Luleå

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Luleå
Luleå, 2014
Luleå, 2014
Luleå is located in Sweden
Luleå
Luleå
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country Sweden
Province Norrbotten
County Norrbotten County
Municipality Luleå Municipality
Charter 17th century
Area[1]
 • City 29.09 km2 (11.23 sq mi)
Elevation 6 m (20 ft)
Population (31 December 2014)[2]
 • Metro 75,966
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 971 00 - 978 20
Area code(s) (+46) 920
Website www.lulea.se

Luleå (Swedish: [ˈlʉːlɛo] ( listen), Lule Sami Luleju) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has about 47,000 inhabitants and is the seat of Luleå Municipality (with a total population of 75,921).

Luleå panorama summer of 2014
Luleå panorama summer of 2014

Luleå has the seventh biggest harbor in Sweden for shipping goods. It has a large steel industry and is a center for extensive research. Luleå University of Technology is Sweden’s first technology university and the northernmost university in Sweden.

History

File:Suecia 2-073 ; Luleå Civitas Nova.jpg
Luleå New Town from same book. The most prominent buildings are the church and the town hall.

The town's 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 post-glacial rebound that had made the bay too shallow for ships to enter.

The Gammelstad Church Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

File:Nederluleå kyrka 2.jpg
The Gammelstad church

In 1805 Luleå only had 947 inhabitants, but in 1865 Luleå succeeded Piteå as the county town in Norrbotten county and now had around 1400 residents. In the 1860s the industries also started taking root in the city.

The town has been plagued by fires in 1653, 1657 and in 1887, and the fire in 1887 was a devastating fire that destroyed most of the town, sparing only a few buildings. The Neo-Gothic Cathedral (originally the Oscar Fredrik church), dedicated in 1893, standing at 67 meters (220 ft), is the tallest building in town.

Modern city

With the arrival of Malmbanan railway line, Luleå became the shipping port for iron ore coming from Malmberget. Luleå was also becoming an industrial city. In 1943 Norrbottens Järnverk AB steelworks opened (nowadays known as SSAB) using the iron ore as an input for further processing.

During the period 1940-1980 Luleå was one of the fastest growing cities in Sweden, with developing suburban areas. In 1971 Luleå University of Technology was founded.

Economy

Industrial district of Luleå

Luleå's commerce and industry are a mix of industry, research, education, trade, and services. The university's educational programmes have attracted new businesses as well as local offices for multinational corporations.[citation needed]

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 include Ferruform (a subsidiary of Scania AB) and Gestamp HardTech (acquired from SSAB 2005-01-01).

IT industry

The information technology industry in Luleå has about 2000 employees (2008).

Luleå is the home of several major innovations and technological milestones.[3]

  • Broadcast radio: RDS, DAB,[4] DARC (1992–1997)
  • The Luleå algorithm for routing (1997)
  • Living Labs: leading European service testbed with 6000 users (2001–)
  • HDTV transport layer for telephony cabling (1996)[citation needed]
  • Software GPS in mobile phones (2005–)[citation needed]
  • Marratech: pioneers in Internet-based E-meetings (1998–) – acquired by Google, releasing in November 2008 video-chat support in Gmail
  • Arena project, IT in Sports: sensors, handheld wireless video (1999–2002)
  • Estreet project: First large-scale mobile marketing experiment (2000)
  • On 27 October 2011 Facebook announced it would locate its first data center outside of the United States in Luleå. The whole facility, a set of three 28,000 m2 (300,000 ft2) buildings is scheduled to be operational by 2014. The first building was to be operational in 2012.[5] The establishment will help turn the Luleå region into a major node for European data traffic. The town's northern location and that it will become a hub for data traffic in Europe has generated a new epithet for the Luleå region – The Node Pole.[6] The Node Pole region provides stable, low-cost electricity that is 100-percent derived from renewable sources. In addition, they cite the benefits of low cooling expenses, given that the region is one of the coolest in Sweden. Sweden's long political stability is cited as another long-term benefit of the Node Pole's location.[7]

Facebook expands into Luleå

File:Thumbs up for US - Lulea cooperation!.jpg
American ambassadors at the ice thumb outside the Facebook's server in Luleå

The new European computer center in Luleå is Facebooks first investment outside of the US. One of the reasons that Facebook choose Luleå was because of the natural cooling thanks to the climate, reliable electricity networks, cheap electricity and the clean energy. The computer center is the largest one in Europe, with 84 m2 which is comparable with 11 football fields.

The computer center will process large amounts of data through thousands of computers working as one. The establishment of Facebook in Luleå has also lead to other companies realizing the potential of establishing in Luleå. The positive effect has also been noticeable at the university where the applications rate has risen with 18 percent- Luleå Science Park has also had an increase with 25 percent of new established companies.

Climate

Luleå has a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc), which borders on a continental climate (Köppen: Dfb) with short, mild to warm summers and long, cold, snowy winters. But due to the Gulf Stream Luleå has a warmer climate than other cities on the same latitude and even some that are further south in Canada, Alaska and Siberia. During the summer in June and July the temperature in Luleå can some days rise to around +30 degrees Celsius. Summers are very bright with marginal twillight being the only exception during the summer solstice.

