The country of thousands of lakes and mile wide forests
The country with Europe's last wilderness; Lapland
I will take you there.
Laponia world heritage Laponia, the World Heritage area in Lapland is a Sami cultural landscape with traces of human activities which go back all the way to the Ice Age. From time immemorial the Sami have lived in this area, first as hunters and fishers and later as reindeer herders and settlers. The World Heritage area is also an important natural landscape with mountains, deltas, virgin forests and hundreds of glaciers and Western Europe´s largest marshlands. It is also an area rich in animal and plant life that has several species on the verge of extinction. Both due to the Sami culture and the natural value of the environment, this region merits its inclusion in the World Heritage list. A world heritage area is a place of cultural or natural importance, or both as in this case, which is of such value that its preservation is a priority for the whole world. Laponia covers a surface of 9,400 km² and consists mainly of two kinds of landscapes. To the east there is a flat area with enormous forests and marshes while the western area is a mountain area which consists of a variety of natural environments.
WELCOME TO LAPLAND
Who are these people?
The Sámi people are the indigenous people of northern Europe inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The traditional Sami life style, dominated by hunting, fishing and trading, was preserved to the Late Middle Ages when the modern structures of the Nordic countries were established. The Sami have lived in relative co-existence with their neighbors for centuries, but for the last two hundred years - especially during the second halve of the twentieth century, there has been many dramatic changes in Sami culture, politics, economics and their relations with their neighboring societies. During the late-twentieth century, modern conflicts broke out over the construction of a hydroelectric dam, the reaction of which created a reawakening and defence of Sami culture in recent years. Of the eleven different Sami languages or dialects, only nine have survived to the present day with most endanger of disappearing as well. It is possible that the Sami people's existence were documented by such writers as the Roman historian Tacitus. They have on uncertain grounds, but for a very long time, been associated with the 'Fenni'. However, the first Nordic sources dates from the introductions of runes and is the Account of the Viking Othere to King Alfred of England.
Where do the name came from?
The Sámi are often known in other languages as "Lap", "Lapp", or "Laplanders", but the Sami regard these as pejorative terms.[8] Variants of the name "Lapp" were originally used in Norway, Sweden and Finland, and from there were adopted by all major European languages (English: Lapps, German, Dutch: Lappen, Russian, Ukrainian: Loparie, French: Lapons, Greek: Λάπωνες (Lápōnes), Italian: Lapponi, Polish: Lapończycy, Spanish: Lapones, Portuguese: Lapões). The exact meaning of this old term, and the reasons it came into common usage, are unknown; however in Scandinavian languages lapp means a patch of cloth for mending, which may be a derogatory description of the clothing, called a gakti, that the Sámi wear. Such 'patches' (i.e."lapp") can refer to something old and to be discarded - an epithet that would have been applied to the Sami culture itself
Now we are needing some ambiance to feel that we are really there. Let`s do that with some music from Lapland
Sami music
A characteristic feature of Sami musical tradition is the singing of joik. Joiks are traditionally sung a cappella, usually sung slowly and deep in the throat with apparent emotional content of sorrow or anger. Joiks can be dedicated to animals and birds in nature, to special people or special occasions, and they can be joyous, sad or melancholic. Christian missionaries and priests regarded these as “songs of the Devil”[citation needed]. In recent years, musical instruments frequently accompany joiks.
More to come
Lake somewhere in Lapland
Kebnekajse. The higest mountain in Sweden
Is there many more ? OK i will try to just chose a few more
Their Flag The Sami flag was inaugurated during the Sami Conference in Åre, Sweden on 15 August 1986. It was the result of a competition for which many suggestions were entered. The winning design was submitted by the artist Astrid Båhl from Skibotn, Norway. The motif (shown right) was derived from the shaman's drum and the poem "Paiven parneh" ("Sons of the Sun") by the south Sami Anders Fjellner describing the Sami as sons and daughters of the sun. The flag has the Sami colours, red, green, yellow and blue, and the circle represents the sun (red) and the moon (blue).
Here are some of their art craft
And much much more... But now our time on this exotic place in the world is over for this time and we have to say ; Good bye Lapland
Hope we meet again
But I will try to add some music and some more pictures later
But this is all for now
Now for the Norrbotten coast. Back home to my roots...
