In recent times major changes have occurred in extensive areas of Lapland inhabited by the reindeer-herding Lapps of northern Fennoscandia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in the Soviet Union). Their customary way of life, delicately attuned to the ecological conditions of the arctic and subarctic areas, is buffetet between the environment-adapted life of the timeless tundra, forests, and swapms and the modern industrialized economy of northern Europe.
The Lapps in the northern part of the reindeer-herding region have maintained some of the old nomadic ways and are closely tied to the habits of the reindeer, providing a simple but excellent example of the way that man can use nature without destroying it. The continued practice of reindeer ecology may serve as the catalyst that will keep the occupation of reindeer husbandry alive and make possible an orderly fusion with modern trends.