Norrland consists of the majority of the Swedish landmass at about 60% of the land area, but only has about 12% of the country's population.[3] Its largest city isUmeå, while the other four county seats areGävle,Härnösand,Östersund andLuleå. The largest non-capitals areSundsvall,Skellefteå andÖrnsköldsvik whileKiruna is the largest town of the vastLapland province in the far north. Sweden's highest mountainKebnekaise and deepest lake ofHornavan are in Norrland. Plenty of long rivers originating in the mountains run through the Norrland forests, with major coastal towns frequently being on their estuaries. Their extensive drops in elevation also make Norrland a major producer ofhydroelectricity from some of those rivers.
Winters in Norrland are cold by Swedish standards but mild for the latitudes. The vastness of the region renders very different environments and climates, ranging from mild coastal climates ofGävleborg to thetundra climate of the high mountains. In general, the most common climate is thesubarctic type. The cold climate has led to winter sports being popular, with Norrland teams and athletes being especially successful inice hockey,skiing andbandy.
Historically, Jämtland and Härjedalen belonged toNorway until 1645, and are thus often considered outside of the historical Norrland. On the other hand, Finland belonged to Sweden until 1809, and during that time, Norrland was extended into Northern Finland. Administratively, Sweden is not divided into provinces but intocounties (län). Although Norrland is defined in terms of the historical provinces and not the counties, it roughly comprises the modern counties ofGävleborg,Jämtland,Norrbotten,Västerbotten andVästernorrland.
Sometimes, Norrland is subdivided into Northern Norrland (norra Norrland) and Southern Norrland (södra Norrland). The northern part of the region typically covers the historical provinces of Norrbotten, Västerbotten and Lappland (the modern counties of Norrbotten and Västerbotten), while the southern part covers the remainder of the region. There is also the concept ofMiddle Norrland (mellersta Norrland), which is the northern part of Southern Norrland. Middle Norrland has no clearly defined boundaries, but usually corresponds with the historical provinces Ångermanland, Medelpad, Jämtland and Härjedalen.
Except for the coastal areas, Norrland is sparsely populated. Approximately 12 percent of Sweden's population lives in Norrland.[3] Except for some coastal areas most of Norrland is made up by theNorrland terrain—hilly and mountainous land covered byboreal forests.[5][6] More in detail Norrland is made up of three north–south belts: theScandinavian Mountains in the west, theMuddus Plains covering much of the inland, and the mixed relief[A] of the eastern coast.[7]
Unlike the much more densely populatedSvealand andGötaland, which are better known for big cities (Stockholm,Gothenburg,Malmö) with landmarks and tourist attractions, Norrland is known for its nature with wide forests, large rivers and untouched wilderness.
Most inhabitants live in rural areas and small villages and along the coast in cities. Towards the end of the 20th century, there was a noticeable increase of the population in Norrland, mainly from people moving from larger cities. The largest cities in Norrland, from north to south, areLuleå,Skellefteå,Umeå,Östersund,Sundsvall andGävle. With the exception of Östersund, those cities are all near the coast.
During theIndustrial Revolution, which reached Sweden in the mid-19th century, Norrland became the source for the important wood andpulp industry. All but four of the major Norrland rivers have been exploited forwater power. The rivers in Norrland account for the bulk ofhydroelectric power in Sweden, which is in many countries a limited energy source, but Sweden has hydroelectrical power account for approximately 40 percent of its total production ofelectricity.
Mines for producingprecious metals have also been located in Norrland. In older history and still today, the administration in Stockholm viewed Norrland essentially as acolony consisting ofnatural resources to be exploited. "In Norrland we have an India within our borders, if only we realize we should be taking advantage of it" (I Norrland hava vi inom våra gränser ett Indien, blott vi förstå att bruka det) is a quote attributed toAxel Oxenstierna that fairly well describes the attitude. In the official history of Sweden, not much is written about the northern parts of the country.
Kebnekaise, Sweden's tallest mountain at 2,097 metres (6,879 feet), is located inLappland in the north of Norrland.
Norrland has a highly variable climate depending on altitude, latitude and distance to water. The southern coastal areas have ahumid continental climate, but further north, thesubarctic climate is abundant, although it in many areas is very mild for that classification, especially in coastal regions. In the mountain ranges thetundra climate can be found with summer temperatures averaging below 10 °C (50 °F), but that is due to altitude and not in populated areas. All low-lying areas of Norrland are below thetree line because of the mild summers and so theboreal forest is dominant.
