Fisure 2-22. — Lapps and their herds oF domesticated reindeer. 



source of national wealth, but otherwise, the northern region 

 offers little else in the way of resources. Timber is scarce and 

 farming is limited to the hardier crops. There is, however, con- 

 siderable potential water power in the many cascading rivers and 

 falls. 



The Lapps who inhabit this region number about 30,000. They 

 migrated to northern Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula, prob- 

 ably from the area around Lake Ladoga. Their language is a 

 combination of Finnish, Magyar, and Estonian. The majority 

 of the Lapps have settled along the coasts, built log cabins and 

 become quite sedentary. Only about 4,200 to 4,500 practice trans- 

 humance or the seasonal moving of livestock from or to the 

 mountains. 



These Lapps live on the plateau during the winter, allowing 

 their herds of reindeer to feed on the moss. They live in tents of 

 thick sacking or blankets, rarely use reindeer skin, and eat meat, 

 cheese, frozen milk, and berries. In the summer they come down 

 to the coasts where the herds pasture on the grassy meadows and 

 where the Lapps can obtain the precious commodity, salt. An 

 added attraction of the coasts in summer is the absence of the 



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