Laponia (historical province)

Laponia (Lappland) in the realm of Sweden. Though drawn exactly on the map, northern borders against Russia and Norway were approximate.

Laponia (Swedish: Lappland), was a historical Swedish province, or landskap, in the north of Sweden which evolved from Lappmarken. Lapland is considered in some nations, notably; Ireland, England, Sweden and Finland to be the home of Father Christmas. In 1809 the eastern part was ceded to Russia, which in effect created a Swedish Lapland and Finnish Lapland. Today, the Swedish part serves no administrative purpose, but the Finnish still does as the Province and Region of Lapland. The present-day Finnish Lapland contains areas outside of the historical Laponia.

Population

The current population of Swedish Lapland plus the municipalities Enontekiö (Eanodat), Inari (Ánar), Utsjoki (Ohcejohka), Muonio (Muoná), Kittilä (Gihttel) and Sodankylä (Soad'egilli) in Finnish Lapland constitutes 125,151 individuals. The largest city is Kiruna (Giron) with 18,154 inhabitants.

Historical districts

Before being split, Laponia was divided into juridical districts which were:

• Arjeplog Lapland Court District
• Arvidsjaur Lapland Court District
• Enonteki Lapland Court District
• Gällivare Lapland Court District
• Jokkmokk Lapland Court District
• Jukkasjärvi Lapland Court District
• Lycksele Lapland Court District
• Norsjö and Malå Court District
• Åsele Lapland Court District.

See also

• Sápmi (area) (the larger traditional territory of the Sámi, often mistakenly called "Lappland")