Tärnaby, Sweden Webcam

Category: Panoramic

Tärnaby is a locality situated in Storuman Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden with 533 inhabitants in 2005.

It is known for its successful skiers, particularly in the “technical” disciplines: Slalom and Giant Slalom: Ingemar Stenmark, Anja Pärson, Bengt Fjällberg, Stig Strand and Jens Byggmark. 18 km further north in the Parish of Tärnaby is the village Hemavan, a ski resort, with an airport and start point of the Kungsleden trail.

About a quarter of Sweden’s surface area is in Lapland. Lapland originally extended eastward. However, in 1809 the Russian Empire annexed the eastern part of the Swedish realm, and created the Grand Duchy of Finland, which in effect split Lapland into a Swedish part and a Finnish part, both of which still exist today.

The wildman wielding a club as heraldic symbol of Lapland first appeared at the coronation of Charles IX of Sweden in 1607, then at the same king’s burial in 1611. The colour red of his skin was decided only in 1949; before then various colours had been used (natural skin colour in the first half of the 20th century). The wildman, though unusual in heraldry, is an old symbol of the uncivilized north and appeared in books and woodcuts of the 16th century.