Varnan'' and ''Löt'' ...

and Mora (Riksväg 26), and still today nearly always runs parallel to the road between Mora and Gällivare (European route E45). The communities and small towns with direct connections to the road have financed the marketing of Inlandsvägen. They tried to make drivers (especially tourists) use the road through the center of Sweden, and hoped that more people would choose Inlandsvägen instead of the

European route E4 European route E4 passes from north to south through Sweden from the border with Finland, with a total length of . The Finnish part lies entirely within Tornio in northern Finland, and is only long. The Swedish part traverses most of Sweden e ...

to the east, which is in better condition and also faster as an alternative route. Originally Inlandsvägen was not a

European Route The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Central ...

. Until the end of 2006 the road was the Swedish national road 45.

The route

History

References

See also