Skellefteå Municipality

Skellefteå Municipality is a Municipality in northern Sweden where the City Skellefteå is the seat of government with 35,000 inhabitants.

The municipality borders in the south to Robertsfors, and clockwise to Umeå, Vindeln, Norsjö, Arvidsjaur and Piteå. Norra Västerbotten is the local newspaper of Skellefteå.

History

Skellefteå is believed to have been inhabited from around 1000 AD, with a part of the population possibly of Finnish or Sami origin.

In the 14th century attempts were made to Christianize Skelleftå. 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 Skelleftå.

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

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, with about 1,200 employers. Mining is done for gold, and Skellefteå is sometimes refered to as the Gold City.

Reference

• http://lokalhistoria.skelleftea.org
• Some material has been translated and incorporated from sv:Skellefteå

See also

• Sollefteå Municipality

External links

• Skellefteå – Official site
• Tourist in Skellefteå – Tourist information in Swedish, English and German languages