Norrbotten (English meaning: North Bothnia) is a Swedish province (landskap) in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland. The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities.
History
During the Middle Ages Norrbotten was basically terra nullius. The area was sparsely populated by Sami people, who lived on hunting, fishing and reindeer herding. From the Middle Ages and forward, the Swedish kings tried hard to colonise and Christianize the area. Settlers from Finland, the most important of which were known as Birkarls, controlled the trade and even the taxing on the area long into the 16th century. From the mid 1500s, the area was more firmly tied to Sweden. Still today, Finnish and Sami minorities live in Norrbotten and they have kept their culture and language. As recently as 1995, after decades of debate, Norrbotten was granted a coat of arms, thus at last being fully recognized as one of provinces of Sweden. The coat of arms symbolizes the four large rivers in Norrbotten that drain into the Gulf of Bothnia: Torne River, Kalix River, Lule River and Pite River.
The summers can bring surprisingly warm temperatures for such northerly altitudes, and as a matter of fact, Norrbotten holds the all-time high record for the entire Norrland ; +37°C
Inhabitants
Norrbotten has around 8,000 ancient remains. Languages spoken in the province include Swedish, Meänkieli, Finnish, and Sami. Some Meänkieli speakers have gradually been considering themselves part of the Kven people, which supposedly arrived to the area much earlier than the Swedish settlers. The Church Village of Gammelstad outside Luleå has been named a UNESCO World heritage site.
The Archipelago of Norrbotten
Luleå Archipelago is situated along the coastline that stretches from the Västerbotten border in the south to the Finish border in the northeast. With over 700 islands, it is one of the most picturesque archipelagos in the country, offering rich and varied plant and bird life. Luleå Archipelago is part of the Norrbotten Archipelago; to the south of Luleå you will find the
Piteå Archipelago and to the north the Kalix and Haparanda Archipelagos.
Storforsen, a rapid in the Pite River in Swedish Norrbottens län is located approximately 38 km northwest of Älvsbyn. With an average flow of 250 m3/s, the rapids are one of the biggest in Europe. The rapids stretch out over a distance of 5 km in which the riverbed is lowered by 82 meters. Flow usually is highest at midsummer: 870 m3/s. During the floodyear 1995 a total of 1200 cubic meters flowed down Storforsen each second.
To prevent accidents the rocks surrounding the rapids are fenced, views being readily accesible to the public via ramps. While the rapids were used in previous years to transport logs, today its surroundings are part of a nature park, visited by 150,000 people each year.
Norrbotten County (Norrbottens län)
is a Swedish county or län in the extreme north of Sweden. It borders to Västerbotten County and the Gulf of Bothnia. It also borders the counties of Nordland and Troms in Norway, and Lapland Province in Finland. The name "Norrbotten" is also used for a province of the same name. Norrbotten province covers only the eastern part of Norrbotten County — the inland mostly belongs to the Swedish Lapland (Lappland) province. Norrbotten County covers almost ¼ of Sweden's surface, but is sparsely inhabited. This is especially true for inland part of Lapland. The climate is generally harsh, which is not surprising considering its northern location. However, the long summer days allow crops to ripen within 2–3 months, and various grains are commonly grown and make up an important part of the industry. Besides grains, potatoes and turnips are also grown. The most important plant is however grass, used as hay for the livestock. Major rivers in Norrbotten County (north–south) include the Torne River, Lule River, Kalix River, and Pite River. Rivers shared with Västerbotten County include Skellefte River and Ume River. 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.
Culture
The culture of Norrbotten County is in many ways different from the rest of Sweden, since so many different cultures can be found there; the Sami culture, the Finnish culture (Tornedalians) and the Swedish settler-culture (combined with the climate, midnight sun, and mid winter darkness). Many of the old Swedish and Finnish dialects have survived in the area, and are spoken by a great number of people.
The people in Norrbotten County have a saying: "I am not a Swede; I am a Norrbothnian". The coast has the historical cities of Luleå and Piteå.
