Kolmården () is a long and wide densely forested rocky ridge that separates the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

and

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

, two of the country's main

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

areas, from each other, and in historic times, along with

Tylöskog Tylöskog is a forested area in southeast Sweden, intersected by many faults, running from east to west between the agricultural plains of the counties of Närke and Östergötland. Together with Tiveden to its west and Kolmården to its east, ...

and

Tiveden Tiveden is a long and wide densely forested rocky ridge in Sweden, throughout history notorious for its wilderness and dangers; historically a hiding place for outlaws. In historic times it, along with Tylöskog and Kolmården, formed the border b ...

, formed the border between the land of the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

and the land of the

Geats The Geats ( ; ; ; ), sometimes called ''Geats#Goths, Goths'', were a large North Germanic peoples, North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of ...

History

In early

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times it was seen as a major obstacle in land travel between the regions, and so the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

was largely used instead. Together with the extensive forests of

and

to its west, Kolmården formed a major impediment for travel between the

Svealand Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south-central Sweden and is one of the three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tive ...

to the north and the

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...

, which caused peaceful and warlike interaction to be conducted by water. In the Icelandic text ''

Sögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum ''Sögubrot af nokkurum fornkonungum í Dana- ok Svíaveldi'' ("Fragment of a Saga about Certain Ancient Kings in Denmark and Sweden", often abbreviated to ''Sögubrot'' or ''Sögubrot af fornkonungum'') is a fragmentary Old Icelandic text dealing ...

'', Kolmården between Svealand and

is described as the border between Sweden and Östergötland (..). It also appears as

Mirkwood Mirkwood is any of several great dark forests in novels by Sir Walter Scott and William Morris in the 19th century, and by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 20th century. The critic Tom Shippey explains that the name evoked the excitement of the wildness ...

in some editions of Sögubrot, in the legend of

Helgi Hundingsbane Helgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in '' Volsunga saga'' and in two lays in the ''Poetic Edda'' named '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. The ''Poetic Edda'' relates that Helgi and his mist ...

and probably also in ''

Völundarkviða ''Vǫlundarkviða'' (Old Norse: 'The lay of Völund'; modern Icelandic spelling: ''Völundarkviða'') is one of the mythological poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. The title is anglicized in various ways, including ''Völundarkvitha'', ''Völundarkv ...

''.

Geography

The forest is divided between

Norrköping Municipality Norrköping Municipality () is a municipality in Östergötland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Norrköping, with some 90,000 inhabitants. It is the largest municipality in Östergötland. By the time of the local g ...

and

Nyköping Municipality Nyköping Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Södermanland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city status in Sweden, city of Nyköping, which is containing a majority of the residents. Its southern t ...

on either side of the regional border. The Östergötland side has the majority of the population, centred in the village of

Krokek Krokek is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 4,285 inhabitants in 2010. It is the main settlement of Kolmården and located a few kilometres away from the Södermanland Coun ...

. Settlements

Strömsfors Strömsfors () is a locality situated in Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It bor ...

and Kvarsebo are also included on that side of the border. The Södermanland side has the small settlements of Kila,

Stavsjö Stavsjö is a locality situated in Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 212 inhabitants in 2010. Elections Stavsjö and Ålberga are the two main settlements of the Kila electoral ward. Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also ...

and

Ålberga Ålberga (local pronunciation ''Ålbärja'') is a locality situated in Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula ...

in Nyköping's Kila district named after river

Kilaån Kilaån is a river primarily running through the southern parts of Södermanland County in Sweden. Its exodus is in south Nyköping on the Södermanland coast. The river's mouth is only a few hundred metres from the larger river of Nyköpingsån. T ...

that flows through Kolmården towards the

. Today the forest is traversed by the

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

–

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden, with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

railway 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 ...

, the

–

Katrineholm Katrineholm (pronunciation: or ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Katrineholm Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 24,271 inhabitants in 2018. It is located in the inland of Södermanland and is the third largest ur ...

railway, and the E4

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

, all connecting southern Sweden with

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and the

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

region. Along the former there is also a Kolmården railway station, at Krokek next to

Bråviken Bråviken is a bay of the Baltic Sea that is located near Norrköping in Östergötland, Sweden. It is an example of a fjard A fjard (, ) is a large open space of water between groups of islands or mainland in archipelagos. Fjards can be found ...

Climate

Kolmården has a climate that is a hybrid between

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

and

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

with some differences between lower, coastal parts, and the higher forested hills. The Kolmården weather station is located at above sea level and therefore has some

orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

, resulting in increased rainfall for the region. Its position in a hill lowers daytime highs compared to the municipal seat of

, while lows remain similar to the lower elevation. The elevated nature Kolmården has an effect on rainfall east of it, splitting many fronts in two, creating a micro version of a

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

. As a result, the climates right on the coastline of

Oxelösund Oxelösund is a locality and the seat of Oxelösund Municipality in Södermanland County, Sweden with 11,488 inhabitants in 2018. It is located less than south from the city centre of its larger neighbour, Nyköping, with the two urban areas form ...

and

become drier than the waterfront next to the Kolmården hills.

Kolmården Wildlife Park

The Kolmården Wildlife Park, opened in 1965, overlooks

bay. This zoo includes the only dolphinarium in Sweden.

Notes

External links