Facts about Västernorrland 2009 Facts about Västernorrland 2009

Västernorrland County in brief
The county has seven municipalities: Ånge, Sundsvall, Timrå,
Härnösand, Kramfors, Sollefteå and Örnsköldsvik. In all, we
have 243,000 inhabitants in an area of 21,700 square kilometres.
That means eleven people per square kilometre.
Västernorrland is easily accessible, with three airports and a
high-speed train line from the south. When the Bothnia Line
is complete, the county will have high-speed trains also from
the north. Via the highways E4 and E14, the county has good
connections to the north, south and west.
The county consists of two provinces, Medelpad in the
south and Ångermanland in the north. Härnösand is the
county seat. The town is also the seat of Härnösand Diocese,
which covers the provinces of Jämtland, Härje dalen, Medelpad
and Ångermanland.
Västernorrland has magnificent countryside, with the
three large rivers Ljungan, Indalsälven and Ångermanälven
and a long coastline along the Bothnian Sea with the unique
World Heritage Site The High Coast. The inland areas of the
county with valleys and vast forests offer good berry-picking
and hunting. Fishing, principally for salmon and salmon
trout, but also for other species like Baltic herring, grayling,
whitefi sh, pike and perch, is good in rivers, lakes and along
the coast. The abundant and diverse countryside gives excellent
opportunities for sports and other leisure activities all
the year. Perhaps it is the striking countryside that has led
to Västernorrland long being blessed with many prominent
exponents of culture and sport.
The base industries of forestry, pulp and paper and hydropower
retain their strong position in our county. They do not
provide as many jobs as in the past however, and the private
sector is undergoing rejuvenation. Expertise from the base
industries has made a strong contribution to the development
of many companies in the fi elds of energy and environmental
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