Editing Norrbotten County (section)

== Geography ==
Norrbotten County covers almost one quarter of Sweden's land area, but is sparsely inhabited. This is especially true for inland parts of Lapland.

The climate is generally cold, because of its northern location. However, the long summer days allow crops to ripen within two to three months, and agriculture is traditionally important, particularly near the coast and along the lower reaches of the [[Torne (Finnish and Swedish river)|Torne River]]. Grains, particularly [[barley]], [[potato]]es and [[turnip]]s are grown to some extent, but the most important crop is [[hay]] for [[livestock]]. There are around 250,000 [[reindeer]] in the winter herd, a number regulated by the Swedish state. The reindeer are herded by the Indigenous [[Sámi peoples|Sámi]], organised in 15 Sámi Mountain villages, 9 Forest Sámi villages and 8 concession Sámi villages. [[Hunting]] and [[fishing]] are of major importance for the local inhabitants.

Major [[river]]s in Norrbotten County (listed north to south) include the [[Torne (Finnish and Swedish river)|Torne]], the [[Lule River]], [[Kalix River]], and [[Pite River]]. Rivers shared with the [[Västerbotten County]] include the [[Skellefte River]] and [[Ume River]]. Other rivers that flow directly to the sea and that are at least 100 km long are the [[Sangis River]], [[Råne River]], [[Åby River]], and [[Byske River]].

The county includes many islands in the [[Bay of Bothnia]], which make up the [[Norrbotten archipelago]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1378/FULLTEXT01.pdf|publisher=Mid-Sweden University|page=8 |last=Ankre|first=Rosemarie|access-date=2013-10-04|title=A Case Study of the Luleå archipelago, Sweden|year=2005}}</ref>
It is divided into the [[archipelago]]s of [[Piteå archipelago|Piteå]] (550 islands), [[Luleå archipelago|Luleå]] (1,312 islands), [[Kalix archipelago|Kalix]] (792 islands) and [[Haparanda archipelago|Haparanda]] (652 islands).<ref>{{cite web|ref={{harvid|About the Bay ... Bottenvikens skärgård}}|url=http://www.swedishlapland.com/en/Bottenvikens-skargard/info/Information/|title=About the Bay of Bothnia|work=Bottenvikens skärgård|access-date=2013-09-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005023046/http://www.swedishlapland.com/en/Bottenvikens-skargard/info/Information/|archive-date=2013-10-05}}</ref>
The largest island is [[Rånön]] in the Kalix archipelago.<ref>{{cite web |ref={{harvid|Index: bottenviken.se}} |url=http://www.bottenviken.se/index.html|title=Index|work=bottenviken.se|access-date=2013-10-02}}</ref>