Norrbotten County (,

Meänkieli (literally 'our language'), or Tornedalian is a Finnic language or a group of distinct Finnish dialects spoken in the northernmost part of Sweden, particularly along the Torne River Valley. It is officially recognized in Sweden as one of the ...

/, ) is the northernmost

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

or ''

län ( Swedish, ), ( Danish, ), ( Finnish, ) and ( Norwegian, ) refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Denmark, Finland and Norway. The provinces of Finland were abolished on 1 January 2010. In Norway, the term was ...

'' 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 ...

. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders with

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 ...

to the southwest, the

Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; ; ) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast ( West Bothnia an ...

to the southeast, the counties of

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

and

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

in Norway to the northwest, and

Lapland Province The Province of Lapland (, ) was a Provinces of Finland, province of Finland from 1938 to 2009. It was established in 1938, when it was separated from the Province of Oulu. After the Second World War, the Pechengsky District, Petsamo municipa ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

to the northeast. The name "Norrbotten" is also used for a

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

of the same name.

Norrbotten Norrbotten (), sometimes called North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland. Administration The traditional provinces of Swede ...

province covers only the eastern part of Norrbotten County – the inland mostly belongs to the Swedish Lapland province (''Lappland''). The capital of Norrbotten is

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

. Other significant towns include Boden,

Kiruna (; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...

and

Piteå Piteå (; ) is a locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. Piteå is Sweden's 58th largest city, with a population of 23,326. Geography Piteå is located at the mouth of the Pite River (), at the shore of ...

. The majority of the population lives in the namesake province, whereas the Lapland part of the county is sparsely populated. Norrbotten covers a larger land area than both

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The four largest municipalities in Sweden by land area are in the county. Sweden's tallest mountain

Kebnekaise Kebnekaise (; from Sami language, Sami or , "Cauldron Crest") is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif, which is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, Scandinavian mountain range, has two main peaks. The glaciated southern peak use ...

and deepest lake Hornavan are both within the county. The vast mountains are the source of northern Sweden's vast river systems running through Norrbotten. The northern part of Norrbotten lies within 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 ...

Provinces

County consists of the entire province of

and about two thirds of Swedish Lapland.

Geography

Norrbotten County covers almost one quarter of Sweden's land area, but is sparsely inhabited. This is especially true for inland parts of Lapland. The climate is generally cold, because of its northern location. However, the long summer days allow crops to ripen within two to three months, and agriculture is traditionally important, particularly near the coast and along the lower reaches of the Torne River. Grains, particularly

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es and

turnip The turnip or white turnip ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties a ...

s are grown to some extent, but the most important crop is

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

for

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

. There are around 250,000

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

in the winter herd, a number regulated by the Swedish state. The reindeer are herded by the Indigenous

Sámi 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 ...

, organised in 15 Sámi Mountain villages, 9 Forest Sámi villages and 8 concession Sámi villages.

Hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

are of major importance for the local inhabitants. Major

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s in Norrbotten County (listed north to south) include the Torne, the

Lule River Lule River (, , ''Luleälven'') is a major river in Sweden, rising in northern Sweden and flowing southeast for before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Luleå. It is the second largest river by watershed area and length in Norrbotten County (afte ...

Kalix River The Kalix River (in Kalix dialect: ''kölisälva'', Swedish language, Swedish: proper ''Kalix älv'' or in everyday language ''Kalixälven'', Northern Sami: ''Gáláseatnu'', In Meänkieli the lower part of the river is called ''Kaihnuunväylä'', ...

, and

Pite River The Pite River (''Bidumedno'' in Pite Sami. ''Piteälven'', ''Pite älv'' or ''Piteå älv'' in Swedish.) is a river in northern Sweden, flowing through the Norrbotten County. It is one of the four major rivers in Norrland that have been left most ...

. Rivers shared with the

include the Skellefte River and

Ume River The Ume River (Swedish: ''Ume älv'' or ''Umeälven'') is one of the main rivers in northern Sweden. It is around long, and flows in a south-eastern direction from its source, the lake ''Överuman'' by the Norway, Norwegian border within the Scand ...

