Norrbotten Province, Sweden Genealogy

History
Norrbotten is known in English as North Bothnia. It is known as a Swedish province in northernmost Sweden. Its borders are south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland.

During the Middle ages, this area was sparsely populated by the Sami people. Hunting, fishing and reindeer herding was their livelihood. From the Middle Ages forward Swedish kings tried hard to colonize and bring Christianity to this area of Sweden. Settlers from Finland (Birkarls and others) controlled the trade and taxing long into the 16th century. From the mid-16th century forward Norrbotten was tied to Sweden. Today both Finnish and Sami minorities live in Norrbotten. They have kept their culture and language.

Norrbotten had gradually become tied to the area referred to as northern Västerbotten. During the 20th century it achieved all of the symbols (animals, flowers, coat of arms etc.), which have been generally assigned to the other existing provinces of Sweden. Some Swedish people still remain resistance to the idea of Norrbotten being a province. In 1995, after much debate, Norrbotten was granted a coat of arms. This represents recognition as one of provinces of Sweden. The coat of arms symbolizes the four large rivers in Norrbotten that drain into the Gulf of Bothnia: Torne River, Kalix River, Lule River and Pite River.

The population of Norrbotten province was roughly 195,024 people in 2016.

This page is primarily information about the Swedish historical Norrbotten province. For the modern Norrbotten county, see Norrbotten County.