In older history,[when?] Norrland is one of the fourlands of Sweden. To the west it represented the northern half of Sweden bounded to the south bySvealand and to the east it represented the northern half ofFinland – which was then a part of Sweden – bounded to the south byÖsterland. In Svealand and Götaland, the land boundaries were of major juridical and administrative importance, but this was not the case with Norrland. The nameNorrland just gradually became a denomination of everything north of Svealand. Up to the Middle Ages, the northern part of Norrland (Norrbotten andLappland) was sparsely populated bySami,Kvens and different tribes/people related to theFinns. In the southern part of Norrland, Swedish and Norwegian settlers lived side by side with the Sami population. From the Middle Ages on, the Swedish kings tried to colonize and Christianize the area.[citation needed]
As a result of the changing relations to Finland, the northern borders of Norrland have shifted. While the word Finland originally meant only the southwestern part of what is now Finland (Finland Proper), the border of Norrland was drawn at the riversKaakamojoki or, later,Simojoki. This changed when the eastern half of Sweden (Finland) was lost toRussia in 1809, and the new border was drawn atTorne River. The southern border was originally everything north of theGästrikland province (until the 14th or 15th century a part ofUppland), but since the mid 17th century, Gästrikland is also considered a part of Norrland. The name can be first traced fromKarl's Chronicle, explaining howEngelbrekt Engelbrektsson in 1433 sent a letter toErik Puke requesting assistance to conquer entire Norrland (al norland vnte han honom wolla).[citation needed]
Skiing, both alpine and nordic, is also a popular sport in Norrland. Two of Sweden's largest and most popular ski resorts,Åre andHemavan, are located in Norrland. Famous skiers from the region includeIngemar Stenmark,Anja Pärson andPer Elofsson.
Football is also popular in Norrland, but teams from the region have rarely been on the same competitive level as the big city clubs in southern Sweden. To date, no Norrland team has ever wonAllsvenskan, Sweden's highest-level football league, andSandvikens IF is the only Norrland team that has ever finished in the top four (last time in 1956). As of the 2023 season, no team from Norrland currently plays in Allsvenskan. However, teams such asGIF Sundsvall,Gefle IF andÖstersunds FK have all in recent years played many seasons in Sweden's highest league, and the region has produced its share of famous footballers.Gunnar Nordahl,Tomas Brolin,Jesper Blomqvist andMikael Lustig are all footballers who grew up in Norrland, and went on to become Swedish internationals.
Norrland is often "othered"[8] in Swedish fiction, used as a canvas for stories involving terror and dread. The thriller filmsThe Hunters andFalse Trail (The Hunters 2) show a highly negative portrait of Norrland, filled with racial prejudice and violence. The people of Norrland in their turn tend to have a fairly negative view of people from Stockholm and the rest of southern Sweden, for example by referring to Stockholm asfjollträsk, which loosely translated means "sissy swamp". This dynamic is portrayed in movies and series such asSällskapsresan 2 – Snowroller,The Hunters andPistvakt – En vintersaga. Despite Norrland being the most diverse of the three lands of Sweden in terms of languages and cultures it is usually portrayed as one homogeneous region. Fiction usually portrays characters from Norrland as villagers from the wilderness even though the majority of the population live in and around the coastal cities.
In the 2006 horror filmFrostbite, the portrait is more balanced. Unlike most other Swedish films, it takes place in a larger community at the northern peak of Sweden, being filmed inKalix andKiruna. The people are shown to be pretty warm and welcoming towards outsiders. Rather than the people, the nature of Norrland is shown to be hostile. A constant darkness roams over the town and there is extreme cold. Vampires have been shown taking a liking to the land and hunt the towns people in the arctic night. The film is notorious for having the actors speak without the district Norrland accent, even the actors in the film who are native to Norrland.
A mixed portrait of the region is found inAs It Is in Heaven (2004), which "vividly conveys both the delights and the challenges of small town living."[9] The northern town is initially inhospitable to the main character as a boy, whose mother chooses to take him out of the town to escape bullying. He returns years later as an accomplished musician, only to find an insular town where bullying continues in several forms, including from the original classmates who troubled him as a youth. It is through his outside status—along with his music and desire share its joy—that the town finds redemption.
The plot ofStieg Larsson's 2005 thrillerThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo shifts back and forth between Stockholm and the fictional town of Hedestad, which Larsson places along "the Norrland coast... a little more than an hour north of Gävle."[10] A repeated theme is the social, cultural and physical differences between Stockholm and Norrland, despite Hedestad only being three hours north of Stockholm by train.[11] Norrland is depicted as being more sedate, conservative and slow-moving in comparison with the cosmopolitan Stockholm; a Stockholmer having to live for an extended period in Norrland feels "exiled to the back of beyond."[citation needed] Norrland is also colder, and a Stockholmer coming there must urgently buy warmer clothes (a theme which is also present inAs It Is in Heaven); Norrlanders often speakregional dialects which Stockholm people find nearly incomprehensible; Stockholm people look down their noses at "a working class boy from Norrland" even when he had lived many years in Stockholm. The book's great success and translation into numerous languages made non-Swedish people more aware of Norrland's distinct characteristics.[citation needed][non sequitur]
