Älvsbyn Municipality
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Älvsbyns kommun | |
|---|---|
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| County | Norrbotten County |
| Province | Norrbotten |
| Seat | Älvsbyn |
Älvsbyn Municipality in Sweden |
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| Area • Total area • Land area |
52nd of 290 1,713 km² |
| Population • Total |
236 of 290 8,775 inhabitants |
| Density • Total |
5 inhabitants/km² |
| Website | |
| Population as of 2005 | |
Älvsbyn Municipality (Älvsbyns kommun) is a municipality in Norrbotten County, northern Sweden. Its seat is in Älvsbyn with about 5,000 inhabitants, located at 50 meters above sea level.
The present municipality has the same size as the original one, created at the time the municipalities of Sweden were formed in 1863. 1948-1968 a part of it constituted a market town (köping) and a municipality of its own, but the entities were reunited in 1969.
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[edit] Localities
- Korsträsk (pop. 400)
- Vidsel (620)
- Vistheden (250)
Älvsbyn Municipality has 8689 inhabitants. For many years, the number was dropping, but lately, the municipality has been accepting refugees and immigrants. In the first quarter of 2006, 25 people died, and 65 people moved away from Älvsbyn. At the same time, 13 were born, about 50 foreginers settled here. Roughly a dozen moved south, and another dozen moved back home from neighboring municipalities.[1]
[edit] Geography
The municipality stretches along the Pite River for about 60 kilometers in a naturesque surrounding.
[edit] Industry
Two main industries in the town of Älvsbyn are AB Älvsbyhus, which builds houses, and Polarbageriet AB, which is nationally famous for their breads.
Polarbageriet has a production of about 1.5 million breads per day. They do not make loaves, but rather flat slices of a whitish bread. Their main distribution is within Sweden, but a small export goes to Finland, Denmark, UK, Germany and France, where it is popular to use for homemade pizza.
Älvsbyhus has its base in Älvsbyn, and one of its factories there too. It is Scandinavia's biggest producer of prefabricated houses in wood. Their average production is around two houses per day, although much of the production is located at other factories closer to the market.
RFN is a government military testing facility, not just for domestic use. It is one of very few places where live missiles can be tested over land, and attracts military testers from other countries as well.
There is also some tourism, with a popular place to visit in the nature reserve Storforsen, just west of the town Vidsel.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.scb.se/statistik/BE/BE0101/2006K01/Be0101tab17kv106.xls Population statistics for first quarter of 2006, scb.se
[edit] External links
- Älvsbyn - Official site
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