Climate data for Luleå, Sweden, 2002-2014
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 10.3
(50.5)		 9.5
(49.1)		 12.9
(55.2)		 18.1
(64.6)		 28.4
(83.1)		 30.3
(86.5)		 29.1
(84.4)		 28.2
(82.8)		 22.5
(72.5)		 16.9
(62.4)		 13.0
(55.4)		 8.2
(46.8)		 30.3
(86.5)
Average high °C (°F) −5.1
(22.8)		 −5.0
(23)		 −0.1
(31.8)		 5.5
(41.9)		 12.4
(54.3)		 17.3
(63.1)		 20.7
(69.3)		 18.7
(65.7)		 13.4
(56.1)		 5.7
(42.3)		 0.2
(32.4)		 −2.7
(27.1)		 6.7
(44.1)
Average low °C (°F) −12.9
(8.8)		 −13.6
(7.5)		 −8.9
(16)		 −2.7
(27.1)		 3.2
(37.8)		 9.1
(48.4)		 12.8
(55)		 11.3
(52.3)		 6.0
(42.8)		 −0.3
(31.5)		 −5.9
(21.4)		 −9.9
(14.2)		 −0.9
(30.4)
Record low °C (°F) −42.3
(−44.1)		 −38.1
(−36.6)		 −32.3
(−26.1)		 −20.4
(−4.7)		 −8.8
(16.2)		 −1.2
(29.8)		 3.2
(37.8)		 −0.2
(31.6)		 −8.4
(16.9)		 −20.7
(−5.3)		 −30.3
(−22.5)		 −33.6
(−28.5)		 −42.3
(−44.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 34
(1.34)		 30
(1.18)		 31
(1.22)		 29
(1.14)		 32
(1.26)		 37
(1.46)		 46
(1.81)		 64
(2.52)		 63
(2.48)		 46
(1.81)		 51
(2.01)		 45
(1.77)		 508
(20)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 23 79 172 221 283 296 309 243 152 91 37 3 1,909
Source #1: SMHI[8]
Source #2: SMHI[8]

Media

Newspapers

Transportation

Local buses are run by Luleå LLT.

File:Lulea airport.jpg
Luleå Airport

Passenger train service is available from Luleå Central Station on Sweden's national SJ railway service northbound to Narvik on the Norwegian coast, and southbound to Stockholm. See Rail transport in Sweden.

Luleå Airport has the longest runway in Sweden and serves about one million passengers annually.[9]

Shopping

The world’s first indoor mall was built in Luleå and was named Shopping; there are two other malls in Luleå: Strand and Smedjan. The main shopping streets in Luleå are Storgatan and Kungsgatan. A couple kilometers outside Luleå is a shopping center called Storheden.

File:Shopping Luleå.JPG
Shopping, the worlds first indoor mall

Culture

Luleå has a variety of cultural institutions, among them Norrbottensteatern; Norrbottens museum; and Norrbotten Big Band, led by Tim Hagans. In January 2007 the Cultural House (Kulturens Hus) was opened. A library, concerts, and art exhibitions are all hosted here. Luleå is also home to hardcore punk band Raised Fist, melodic death metal band The Duskfall, power metal band Machinae Supremacy and death 'n' roll band Helltrain.

File:Norr.jpg
The Theatre of Norrbotten

One of the largest winter festivals in Luleå is an indoor festival called Minus 30-festivalen, held at At Kulturens hus (the House of Culture) annually on a Saturday in mid-March.

Luleå Hamnfestival (Luleå harbor festival) is a big summer event in the center of Luleå, mostly centered around the north harbor. The festival has been a recurring event each summer since 2013. Held in July, it is a free event not targeting a specific group. The festival is the new version of Luleåkalaset which was held each summer from 2002-2012, which itself replaced sjöslaget, the summer festival from 1988-2002.

Musikens makt (The power of music) is a smaller music festival that is each summer in August at Gültzauudden since 2010. This is a free concert.

Ice music is a new art form where professional musicians play on instruments made out of ice. The concerts are performed in a huge igloo and the instruments are pulsating in all the colors of the rainbow.

Sports

Luleå has many teams competing in a variety of sports.

Three teams in Luleå compete in the highest Swedish leagues: Northland Basket (female basketball team); LF Basket Norrbotten (male basketball team, previously named Plannja Basket); and Luleå Hockey (male ice hockey team).

File:Luleå HF players 2013-01-17.jpg
Players in Luleå Hockey

Northland Basket has won two Swedish championships (2014 and 2015), while LF Basket Norrland has won seven Swedish championships (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007). Luleå Hockey has won one Swedish Championship, in 1996, and the European Champion Hockey League 2015.

Football

Ice hockey

Basketball

American football

In Luleå there is also an American football team, the Luleå Eskimos.

Yukigassen

The Swedish Championship in Yukigassen is held in Luleå annually.

Cricket

Cricket Association of Luleå consists of few graduates from Luleå University of Technology. The association conducts occasional indoor and outdoor cricket matches in Luleå.

UNESCO World Heritage

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Folkmängd 31 december 2014. Statistiska Centralbyrån. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  3. ↑ World-class Innovations in ICT, Luleå university of Technology, 2007, http://www.cdt.ltu.se/main.php/LTU237%206-sid%20Folder%20ICT_lo.pdf?fileitem=2365519 Archived 15 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ http://www.ltu.se/ltu/media/news/Digitalradio-kraver-hog-datahastighet-1.111164?l=en
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "SMHI" defined multiple times with different content
  9. ↑ www.swedavia.se/lulea/
  10. ↑ [1] Archived 15 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine

External links

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