Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the
second-largest city in
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 ...
, fifth-largest in the
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...
, and
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of the
Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden.
The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...
. It is situated by the
Kattegat
The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a population of approximately 590,000 in the
city proper
A city proper is the geographical area contained within city limits. The term ''proper'' is not exclusive to cities; it can describe the geographical area within the boundaries of any given locality. The United Nations defines the term as "the si ...
and about 1.1 million inhabitants in the
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
.
Gothenburg was founded as a heavily fortified, primarily Dutch, trading colony, by
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
in 1621 by
King Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...
. In addition to the generous privileges (e.g. tax relaxation) given to his Dutch allies from the ongoing
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, the king also attracted significant numbers of his
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
and
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
allies to populate his only town on the western coast. At a key strategic location at the mouth of the
Göta älv
The Göta älv (; "River of (the) Geats") is a river that drains lake Vänern into the Kattegat, at the city of Gothenburg, on the western coast of Sweden. It was formed at the end of the last glaciation, as an outflow channel from the Baltic Ic ...
, where Scandinavia's largest drainage basin enters the sea, the
Port of Gothenburg
The municipally-owned Port of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs hamn) is the largest port in the Nordic countries, with over 11,000 ship visits per year from over 140 destinations worldwide. As the only Swedish port with the capacity to cope with the ...
is now the largest port in the Nordic countries.
[Swedish National Encyclopedia (password needed)](_blank)
/ref>
Gothenburg is home to many students, as the city includes the University of Gothenburg
The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 st ...
and Chalmers University of Technology
Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international level ...
. Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
was founded in Gothenburg in 1927. The original parent Volvo Group and the now-separate Volvo Car Corporation
Volvo Cars ( sv, Volvo personvagnar, styled VOLVO in the company's logo) is a Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Torslanda, Gothenburg. The company manufactures SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The company's ...
are still headquartered on the island of Hisingen
Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by the main arm of tha ...
in the city. Other key companies are SKF
AB SKF (Swedish: ''Svenska Kullagerfabriken''; 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory') is a Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1907. The company manufactures and supplies bearings, seals, lubrication and l ...
and AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includin ...
.
Gothenburg is served by Göteborg Landvetter Airport
Göteborg Landvetter Airport () is an international airport serving the Gothenburg (Swedish: ''Göteborg'') region in Sweden. With just over 6.8 million passengers in 2018 it is Sweden's second-largest airport after Stockholm–Arlanda. Landvette ...
southeast of the city center. The smaller Göteborg City Airport
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...
, from the city center, was closed to regular airline traffic in 2015.
The city hosts the Gothia Cup
The Gothia Cup () is an international youth association football tournament organized by professional football club BK Häcken, which has been held annually since 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms ...
, the world's largest youth football tournament, and the Göteborg Basketball Festival, Europe's largest youth basketball tournament, alongside some of the largest annual events in Scandinavia. The Gothenburg Film Festival
Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the larg ...
, held in January since 1979, is the leading Scandinavian film festival, with over 155,000 visitors each year.[ In summer, a wide variety of music festivals are held in the city, including the popular ]Way Out West Festival
Way Out West is a three-day music festival held in Gothenburg, Sweden, during August that plays host to a variety of popular music artists mainly from the rock, electronic and hip-hop genres. The main festival is complemented with the club conc ...
.
During 2020, Gothenburg's population increased by 3,775 inhabitants.
Name
The city was named Göteborg in the city's charter in 1621 and simultaneously given the German and English name Gothenburg. The Swedish name was given after the ''Göta älv'', called Göta River
Göta is a Swedish given name, which is the female equivalent of Göte. It may refer to:
*Göta Ljungberg (1893–1955), Swedish singer
*Göta Pettersson (1926–1993), Swedish gymnast
Other uses
*Göta, Sweden
*Göta älv, a river in Sweden
*G ...
in English, and other cities ending in ''-borg''.
Both the Swedish and German/English names were in use before 1621 and had already been used for the previous city founded in 1604 that burned down in 1611. Gothenburg is one of few Swedish cities to still have an official and widely used exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
.
