Lapland

Lapland, the country of the Lapps, is little more than a geographical expression. It lies between the White Sea on the E., the Gulf of Bothnia on the S., and the north-western coast of Norway on the W. That part which lies in Norway is mountainous; the rest consists of level forests, intersected by lakes and marshes. There are no towns of any size, and the country as a whole is very thinly peopled. In the greater part of it the sun does not set in midsummer or rise in midwinter. The temperature in May, the hottest month, never rises higher than 70° Fahrenheit, and during the winter is frequently 60° below zero. Inara, the largest lake, has an area of 1,147 square miles, and the southern parts of Russian Lapland are watered by the Kemi and its branches. The lakes and rivers abound in salmon and other fish, and flocks of ptarmigan, capercailzie, and other wild-fowl are found about the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia. The forests yield an immense quantity of timber, and there are highly productive iron- and copper-mines. The sea fisheries give employment to thousands.