Luleå (listen (help·info), [lʉːlɛo]), (Lule sami:Luleju, Finnish:Luulaja) is a city (pop. 45,467) in Norrbotten in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Luleå Municipality, the capital of Norrbotten County and an episcopal see.
Geography
The town of Luleå is situated on a peninsula where Lule Bay meets the Gulf of Bothnia; the bay stretches northwest and becomes the Lule River, allowing sea-based transportation across the county. The ground area is 2110 square kilometres.
The harbour of Luleå is of particular significance for iron ore from LKAB's mining in Kiruna and Gällivare/Malmberget. During the winter, sea traffic continues at virtually unchanged rate with the assistance of ice breakers (Luleå is the home port of the Swedish ice breaker armada).
Archipelago
The archipelago of Luleå consists of approximately 800 islands. By winter, several of the islands are possible to reach by car over the ice.
History
Luleå New Town from same book. The most prominent buildings are the church and the town hall.
Luleå was already an important harbour in medieval times, in the 13-15th centuries.
The Royal charter was granted in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The original town was situated where Gammelstad (Old Town) is situated today. The town had to be moved in 1649 to the current site, due to the land elevation that had made the bay too shallow for ships to enter.
The Church Village of Gammelstad is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 1887, a devastating fire destroyed most of the town, sparing only a few buildings. The Neo-Gothic Cathedral (originally the Oscar Fredrik church), dedicated in 1893, is at 67 meters (220 ft) the tallest building in town.
The Diocese of Luleå was created in 1904, by separating from the diocese of Härnösand. A bishop took his seat there, and the church was declared a cathedral (Luleå Cathedral). The diocese is Sweden's largest, covering the counties of Västerbotten County and Norrbotten County, basically everything north of Umeå.
Of nonconfirmist churches, Laestadianism is the largest.
Business and commerce
Luleå's commerce and industry consists of a mix of industry, research, education, trade and services. The University's educational programmes have induced new businesses as well as local offices for multinational corporate groups. Major employers in the city are the SSAB steelworks and Luleå University of Technology. A Swedish Air Force wing, F 21 (or Norrbotten Air Force Wing), is stationed near Luleå at the neighbouring Luleå Airport. Other major employers are Ferruform (a subsidiary of Scania) and Gestamp HardTech (overtaken from SSAB 2005-01-01).
Climate
Despite the northern location of the city, the climate can be considered as relatively mild; see table below.[2]
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Temperature °C |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Mean |
-11.6 |
-10.6 |
-6.7 |
-1.6 |
5.8 |
12.4 |
14.7 |
12.2 |
6.8 |
0.7 |
-6.1 |
-10.0 |
0.6 |
| Precipitation mm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Mean |
33 |
30 |
30 |
29 |
32 |
36 |
45 |
65 |
63 |
44 |
50 |
45 |
502 |
| Windspeed m/s |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Mean |
3.2 |
3.2 |
3.4 |
3.1 |
3.3 |
3.4 |
3.3 |
3.2 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
3.2 |
3.2 |
3.3 |
Demographics
Media
Newspapers
Culture
Luleå has a variety of cultural institutions, among them Norrbottensteatern, Norrbottens museum and Norrbotten big band under the lead of Tim Hagans. In January 2007 the Cultural house (Kulturens Hus) was opened. In one location, library, concerts and art exhibitions are housed.
Sports
Luleå has many sports teams competing in a variety of sports, including association football (Lira Luleå BK and IFK Luleå), ice hockey (Luleå HF, who play in the Elitserien) and basketball (Plannja Basket for men and Luleå Basket for women; Plannja has won Basketligan 7 times, which is a record).
Shopping
The number of stores and malls has grown in recent years. Beyond the fact that the city is housing one of the world's first indoor malls, Shopping, there are also the malls Strand, Smedjan, Folksamhuset and the first "youth-galleria" of Sweden, Storgatan 61, located in the city center. In the town center, there are two main shopping streets, Storgatan and Kungsgatan.
Outside the city, within the industrial area of Storheden, a new shopping-area has evolved. Some of the shops located here are Coop Forum, H&M, Överskottsbolaget, Willy:s, Ica Maxi, Rusta, On Off, Lindex, Intersport, BlendShe, Jula and Expert.
The Luleå municipality is the fastest growing shopping area in Sweden.
UNESCO World heritage
Sons and daughters of the city
- Maud Adams, Swedish actress
- Per Ledin, Swedish ice hockey player
- John W. Nordstrom, founder of department store chain Nordstrom
- Leif Östling, CEO of Scania AB
- Lars Tunbjörk, Swedish photographer
- Gunnar Wiklund, Swedish singer
- The Bear Quartet, Swedish Rockband
- The Duskfall, Swedish Deathmetalband
- Machinae Supremacy, Swedish Metal band
- Raised Fist, Swedish Hardcore-band
- Breach, Swedish Hardcore-band
- Marita Ulvskog, Politician
- Martin Ljung, Actor
- Staffan Westerberg, Actor
See also
References
External links
Coordinates: 65°35′N 22°09′E / 65.583, 22.15
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