Laponia was a historical Swedish province

Provinces of Sweden

The provinces of Sweden, landskap, are historical, geographical and cultural regions. Sweden has 25 provinces and they have no administrative function, but remain historical legacies and the means of cultural identification....

, or landskap, in the north of Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 which evolved from Lappmarken

Lappmarken

Lappmarken was an earlier Swedish name for the northern part of the old Kingdom of Sweden specifically inhabited by the Sami people. In addition to the present-day Swedish Lapland, it also covered Västerbotten, Jämtland and Härjedalen, as well as the Finnish Lapland. As a name, it is related to...

. 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 by Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, which in effect created a Swedish Lapland

Swedish Lapland

Lappland is a province in northernmost Sweden. It borders Jämtland, Ångermanland, Västerbotten, Norrbotten, Norway and Finland. About a quarter of Sweden's surface area is in Lappland.Lappland originally extended eastward...

 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

Enontekiö

Enontekiö is a municipality in the Finnish part of Lapland with approx. inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very sparsely populated area of about between the Swedish and Norwegian border...

 (Eanodat), Inari

Inari

Inari may refer to:* Inari , a Shinto spirit** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari* Inari Sami, one of the Sami languages...

 (Ánar), Utsjoki

Utsjoki

Utsjoki is a municipality in Finland. It is located in Lapland and borders Norway as well as the municipality of Inari. The municipality was founded in 1876. It has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....

 (Ohcejohka), Muonio

Muonio

Muonio is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...

 (Muoná), Kittilä

Kittilä

Kittilä is a municipality of Finland and a popular holiday resort.It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....

 (Gihttel) and Sodankylä

Sodankylä

-Twin towns: Kola, Russia, since 1968 Berlevåg, Norway, since 1971 Norsjö, Sweden, since 1977 Heiligenblut, Austria, since 1979-External links:* – Official website* * * * * *...

 (Soad'egilli) in Finnish Lapland constitutes 125,151 individuals. The largest city is Kiruna

Kiruna

Kiruna is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is the seat of Kiruna Municipality Kiruna (Northern Sami: Giron, Finnish: Kiiruna) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is...

 (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
  Gällivare Lapland Court District
  Gällivare Lapland Court District, or Gällivare lappmarks tingslag, was a district of Lapland in Sweden. The provinces in Norrland were never divided into hundreds and instead the court district served as the basic division of rural areas....
  
  
• Jokkmokk Lapland Court District
• Jukkasjärvi Lapland Court District
• Lycksele Lapland Court District
• Norsjö and Malå Court District
• Åsele Lapland Court District.

See also

• Sápmi
  Sapmi
  Sapmi can refer to:* Nation of the Sami people* Sápmi , the area where the Sami people live in northern Europe* A Sami cultural park located in Kárášjohka...
  
   (the larger traditional territory of the Sámi
  Sami people
  The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
  
  , often mistakenly called "Lappland")