At the Laponia World Heritage site you can really find peace of mind.

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Laponia World Heritage

At this Laponia World Heritage site you can experience the land where the Sami people have lived and worked through millennia. You won't see many traces made by people here.

UNESCO has valued both nature and culture in the area. Laponia is now protected and has become a world heritage site.

The Laponian area is a large mountainous wildlife area in Swedish Lapland, more precisely in the municipalities of Gällivare, Arjeplog and Jokkmokk. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

(Photo: UNESCO World Heritage)

World's largest of its kind

The total area of Laponia is about 9400 km². It is the world's largest unmodified nature area which is cultured and used by natives.



Here at Laponia the natives are the reindeer herding Sami people. The geography of the area varies greatly. Laponia consists of several nature reserves and national parks. All of them have their own distinctive characteristics.

Where is Laponia?

95% of the area are national parks or nature reserves. It consists of the national parks Muddus, Sarek, Padjelanta and Stora Sjöfallet, and the nature reserves Sjaunja and Stubba. The highest mountain of Laponia is Sarektjåhkkå (2,089 meters high).

The Porjus village in Jokkmokk municipality is a natural port to the Laponian area. You find an information center at the old railway station.

See this map to get an idea of the whereabouts of Laponia.

In the map I have marked where Porjus is about halfway between Jokkmokk and Gällivare. Laponia is the large green areas to the north-west of Porjus.

Much to experience

Laponia offers a variety of experiences. You can wander the mountains in Sarek or look for cloudberries in the swamps of Muddus with the inevitable mosquito buzzing around your ears.

You may need som kind of mosquito control if you come here during mid-summer. Here are some mosquito control tips. The great forests and the enormous eastern marshlands include the Sjaunja nature reserve and the Muddus National Park. The vast, hilly landscape is a very large continous area of marshland which also

includes primeval forests of pine and fir. In western Laponia we find the majestic mountains of the Stora Sjöfallet and the Sarek national parks . This is where you find Sweden's largest glacial area, with hundreds of glaciers.

In the Padjelanta National Park in the west we find the characteristic soft and hilly landscape of this part of Laponia. This is where reindeer herds have grazed for hundreds of years and thus made the land extra fertile in a natural way.

Breathtaking symbol

Traces of ancient human life in Laponia World Heritage site can be found as cultural remains, such as small settlements and animal traps.

The Laponia area has been occupied continuously by the Sami people for thousands of years. In a way Laponia is a breathtaking symbol of the nature that the Lapps in all parts of Lapland have struggled with and taken their livelihood and culture from.

Read more about Laponia World Heritage

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