Lagan (Sweden)

The Lagan is one of four main westcoast rivers in south-western Sweden besides Göta älv. It is 244 kilometers and is one of the longest rivers in southern Sweden.

Lagan
Lagan and Hamneda Church in October 2010
Location
Country	Sweden
Physical characteristics
Source	Tahesjön
• location	Jönköping Municipality, Sweden
Mouth	Laholmsbukten, Kattegat
• coordinates	56°32′55″N 12°56′50″E
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	244 km (152 mi)[1]
Basin size	6,451.8 km2 (2,491.1 sq mi)[2]
Discharge
• average	82 m3/s (2,900 cu ft/s)[1]

It starts in Tahesjön near Taberg in the municipality of Jönköping, flows through Vaggeryd, Värnamo and Ljungby and ends in the town of Mellbystrand in the municipality of Laholm. More specifically, it ends in the Bay of Laholm, a part of the strait of Kattegat.

People have been following the river from the coastal areas since the Viking Age and settling in its vicinity. Along Lagan was a trading route, the so-called Lagastigen ("the Lagan path"), which is now part of the road E4.

The straight middle and upper course of Lagan follows a branch of the Protogine Zone —a zone of crustal weakness in western Sweden.^[3]

See also

• The other three main Halland rivers: Viskan, Ätran, Nissan
• Lagan, a town located by the river some 10 kilometers north of Ljungby

References

1. "Lagan". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 11 July 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}(subscription required)
2. "Län och huvudavrinningsområden i Sverige" (PDF) (in Swedish). Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
3. Andréasson, Per-Gunnar; Rodhe, Agnes (1992). The Protogine Zone. Geology and mobility during the last 1.5 Ga (PDF) (Report). SKB technical report.