Luleå's Gammelstad ("Old town"), which is 10 km north of the present downtown, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The two first pictures are from the old town of Piteå (My home town) Some private stuff *smile*
So now we are close...:)
Öjebyn is maybe six kilometer from my home village outside Piteå
This song I just had to try to translate since it is so much me in it *smile*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzvMPEdsJEo
I was born in a small village in one corner of the world. At a road where everything ends and where the river's crest I was born in a small village and there I am father's son. It was a long time ago I lived there. But this is what I come from .... in one corner of the world I was born in a small village among the stacks of wood and where forest grown tough and strong and so did its people too.. I have gone to a crazy city with a heaven out of lead. Here I am at home yet not at all I was born in a small village .... In one corner of the world If I travel to another world and they make me a king I will still hear the sound of a river and a forest in my deepest within. I was born in a small village in one corner of the world. At a road where everything ends and where the river's crest
This is my river
This is my childhood`s sunset reflected in my river
This is my childhoods winter sky
This is the snow in which I made wonderful angels
And this is the angel :)
This is the Archipelago that boarded my Piteå
This is a part of all the great forests that surrounded my childhood
Together it maybe made me to who I am. And like the saying; "I am not a Swede; I am a Norrbothnian" ;)
I was born with the sound of the forest and the river in my heart in one corner of the world where the midnight sun, the northern light and the snow desperate tried to compensate the darkness which surrounded us most of the year
The Midnight Sun
The text from Wikipedia
Midnight Sun is called the phenomenon where the sun during one days never are completely below the horizon. The Midnight Sun occurs north of the northern Arctic Circle in the northern hemisphere and south of the southern in the southern hemisphere during the summer months. The number of days per year that it is midnight sun increases the closer you get the poles. Around midsummer midnight sun can also be observed a bit south of the northern Arctic Circle because of light refraction in the atmosphere.The midnight sun (also known as the black sun) is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months at latitudes north and nearby to the south of the Arctic Circle, and south and nearby to the north of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous 24 hours, mostly north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle. The number of days per year with potential midnight sun increases the farther poleward one goes.
There are no permanent human settlements south of the Antarctic Circle, so the countries and territories whose populations experience it are limited to the ones crossed by the Arctic Circle, i.e. Canada, United States of America (Alaska), Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and extremities of Iceland. A quarter of Finland's territory lies north of the Arctic Circle and at the country's northernmost point the sun does not set for 73 days during summer. In Svalbard, Norway, the northernmost inhabited region of Europe, there is no sunset from approximately 19 April to 23 August. The extreme sites are the poles where the sun can be continuously visible for a half year. The opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs in winter when the sun stays below the horizon throughout the day. Since the Earth's axis is tilted with respect to the ecliptic by approximately 23 degrees 27 minutes, the sun does not set at high latitudes in (local) summer. The duration of the midnight sun increases from one day during the summer solstice at the polar circle to approximately six months at the poles. At extreme latitudes, it is usually referred to as polar day. The length of the time the sun is above the horizon varies from 20 hours at the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle to 186 days at the poles. At the poles themselves, the sun only rises once and sets once, each year. During the six months when the sun is above the horizon at the poles, the sun spends the days constantly moving around the horizon, reaching its highest circuit of the sky at the summer solstice. Due to refraction, the midnight sun may be experienced at latitudes slightly below the polar circle, though not exceeding one degree (depending on local conditions). For example, it is possible to experience the midnight sun in Iceland, even though most of it (Grímsey being a notable exception) is slightly south of the Arctic Circle. Even the northern extremities of Scotland (and those places on similar latitudes) experience a permanent "dusk" or glare in the northern skies at these times.
When to see the midnight sun According to Visit Norway the midnight sun is visible at the Arctic Circle from June 12 until July 1. The further north you get the longer this period extends. At North Cape, Norway, known as the norternmost point of Europe this period extends approximately from May 14 to July 29. On the Svalbard archipelago further north this period extends from April 20 to August 22
Effect on people Many find it difficult to fall asleep during the night when the sun is shining. In general, visitors and newcomers are most affected. Some natives are also affected, but in general to a lesser degree. The effect of the polar night, that is, not experiencing day for long durations of time is said to cause Seasonal Affective Disorder or S.A.D., a type of depression. The midnight sun also poses special challenges to religious people such as Jewish people who have religious rites based around the 24 hour day/night cycle. In the Jewish community this has given rise to a body of Jewish law in the polar regions, which attempts to deal with the special challenges of adhering to the Mitzvah in such conditions.
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