Kvikkjokk () (

Lule Sámi Lule Sámi (, , ) is a Uralic-Sámi language spoken around the Lule River in Sweden and in the northern parts of Nordland county in Norway. In Norway it is especially seen in Hamarøy Municipality (formerly Tysfjord Municipality), where Lule Sámi ...

: ''Huhttán'') is a small village situated in

Jokkmokk Municipality Jokkmokk Municipality (, , , ) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Jokkmokk. The name ''Jokkmokk'' is Sami for the words "river" and "bend", since the town is situated close to a bend in the nearby r ...

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County (, Meänkieli/, ) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders with Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It is located 120 km northwest of

Jokkmokk Jokkmokk () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Jokkmokk Municipality in Norrbotten County, provinces of Sweden, province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland, Sweden, with 2,786 inhabitants in 2010. The Lule Sámi name of the place (compos ...

. Several hiking trails start in Kvikkjokk.

Kungsleden Kungsleden (King's Trail) is a hiking trail in northern Sweden, approximately long, between Abisko in the north and Hemavan in the south. The full distance breaks down into 419.3 km of trekking, 18.2 km of lake crossings and a 29.5 km stretch o ...

passes through the village and it is a popular starting point for hikers going into

Sarek National Park Sarek National Park () is a national park in Jokkmokk Municipality, Lapland in northern Sweden. Established in 1909, the park is among the oldest national parks in Europe. It is adjacent to two other national parks, namely Stora Sjöfallet and ...

Etymology

The name derives from the Lule Sámi ''Kuoi'hka-johko'' "gushing river" which is another name for the river Gamájåhkå ("river as murky as reindeer milk's

whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard c ...

"). The modern Sámi name Huhttán derives from the ore smelting hut which once stood in the village, the Swedish word for 'the hut' being ''hyttan''.

History

The Kvikkjokk area is traditionally

Sámi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

. The first

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

settlement in the area came after 1659 when it became known that silver was present in the nearby mountain Silbbatjåhkkå (Kedkevare). The first smelting began in 1662 and in 1672 mining was expanded also to the mountain Álggávárre (Alkavare). The mines and huts were collectively known as '' Luleå Silververk'' (

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

Silverworks). The settlement steadily grew until 1702 when production stopped, leading to the vast majority of the Swedish population leaving the settlement. Left were only the priest and

bell-ringer A bell-ringer is a person who rings a Bell (instrument), bell, usually a church bell, by means of a rope or other mechanism. Despite some automation of bells for random swinging, there are still many active bell-ringers in the world, particularl ...

. Only near the end of the 1700s did any new settlers begin coming me to the area.

Climate

Kvikkjokk has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfc''). It is one of the most continental climates of the Nordics, with summer highs and winter lows in terms of averages. Areas to its north that share the proximity to the Norwegian border have greater maritime moderation with milder winters and quite a bit cooler summers. Kvikkjokk instead is quite reminiscent of Lapland's largest town

Kiruna (; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...

in terms of climate, only with wider temperature swings. The record low temperature of was registered on 3 January 2024.https://twitter.com/Ventuskycom/status/1742457772690555003 Kvikkjokk-mot-deltat

References

Populated places in Jokkmokk Municipality Lapland (Sweden) {{norrbotten-geo-stub