. Other rivers that flow directly to the sea and that are at least 100 km long are the Sangis River, Råne River, Åby River, and Byske River. The county includes many islands in the

Bay of Bothnia The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is Post-glacial rebound, still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers ha ...

, which make up the

Norrbotten archipelago The Norrbotten archipelago () is a group of Swedish islands in the north part of the Bay of Bothnia. A few of the islands have small permanent populations, but most are used only for recreation in the summer months. They are icebound during the win ...

. It is divided into the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

s of

(550 islands),

(1,312 islands), Kalix (792 islands) and

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 ...

(652 islands). The largest island is

Rånön Rånön is an island in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Kalix archipelago. Location Rånön is the largest island in the Kalix archipelago. It is uninhabited, but is popular with visitors in the summer. Rånö v ...

in the Kalix archipelago.

Population

The population has increased during the last hundred years. The estimated 2002 population was 250,000. In the 1912 census, the population was 166,641 (4,000 more males than females), of which about 120,000 were in the Norrbotten province part. Twenty years earlier, in 1892, the population was only 110,000. Since the 1960s, however, most municipalities of the county have experienced a decrease in population, particularly those inland.

Riksdag elections

The table details all

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

election results of Norrbotten County since the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

era began in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. The blocs denote which party would support the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

or the lead opposition party towards the end of the elected parliament.

History

During the

Middle Ages 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 global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Norrbotten was considered to be

terra nullius ''Terra nullius'' (, plural ''terrae nullius'') is a Latin expression meaning " nobody's land". Since the nineteenth century it has occasionally been used in international law as a principle to justify claims that territory may be acquired ...

("no man's land"). The area was populated by

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 ne ...

, Kvens and different people related to the

Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...

. From the

on, the Swedish kings tried to colonise and Christianise the area. However; even today, Tornedalians and Sami people still live in the area and maintain their own culture and customs. In the first half of the 17th century, several ore deposits were discovered in what is now known as Norrbotten County.Hansson 2015, p. 13. The silver of Nasafjäll was discovered during the autumn of 1634 and subsequently mined from 1635 to 1659 and from the 1770s to 1810.Hansson 2015, p. 20.Hansson 2015, p. 24.Hansson 2015, p. 26. Following the

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

in 1809,

was split between Sweden and Finland, with the larger part remaining within the Swedish borders. In 1810, the county was divided again when ''Norrbotten County'' was created out of the northern part, on the Swedish side. Most people in Norrbotten County still refer to the entire county, including the areas in Swedish Lapland, when they say '

'. The

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

s (

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, and

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...

, especially

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

) of Norrbotten have played a key role in the industrialization of Sweden. The 20th century saw strong mobility in and out of the county, with many young people moving south and people from other parts of the country moving in. In the 1970s and 1980s, the drainage of (mostly young) workers due to high unemployment was considerable, and people in the area began to voice feelings of being misunderstood or economically abused by the south and especially the capital

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 ...

Heraldry

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Norrbotten County combines the arms of the provinces

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), sometimes called West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in northern Sweden, located by the Gulf of Bothnia. It borders the provinces of Ångermanland, Lapland and Norrbotten. The region is famous for Väs ...

and Lappland and was granted in 1949. Since 1995 the province

has a coat of arms of its own, but the county arms have not been changed accordingly. When it is shown with a royal crown, it represents the County Administrative Board. Blazon: "Quartered, the arms of Västerbotten and the arms of Lappland."

Culture

Many different cultures can be found in Norrbotten County, including

culture, Tornedalian/Kven culture and the Swedish settler-culture. Many of the old local Swedish and Finnic dialects have survived in the area. The people of Norrbotten County have a saying: "I am not a Swede; I am a Norrbothnian". A local way of speaking, coupled with understated irony, is also sometimes used as a means to exclude southerners. These contrasts are well known throughout Sweden and often appear in TV, films, literature and folklore connected to Norrbotten, for characterizing, satiric or dramatic purposes (e.g. some characters in the books of Eyvind Johnson or the police detective Einar Rönn in the crime novels of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö). The coast has the historical cities of

and

. Luleå's

Gammelstad Gammelstad Church Town () is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated in Gammelstaden 10 km north of Luleå, Sweden, at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is the best preserved example of a type of town that was once widespread througho ...

