Boden (, outdatedly ) is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

and the seat of

Boden Municipality Boden Municipality ( Swedish: ''Bodens kommun'') is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Boden. In 1919 the evolving garrison town of Boden was detached from Överluleå and instituted as a city municipa ...

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares border ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

with 16,847 inhabitants in 2018. It is part of the larger area around coastal city

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; smj, Luleju; fi, Luulaja) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core (2018) and is the seat of Lu ...

some southeast. After Kiruna, it is the second largest town in Northern Sweden's interior.

History

The town of Boden started as a railway junction where the Northern Line (''

Norra stambanan The Northern Main Line ( sv, Norra stambanan) is a long electrified railway in Sweden, between Gävle or Storvik and Ånge. The railway consists of single track except the parts between Mo grindar and Holmsveden, Kilafors and Bollnäs, and R ...

'', opened 1894) met with the Ore Line (''

Malmbanan The Iron Ore Line ( sv, Malmbanan) is a long railway line between Riksgränsen and Boden in Norrbotten County, Sweden, owned by Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration). The line also contains two branches, from Kiruna to Svappavaar ...

'') from the rich iron ore fields in northern Sweden. The town experienced increased growth when the Boden Fortress was constructed in the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose of the fortress was to defend Sweden from a possible attack from the east, where Russia was considered the most dangerous threat. The first official writings about Boden, was in a 1500~ tax paper, where the mention of "Boden village" with 7 homes. Boden got the title of

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in 1919. This title became obsolete in 1971 and Boden is now the seat of Boden Municipality.

Industry

Today (2007) Boden is still a military stronghold, and houses the largest garrison of the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

. The army and the municipality are the two largest employers in Boden. As the military is continuously disarming, with the five regiments united into one garrison, the population has decreased by 2,000 people over the past ten years. The famous

Fällkniven Fällkniven AB is a Sweden-based manufacturer of knives and knife-related gear and apparel. Fällkniven was founded in 1984 in Boden by Peter Hjortberger. The company started importing knives and, in 1987, began designing knives. In 2009 Eric Hj ...

knives are from Boden.

Well-known Boden citizens, former or current

Peter Englund Peter Mikael Englund (born 4 April 1957) is a Swedish author and historian. Englund writes non-fiction books and essays, often about the Swedish Empire and other historical events. He writes in a very accessible style, providing narrative deta ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, Permanent secretary of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

(2009-2015) *

Karl Fabricius Karl Johan Oskar Fabricius (born 29 September 1982) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey winger, who most notably played with Luleå HF in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He previously played the 2011–12 season, with HC Lev Poprad, a ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player * Stefan Gunnarsson, singer, piano player *

Eyvind Johnson Eyvind Johnson (29 July 1900 – 25 August 1976) was a Swedish novelist and short story writer. Regarded as the most groundbreaking novelist in modern Swedish literature he became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1957 and shared the 1974 Nob ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner in literature 1974 * Lennart Klockare,

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

* Daniel Larsson, ice hockey player *

Johanna Larsson Johanna Larsson (; born 17 August 1988) is a Swedish former tennis player. She won two singles and 14 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 13 singles and 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. Her career-high WTA rankings are ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player *

Elias Lindholm Elias Viktor Zebulon Lindholm (born 2 December 1994) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player and an alternate captain for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round (5 ...

, ice hockey player * Jonna Löfgren, drummer with

Glasvegas Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan (vocals), Rab Allan (lead guitar) and Paul Donoghue (bass guitar), with Swedish drummer Jonna Löfgren joining the group in 2010 until her departure in 2020 ...

* Stig Strömholm,

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

rector magnificus A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...

* Oskar Sundqvist, ice hockey player *

Stig Sundqvist Stig "Vittjärv" Sundqvist (19 July 1922 – 3 August 2011) was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a forward or midfielder. Career Sundqvist played 11 games for the Swedish national team and scored 3 goals at the 1950 FIFA Worl ...

, football player * Stig Synnergren, former Swedish Supreme Commander *

Sven Utterström Sven "Uttern" Ludvig Utterström (16 May 1901 – 7 May 1979) was a Swedish skier who competed in cross-country skiing. He was born in Boden, Sweden, raced for Bodens BK, and won several medals at the Winter Olympics, the FIS Nordic World Ski ...

skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

Niclas Wallin Niclas Wallin (born 20 February 1975) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Playing career Wallin's career began in Bodens ...

, ice hockey player *

Hans Wallmark Hans Wallmark (born 23 January 1965), is a Swedish politician of the Moderate Party. He has been a member of the Riksdag since 2006. He served as President of the Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-par ...

, politician *

Brolle Brolle (born Kjell Junior Wallmark, November 10, 1981), is a Swedish singer and musician who was discovered in the Kanal 5 series '' Popstars'' in 2001. Brolle was born in Boden. Although he did not reach the final of ''Popstars'', Brolle soo ...

, singer * Tommy Johansson,

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

of the bands

Majestica Majestica (formerly ReinXeed) is a symphonic/power metal band from Boden, Sweden. They were formed in 2000 by vocalist Tommy Johansson. They are influenced by soundtrack focused films such as ''The Lord of the Rings'' and bands like Helloween w ...

(formerly ReinXeed) and

Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armor that covers the foot. History Fourteenth and fifteenth century sabatons typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following fashionable shoe shapes ...

Tejbz Tobias Öjerfalk (born 5 May 1988) is a Swedish video game commentator on Twitch and YouTube, better known by his screen name as Tejbz. Background Öjerfalk was born and grew up in Boden, Sweden. He was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at a yo ...

, video game commentator and streamer * Jessica Bäckman, racing driver

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Boden is twinned with: * Alta,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Hakkari Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to: *Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq *Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey *Hakkâri Province Hakkâri Province (, tr, Hakkâri ili, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Boden: *

Bodens BK Bodens BK is a Swedish football club located in Boden in Norrbotten. The club was formed on 2 November 1916 and began playing soccer in 1918. It is currently playing in the fourth tier of Swedish football, Division 2. Linguistics Note tha ...

* Hedens IF * Skogså IF *

Vittjärvs IK Vittjärvs IK is a Swedish football club located in Boden. Background Vittjärvs IK currently plays in Division 5 Norrbotten Norra which is the seventh tier of Swedish football. They play their home matches at the Tjärnbacken Vittjärv in Bo ...

* Bodens HF * Boden Handboll IF

References

{{authority control Populated places in Boden Municipality Norrbotten Municipal seats of Norrbotten County Swedish municipal seats fi:Bodenin kunta