Vidsel () is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

situated in

Älvsbyn Municipality Älvsbyn Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its administrative centre, seat is located in Älvsbyn. The present municipality has the same size as the original one, created at the t ...

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 ...

with 533 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated about 900 km north of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, near the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

History

Perhaps its earliest history is as a seasonal settlement, but permanent inhabitants have lived here since the 19th century. The town was mainly founded in the 1950s, because of "Robotförsöksplats Norr" (RFN) (Missile Test Area North)/

Vidsel Test Range Vidsel Test Range is a Swedish strategic national test and evaluation asset operated by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), a part of the Swedish Ministry of Defence, near Vidsel. Physical attributes Vidsel Test Range is locate ...

. The range forms part of the

Swedish Defence Materiel Administration The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (, FMV) is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It is located in Stockholm. D ...

(FMV) Testing Directorate, which is responsible for the verification of systems procured for the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...

. RFN is the largest overland test range in Western Europe, consisting of 1,650 km² of uninhabited forest and marshland, which can be extended by 1,500 km² if required. The installation includes a military base with a 2,300 m runway. Because of its usage as a Swedish and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an missile test site, this remote area is often listed in international weather forecasts and maps. The site has been a test area for most Swedish flight developments, including Draken, Viggen and

Gripen The Saab JAS 39 Gripen ( ; English: ''Griffin'') is a light single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with rela ...

References

External links

North European Aerospace Test range

FMV
Populated places in Älvsbyn Municipality Norrbotten {{Norrbotten-geo-stub