("Old town"), which is 10 km north of the present downtown, has been declared a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Apart from the Swedish language,

, and Finnish may be used in dealing with

government agencies A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, ...

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

s and

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

s in parts of Norrbotten County. The Sami languages have official minority language status in

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 ...

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 ...

, Arjeplog and Arvidsjaur municipalites. Meänkieli and Finnish have the same status in Gällivare,

, Kiruna,

Pajala Pajala () is a locality and the seat of Pajala Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden, with 1,958 inhabitants in 2010. It is located in Swedish Lapland. Pajala is in part of the Meänmaa (Torne valley) region and was in past times unilingua ...

, and

Övertorneå Övertorneå (; ) is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Övertorneå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 1,917 inhabitants in 2010. It is located at the shore of the Torne (Finnish and Swedish river), Torne River, oppos ...

, Luleå and Kalix municipalities.

Administration

The main aims of the County Administrative Board are to fulfil the goals set in national politics by the

and the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, to promote the development of the county, and to establish regional goals. The County Administrative Board is a

Government Agency A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, s ...

headed by a Governor (see List of Norrbotten Governors).

Municipalities

The Sami languages have official minority language status in

, Arjeplog and Arvidsjaur municipalites. Meänkieli and Finnish have the same status in Gällivare,

, Kiruna,

, and

, Luleå and Kalix municipalities.

Foreign background

SCB have collected statistics on backgrounds of residents since 2002. These tables consist of all who have two foreign-born parents or are born abroad themselves. A majority of them are of Finnish descent. The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.

Transportation

The main mode of person travel inside Norrbotten is by car. The distances are long, e.g. 345 km between Luleå and Kiruna. The roads have been given relatively high speed limits compared to southern Sweden, usually 100–110 km/h. Norrbotten has a railway network focused on heavy freight traffic. There are two main railways. Stambanan genom övre Norrland connects Norrbotten with central and southern Sweden. Malmbanan connects Luleå with the iron mines in Gällivare and Kiruna and the ice-free port of Narvik. Malmbanan has highest amount of freight traffic in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, especially the part between Kiruna and Narvik. Air travel is the main mode of travel between Norrbotten and southern Sweden. The main airport is

Luleå Airport Luleå Airport is located about 7 km (4.3 mi) south-southeast of Luleå, Sweden, near the village of Kallax. The official name according to the Swedish Aeronautical Information Publication is Luleå/Kallax Airport. The airport handled ...

, sixth largest in Sweden. Other airports are Arvidsjaur Airport, Gällivare Airport, Kiruna Airport and Pajala Airport.

References and notes

article ''Norrbottens län''
from

Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...

(1912).

Books and articles

* *Öhman, May-Britt (2016)
TechnoVisions of a Sámi Cyborg: Reclaiming Sámi Body-, Land-, and Waterscapes After a Century of Colonial Exploitations in Sábme
in ''Illdisciplined Gender: Engaging Questions of Nature/Culture and Transgressive Encounters'' / dBull, Jacob; Fahlgren, Margaretha, Rotterdam: Springer, 63–98. *Elenius, Lars, Allard, Christina & Sandström, Camilla (eds.),
Indigenous rights in modern landscapes: Nordic conservation regimes in global context
', Routledge, New York, NY, 2017,

External links

Norrbotten County Administrative BoardNorrbotten County Council
*Norrbotten Regional Association of Local Authorities
Sámi Parliament Information Center
{{Coord, 67.135829, N, 18.500977, E , source:ndswiki_region:SE , format=dms , display=title Counties of Sweden

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Lapland (Sweden) States and territories established in 1810 1810 establishments in Sweden

Provinces

Geography

Population

Riksdag elections

History

Heraldry

Culture

Administration

Municipalities

Foreign background

Transportation

See also

References and notes

Books and articles

External links