Ume River

Ume River (Ume älv)
Umeälven
River
View of the river's esturary in Umeå
Country	Sweden
County	Västerbotten
Source	Överuman
- elevation	525 m (1,722 ft)
- coordinates
Mouth	Kvarken
- location	Umeå, Västerbotten, Sweden
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates
Length	470 km (292 mi)
Basin	26,814.8 km2 (10,353 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	450 m3/s (15,892 cu ft/s)
File:Umealven.png

The Ume River (Swedish: Ume älv or Umeälven) is one of the main rivers in northern Sweden. It is around 460 km (290 mi) long, and flows in a south-eastern direction from its source, the lake Överuman by the Norwegian border within the Scandinavian mountain range. For large parts, the European route E12, also known as Blå Vägen (Blue Route), follows its path.

It passes through lake Storuman. It has been extensively cultivated for water power.

It drains into the Gulf of Bothnia on Sweden's east coast at the small town Holmsund, just adjacent to the city of Umeå.

Its chief tributary is the Vindel River.

Timber industry

File:Baggbole1.jpg

The sawmill on the north bank

Development of the river around Baggböle started with the arrival of Scottish immigrants James and Robert Dickson in the 1830s. They had built their timber business in the Varmland province but in the 1820s they constructed two large water powered sawmills. The sawmill at Baggböle was the largest in Sweden that was powered by water. So infamous were their methods that a new word in Swedish was derived from the name of "Baggböle". The Swedish word "baggböleri" is a prerogative term for the idea of deforestation. The sawmills worked from May to October each year employing 170 workers.

The River Ure water powered sawmill was under threat when steam power was introduced further south at Tunadal in Sweden in 1849. Twenty more steam powered Swedish saw mills were started within a decade. These sawmills were usually placed near ports and the former saw mills which had been positioned near water power were closed. The water powered saw mill on the River Ure was one of the last to close in 1884 when Holmsund was given a steam powered mill.

In 1914 a power plant was built where the sawmill was. This facility was eventually sold to the city of Umeå in 1947. Today the land used by Baggböle sawmill is Arboretum Norr.

Places named after Ume River

In Schiedam, The Netherlands, Swedish-like houses are built and one of the streets, the Umefors, is named after this river.

See also

Some of the other large rivers in northern Sweden:

• Kalix River
• Torne River
• Lule River
• Pite River
• Skellefte River
• Angerman River

External links

• Ume River