Norrbotten County is a County in the
extreme north of Sweden. The
term "Norrbotten", can also refer to just the eastern part, rather
than to the whole of Norrbotten County. Norrbotten is characterised by diversity and the contrasts between wilderness
and high technology, winter darkness and midnight sun, mountains and
archipelago, rural areas and towns. It has three different languages and three
different cultures – Sami, Finnish and Swedish.
Norrbotten is rich in natural resources such as
forests, iron ore and water power but it also has large untouched areas of
natural value. The county has eight national parks, hundreds of nature
reserves and some ten rivers.
Cultural identification in Sweden is closely related to the historical Provinces
of Sweden, and the people in the coastal region of Norrbotten County, are in
this sense living in Northern Westrobothnia.
Kiruna is a Municipality
in Norrbotten
County, in northern Sweden. Kiruna is the northernmost municipality in Sweden, and geographically it is
as large as the three southernmost counties of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland
grouped together.
The forests, iron ore and water power have not only
laid the foundations of the modern-day Norrbotten, they have also made a major
contribution to industrial development throughout Sweden. The basic industries
of Norrbotten still play a crucial role in the Swedish economy.
There were people in this part of the country as far
back as the Stone Age, 9 000 years ago. Reindeer husbandry and the Sami culture
are a couple of thousand years old.