Skellefteå

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See also Skellefteå, an album by The Wannadies.
Skellefteå
Skellefteå (Sweden)
Skellefteå
Skellefteå
Coordinates: 64°45′N 20°59′E / 64.75, 20.983
Country Sweden
Municipality Skellefteå Municipality
County Västerbotten County
Province Västerbotten
Area [1]
 - Total 21.70 km² (8.4 sq mi)
Population (2005-12-31)[1]
 - Total 32,425
 - Density 1,494/km² (3,869.4/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Location map

Skellefteå is a city in Västerbotten in northern Sweden. It has 35,525 inhabitants, and is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, with 73,000 inhabitants.

Contents

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[edit] History

Skellefteå is believed to have been inhabited from around 1000 AD by the Sami people and possibly partly Finnish people.

The name Skellefteå, was recorded spelt Skelepht in 1327, but its origin remains unknown.

Archeologists have found that people were living in the area as far back as 8000 years ago.

In the 14th century attempts were made to Christianize Skellefteå. Norrland was not Christianized until several hundred years after the rest of Sweden, and northern cities such as Skellefteå were largely unexplored. The reason for the sudden awakened interest was the fishing of salmon in the areas around Skellefteå, which was sparked by an increased demand of fish, due to stricter enforcement of the annual month long fasting by the Catholic Church whereby meat was substituted by fish.

The city itself is much younger, and in fact one of the youngest cities of Norrland. It was founded in 1845 by vicar Nils Nordlander.

[edit] Today

In the 20th century Skellefteå evolved to an industrial and mining city and many wooden houses were demolished to give room for brick buildings. The largest employer in Skellefteå is the mining company Boliden AB, with about 1,200 employees. Mining is done for gold, and Skellefteå is sometimes referred to as the Goldtown.

If things go according to plan, Skellefteå will be the site of the hind legs of the world's largest moose – Stoorn – a tourist attraction planned to be built spanning from Skellefteå into Arvidsjaur in Norrbotten.

[edit] Industry

[edit] Sports

  • Skellefteå AIK, Skellefteå AIK is a professional Swedish ice hockey team from Skellefteå. The club plays in the highest Swedish league Elitserien.
  • Sunnanå SK, women's football (soccer)

[edit] Famous people from Skellefteå

[edit] References

[edit] Organisations/networks in Skellefteå

  • KVIST

[edit] Law Enforcement

Skellefteå is served by the Västerbotten County Police Department, Skellefteå Division (Polismyndigheten i Västerbottens län, Skellefteå). Mainly, the Skellefteå Police uses Volvo XC70 and Volvo V70 but they have a few Mercedes and Volkswagen vans. Swedish police officers always patrol in pairs.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Skellefteå is one of 134 towns with the historical City status in Sweden.

Coordinates: 64°45′N, 20°59′E