LAPLAND, a region of northern Europe inhabited by the Lapps, though not applied to any administrative district. It stretches across the north of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, from the Norwegian coast to the White Sea.
Most of the Scandinavian portion of Lapland presents the usual characteristics of the mountain plateau of that peninsula—on the west side the bold headlands and fjords, deeply-grooved valleys and glaciers of Norway, on the east the mountain lakes and great lake-fed rivers of Sweden. All the eastern part, in Sweden, Fin land and Russia, is part of the ancient worn-down Scandinavian land mass of Archaean rocks, comparatively low-lying and with innumerable lakes and swamps infested with mosquitoes. In the uplands of Swedish Lapland,' and to some extent in Russian Lap land, the lakes afford the principal means of communication.
In Sweden the few farms are on the lake shores, and the trav eller must be rowed in summer from one to another. Sailing is rarely practised, and squalls are often dangerous to the rowing boats. On a few of the lakes wood-fired steam-launches are used in connection with the timber trade, which is considerable, as almost the whole region is forested. Between the lakes all journey ing is made on foot. In winter sledge tracks serve as roads. Much of the Kola peninsula is north of the forest belt and is tundra land with the bleak and barren Murman coast. Further west the influ ence of the warm Atlantic drift is sufficient to keep the ports (Vadso, Vardo, Katarina, etc.) free from ice. The heads of the Swedish valleys are connected with the Norwegian fjords by passes generally traversed only by tracks ; though from the head of the Ume a driving road crosses to Mo on Ranen fjord. Each principal valley has a village at or near the tail of the lake-chain, up to which a road runs along the valley. The village consists of wooden cottages with an inn, a church, and frequently a collection of huts without windows, closed in summer, but inhabited by the Lapps when they come down from the mountains to the winter fairs. Sometimes there is another church and small settlement in
the upper valley, to which, once or twice in a summer, the Lapps come from great distances to attend service.
More than half of Lapland is within the Arctic Circle and the climate is Arctic. Temperatures are low all the year round; e.g., at Karasuanda there are only five months with an average above freezing point. The hottest month is August (average 56.2° F) and the coldest Feb. (5.2°) with temperatures frequently below zero for long periods. In the northern parts unbroken day light in summer and darkness in winter last from two to three months each. All preparations for winter are made during Sep tember and October, and full winter has set in by November. Though Lapland gives little scope for husbandry, a bad summer being commonly followed by a winter famine, it has great wealth in its minerals. There are copper mines at the mountain of Suli telma, and the iron deposits in Norrland of both magnetite and hematite with an average of 65% of iron in the ore, are among the most extensive in the world. Their working is facilitated by the railway from Stockholm to Gellivara, Kirunavara and Narvik on the Norwegian coast, which also connects them with the port of Lulea on the Gulf of Bothnia. The supply of timber (pine, fir, spruce and birch) is unlimited. There is an abundance of edible berries; the rivers and lakes abound with trout, perch, pike and other fish, and in the lower waters with salmon; and the cod, herring, halibut and Greenland shark in the northern seas attract numerous Norwegian and Russian fishermen. The Lapps keep great herds of reindeer, the total number in the district being esti mated at over 350,000, and their skins, meat and horns form important articles of trade. There are great numbers of birds, including grouse, capercailzie, ptarmigan, etc., and eider down is collected off the coast.