Sweden 
Infos about the region Norrbotten
Norrbotten is a historical province in the north of Sweden and borders to Finland in the east. The capital of the province is Luleå. Although the province is located so far up in the north, the summers at the Gulf of Bothnia are quite warm and the swimming areas are very popular. In winter, the Gulf of Bothnia freezes regularly. But not only climatically the differences in this province are huge; there is also a vast variety in different spoken languages in this province, since here, many inhabitants also speak the minority languages of Finnish and Meänkieli, a finnish dialect of the bordering region. This you will also recognize in the names of cities and villages. The first humans might have settled here already about 9000 years ago along the rivers and lakes of the area. The province can even offer UNESCO world heritage to visit: the church village of Gammelstad near Luleå. Further interesting sights are the waterfall "Storforsen" in the Piteälven river, Luleå with its really beautiful cathedral or the world's most northern IKEA store in Haparanda, in which you can even pay in Euros. Norrbotten's landscapes are characterized by shallow but wild rivers their estuaries into the Baltic Sea, coniferous forests and skerry islands in front of the coast. So, if you would like to travel into the north of Sweden, and yet stay at the coast, or if you would like to have a little trip to Finland, then Norrbotten is your right destination!