The city council of 1641 consisted of four Swedish, three Dutch, three German, and two Scottish members. In Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, Scots, English, and German, all languages with a long history in this trade and maritime-oriented city, the name Gothenburg is or was (in the case of German) used for the city. Variations of the official German/English name Gothenburg in the city's 1621 charter existed or exist in many languages. The French form of the city name is ''Gothembourg'', but in French texts, the Swedish name ''Göteborg'' is more frequent. In addition, the traditional forms ("Gothenburg" in English, or ''Gotemburgo'' in Spanish and Portuguese) are sometimes replaced with the use of the Swedish ''Göteborg'', for example by The Göteborg Opera
The Gothenburg opera house ( sv, Göteborgsoperan) is an opera house at Lilla Bommen in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Artistic Director for opera is Henning Ruhe since 2019, while Katrín Hall leads the ballet and dance company.
History
The Gothenbur ...
and the Göteborg Ballet. However, ''Göteborgs universitet'', previously designated as the Göteborg University in English, changed its name to the University of Gothenburg
The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 st ...
in 2008. The Gothenburg municipality has also reverted to the use of the English name in international contexts.
In 2009, the city council launched a new logotype for Gothenburg. Since the name "Göteborg" contains the Swedish letter "ö", they planned to make the name more "international" and "up to date" by turning the "ö" sideways. , the name is spelled "Go:teborg" on a large number of signs in the city.
History
In the early modern period, the configuration of Sweden's borders made Gothenburg strategically critical as the only Swedish gateway to Skagerrak
The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea.
The ...
, the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
and Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
, situated on the west coast in a very narrow strip of Swedish territory between Danish Halland
Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömsebro ...
in the south and Norwegian Bohuslän
Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...
in the north. After several failed attempts, Gothenburg was successfully founded in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...
(Gustaf II Adolf).
The site of the first church built in Gothenburg, subsequently destroyed by Danish invaders, is marked by a stone near the north end of the Älvsborg Bridge
The Älvsborg Bridge ( sv, Älvsborgsbron) is a suspension bridge over Göta älv in Gothenburg, Sweden, connecting the island of Hisingen with the mainland. It was designed by Sven Olof Asplund, and inaugurated on 8 November 1966 by Swedish commu ...
in the Färjenäs Park. The church was built in 1603 and destroyed in 1611. The city was heavily influenced by the Dutch, Germans, and Scots, and Dutch planners and engineers were contracted to construct the city as they had the skills needed to drain and build in the marshy areas chosen for the city. The town was designed like Dutch cities such as Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
(Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
) and New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
(Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
). The planning of the streets and canals of Gothenburg closely resembled that of Jakarta, which was built by the Dutch around the same time. The Dutchmen initially won political power, and it was not until 1652, when the last Dutch politician in the city's council died, that Swedes acquired political power over Gothenburg. During the Dutch period, the town followed Dutch town laws and Dutch was proposed as the official language in the town. Robust city walls were built during the 17th century. In 1807, a decision was made to tear down most of the city's wall. The work started in 1810 and was carried out by 150 soldiers from the Bohus regiment.
Along with the Dutch, the town also was heavily influenced by Scots who settled down in Gothenburg. Many became people of high-profile. William Chalmers, the son of a Scottish immigrant, donated his fortunes to set up what later became the Chalmers University of Technology
Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international level ...
. In 1841, the Scotsman Alexander Keiller founded the Götaverken
Götaverken was a shipbuilding company that was located on Hisingen, Gothenburg. During the 1930s it was the world's biggest shipyard by launched gross registered tonnage. It was founded in 1841, and went bankrupt in 1989.
History
The company w ...
shipbuilding company that was in business until 1989. His son James Keiller donated Keiller Park to the city in 1906.
The Gothenburg coat of arms was based on the lion of the coat of arms of Sweden
The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges riksvapen) has a greater and a lesser version.
Regulated usage
The usage of the coats of arms is regulated by Swedish Law, Actbr>1970:498 which states (in unofficial translation) that ...
, symbolically holding a shield with the national emblem, the Three Crowns
Three Crowns ( sv, tre kronor, links=no) is the national emblem of Sweden, present in the coat of arms of Sweden, and composed of three yellow or gilded coronets ordered two above and one below, placed on a blue background. Similar designs are f ...
, to defend the city against its enemies.
In the Treaty of Roskilde
The Treaty of Roskilde (concluded on 26 February ( OS), or 8 March 1658) ( NS) during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Karl X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde. After a devastating defeat, ...
