Norrbotten County
Norrbotten County, Norrbottens län, is the northernmost part of Norrland, Sweden. Bordering to Norway and Finland it covers nearly a quarter of Sweden's total area, from the tall mountains in the west, to the coast and archipelagoes in the east. It includes the province of Norrbotten and the northern part of the province of Lappland. Much of Norrbotten Country is within the Arctic Circle, meaning that Midnight Sun and Arctic Night occur.
Municipalities
Norrbotten proper
- Luleå, the county seat
- Piteå
- Älvsbyn
- Boden, the Swedish Army's stronghold against invasions from the east
- Kalix
- Överkalix
Tornedalen
Tornedalen, the valley of Torne River, is home to a Finno-Ugric community with Meänkieli as their mother tongue.
Northern Lappland
- Kiruna, a mining town with a space launch facility. The Kiruna municipality is the country's largest, and contains settlements such as Jukkasjärvi, Abisko and Riksgränsen.
- Gällivare, also a mining town
- Jokkmokk
- Arjeplog
- Arvidsjaur
Other destinations
- Jukkasjärvi, with the Ice Hotel
- Laponia, four national parks, and the largest wilderness in Europe
- Abisko, a national park
- Riksgränsen, a ski resort
Understand
This area is a homeland of the Sami culture.
Seasonal variations of temperature and daylight are dramatic, see winter in the Nordic countries.
Talk
Though Swedish is the everyday language, and English is well understood, the northern edge of Sweden is linguistically diverse. The Sami languages, as well as the Meänkieli at the Torne river, are Finno-Ugric; similar to the Finnish language. Also, some of the most archaic Swedish dialects, languages in their own rights, have survived in towns such as Överkalix.
Get in
Resrobot is a search engine for all public transport in Sweden.
By plane
Domestic airports are located at:
- Arvidsjaur
- Luleå
- Gällivare
- Kiruna
- Pajala
By train
- SJ has night trains from Stockholm and Gothenburg to Luleå and Kiruna.
By car
- From south Sweden to Kiruna or Gällivare: E4 and E10. For Pajala use road 392.
- From south Sweden to Arvidsjaur: E4 until Skellefteå and then road 95.
Get around
By plane
- There are flights Luleå-Kiruna and Luleå-Pajala.
By train
- SJ has trains Luleå-Gällivare-Kiruna. This rail line carries iron ore from the mines in Kiruna and Gällivare to the ports of Narvik and Luleå, and regarded to be Sweden's most scenic railway.
By bus
- Länstrafiken i Norrbotten has local and regional buses.
See
Arctic Sweden contains enormous areas of pristine nature. The Northern Lights can be seen during favourable conditions.
Itineraries
- Hiking along Kungsleden
Do
As Sweden's northernmost county, with the tallest mountains, winter sport is popular.
Riksgränsen is Sweden's northernmost ski resort, with snow well into June.
Eat
- See also: Nordic cuisine
- Kalix löjrom.
- Reindeer
- Surströmming (fermented herring)
- Palt
Drink
Stay safe
See cold weather and winter driving.