Ljungan river valley (Map code: 17GSO)
The North Swedish Upland falls in southeasterly direction and is drained by a series of parallell rivers to the Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Gulf. Except for four rivers in the far north, which are protected from exploitation they have all been developed for hydroelectric power production in the course of the 20th century. The creation of large dammed lakes in the upper courses of rivers caused many conflicts with Saami reindeer owners, losing good grazing land. Until a few decades ago the rivers were also extensively used for floating timber from the forest land to the saw-, pulp- and papermills at their mouths. Today timber transports go the year round on trucks delivering �just in time� and making huge stores unnecessary. Water power and later cheap hydroelectric power favored the location of heavy industries in the river valleys. The river valleys were formed long before the ice age, but the water courses have often been redirected through glacial and glacio-fluvial deposits. The lower part of the river valleys were filled with sediments before the land rose above sea level and then cut through by the river to form terrasses with steep slopes to the river (�nipor�). These sedimentary terrasses offered good opportunities for cultivation, especially on the northern shore facing the sun. Between the river valleys the forestland is extremely sparsely populated.

Swedish Gazetteer

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Map Source: Lantmäteriet (Swedish National Landsurvey)

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