Sonfjället, also spelled Sånfjället (;

local dialect Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

: ''Sôna''), is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

situated in

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, ...

, in central

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 was established in 1909, making it one of Europe's oldest national parks. Following a land extension in 1989, it now covers . The mountainous area is filled with large boulders, intersected by streaming lakes. Trailing around the mountain area is also a widespread forest area. The park is noted for the animals living in it: a resident

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

tribe, and a large elk tribe. Other animals are also common, including

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

and

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

Etymology

The national park is named after the mountain ''Sonfjället'' which reaches above sea level. The exact meaning of the word ''son'' in this context is not known. It may be related to the

Old West Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their ...

word ''sunna'', meaning

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

, and Sonfjället would thus literally mean "the sun

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...

". This theory has however been disputed and claimed to be inconsistent with the local pronunciation. From 1919 to 2010, the name was officially spelled as ''Sånfjället'', which the governing body thought better represented the pronunciation; however, in June 2010, the official spelling was reverted to Sonfjället.

References

External links

*
Sweden's National Parks: Sånfjället National Park
from the

Swedish Environmental Protection Agency The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (), formerly the National Swedish Environment Protection Board () is a Government agencies in Sweden, government agency in Sweden responsible for proposing and implementing environmental policies. It was ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonfjallet National parks of Sweden Protected areas established in 1909 1909 establishments in Sweden Geography of Jämtland County Tourist attractions in Jämtland County Härjedalen Municipality 20th-century establishments in Jämtland County