Timber is also exported, being floated in large quantities down the Lule.
The Lule is formed of two branches, Stora and Lilla (Great and Little) Lule; the length of the main stream is 193 m.
The Stora Lule branch drains the Langas and Stora Lule lakes (Langasjaur, Luletrask), which have a length together exceeding 5 o m., a fall between them of some 16 ft.
Below Stora Lule lake the river forms the Harsprang (hare's leap; Njuommelsaska of the Lapps), the largest and one of the finest cataracts in Europe.
Pearls are sometimes found in the fresh-water mussel (Margaritana margaritifera); thus a tributary of the Lilla Lule River takes its name, Perle River, from the pearls found in it.