Lapland, also known by its Swedish name Lappland (, , ), is a province in northernmost Sweden. It borders Jämtland, Ångermanland, Västerbotten, Norrbotten, Norway and Finland. Nearly a quarter of Sweden's land area is in Lappland.
Lapland originally extended eastward. However, in 1809 the Russian Empire annexed the eastern part of Sweden, and created the Grand Duchy of Finland, which in effect split Lapland into a Swedish part and a Finnish part, both of which still exist today. It primarily consists of Västerbotten County in the south and Norrbotten County in the north, forming the further inland areas of the two counties. Lapland has the coldest climates of Sweden with vast seasonal differences caused by the high latitudes and the interior location.
History
The history of Lapland is in many ways connected to the history of Norrbotten County and Västerbotten County, since Lapland is a historic region connected to these counties. During the Middle Ages, Norrbotten/Lapland was considered a no man's land. The area was in fact populated by nomadic Sami people, but the region became increasingly settled by Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian settlers - especially along the coasts and large rivers. From the Middle Ages on, the Swedish kings tried to colonise and Christianise the area using settlers from what is now Finland and southern Sweden. Today, despite large-scale assimilation into the dominant Swedish culture, Finnish and Sami minorities continue to maintain their cultures and identities.
Despite independent cultural presence, religious beliefs were subject to conversion in the 17th and 18th centuries resulting in Laplanders generally leaving their original shamanism and converting to Lutheranism. Since the 19th century, Lapland has been particularly characterised by Laestadian Lutheranism.
During the industrialization of Sweden in the late-19th century, natural resources (hydroelectricity, timber and minerals) from Lapland and surrounding provinces played a key role. Still, mining, forestry and hydroelectric power are the backbone of the local economy, together with municipal services. The unemployment has however been relatively high for several decades and many young people leave for the larger cities by the coast or in southern Sweden.
Geography
Located in Sweden, Lapland is known for containing the Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve, one of the largest nature reserves in Sweden. Other parts of Lapland have been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Laponian area, and the province contains some of the oldest and most spectacular national parks of northern Europe, e.g. Sarek National Park, established in 1909. Lapland has an area of 109,702 square km (c. 42,300 sq miles), larger than Austria and almost equal to Portugal. Its land area is also larger than the Benelux countries combined, being more than double the size of Switzerland and quite a bit larger than the island of Ireland.
National parks
Abisko
Björnlandet
Muddus
Padjelanta
Sarek
Stora Sjöfallet
Vadvetjåkka
Administration
The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes but are cultural and historical entities. Administratively, Lappland constitutes the western part of two counties of Sweden, Norrbotten County in the north and Västerbotten County in the south. In contrast to most other areas of Sweden, there is more of an identification with the counties rather than to provinces. Thus, most people in these counties refer to the entire county, including the areas in Lapland, when they say 'Norrbotten' or 'Västerbotten'.
Citizens of Sami descent are eligible to stand and vote in elections for the Swedish Sami Parliament, which is the case with Sami people elsewhere in Sweden as well. The Sami language has an official minority status in Kiruna Municipality, Gällivare Municipality, Jokkmokk Municipality and Arjeplog Municipality.
The following municipalities have their seats in Lapland:
Arjeplog
Arvidsjaur
Dorotea
Gällivare
Jokkmokk
Kiruna
Lycksele
Malå
Sorsele
Storuman
Vilhelmina
Åsele
Population
As of 31 December 2017, the population of Swedish Lapland is 91,333. Together with the rest of historical Lapland, the sum of the population is approximately 250,000. The largest cities are Kiruna (, ) with 23,178 inhabitants, Gällivare with 18,123 inhabitants and Lycksele with 12,177 inhabitants.
In Norrbotten County: Kiruna (23,178) Gällivare (18,123) Jokkmokk (5,072) Arjeplog (2,887) Arvidsjaur (6,471)