(1658), Denmark–Norway
Denmark–Norway (Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe I ...
ceded the Danish province of Halland, in the south, and the Norwegian province of Bohus County or ''Bohuslän'' in the north, which left Gothenburg less exposed. Gothenburg grew into a significant port and trade centre on the west coast, because it was the only city on the west coast that, along with Marstrand
Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for histori ...
, was granted the rights to trade with merchants from other countries.
In the 18th century, fishing was the most important industry. However, in 1731, the Swedish East India Company
The Swedish East India Company ( sv, Svenska Ostindiska Companiet or ''SOIC'') was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East ...
was founded, and the city flourished due to its foreign trade with highly profitable commercial expeditions to China.
The harbour developed into Sweden's main harbour for trade towards the west, and when Swedish emigration to the United States increased, Gothenburg became Sweden's main point of departure for these travellers. The impact of Gothenburg as a main port of embarkation for Swedish emigrants is reflected by Gothenburg, Nebraska
Gothenburg is a city in Dawson County, Nebraska, Dawson County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lexington, Nebraska Lexington micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,574 at the 2010 United States Census, 20 ...
, a small Swedish settlement in the United States.
With the 19th century, Gothenburg evolved into a modern industrial city that continued on into the 20th century. The population increased tenfold in the century, from 13,000 (1800) to 130,000 (1900). In the 20th century, major companies that developed included SKF
AB SKF (Swedish: ''Svenska Kullagerfabriken''; 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory') is a Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1907. The company manufactures and supplies bearings, seals, lubrication and l ...
(1907) and Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
(1927).
Geography
Gothenburg is located on the west coast, in southwestern Sweden, about halfway between the capital cities of Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
(Denmark) and Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
(Norway). The location at the mouth of the Göta älv, which feeds into the Kattegat
The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
, an arm of the North Sea, has helped the city grow in significance as a trading city. The archipelago of Gothenburg
The archipelago of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs skärgård) comprises northern and southern archipelagoes. The southern archipelago is part of Gothenburg municipality located in the province of Västergötland while the northern archipelago is Öck ...
consists of rough, barren rocks and cliffs, which also is typical for the coast of Bohuslän. Due to the Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...
, the city has a mild climate and moderately heavy precipitation. It is the second-largest city in Sweden
''Stad'' (Swedish: "town; city"; plural ''städer'') is a Swedish term that historically was used for urban centers of various sizes. Since 1971, ''stad'' has no administrative or legal significance in Sweden.
History
The status of towns in Swe ...
after its capital Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
.
The Gothenburg Metropolitan Area (''Stor-Göteborg'') has 982,360 inhabitants and extends to the municipalities of Ale
Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.
As with most beers, ale typicall ...
, Alingsås
Alingsås () is a locality and the seat of Alingsås Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 24,482 inhabitants in 2010.
Geography
Geographically the city is situated by the outlet of the small rivulet Säveån into lake Mjörn ...
, Göteborg, Härryda
Härryda () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Härryda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 968 inhabitants in 2010. Despite its name it is not the seat of the Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, which is the mu ...
, Kungälv
Kungälv () (old no, Konghelle) is a city and the seat of Kungälv Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 22,768 inhabitants in 2010. In 2021, the main Kungälv - Ytterby - Kareby conurbation had a combined population approachin ...
, Lerum
Lerum is a locality and the seat of Lerum Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,855 inhabitants in 2010.
Overview
Lerum has a station on the Gothenburg commuter rail system and is a suburb of Gothenburg.
The river of Säve ...
, Lilla Edet
Lilla Edet is a locality and the seat of Lilla Edet Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 4,862 inhabitants in 2010.
Lilla Edet was the smallest of three settlements that were burnt down in Sweden on 25 June 1888. The wooden tow ...
, Mölndal
Mölndal () is the seat and administrative centre of Mölndal Municipality, located just south of Gothenburg on the west-coast of Sweden. About 40,000 of the municipality's 60,000 inhabitants live in Mölndal proper.
Geography
Mölndal is located ...
, Partille
Partille () is a former urban area in the county of Västra Götaland in Sweden. It is the seat of Partille Municipality
Partille Municipality (''Partille kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is l ...
, Stenungsund
Stenungsund () is a locality and the seat of Stenungsund Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 9,987 inhabitants in 2010.
Overview
Stenungsund was once only an idyllic bathing and vacation location on the Swedish west coast. A landma ...
, Tjörn
Tjörn () is the sixth largest island in Sweden, located on the Swedish West coast in the province of Bohuslän.
The area of the island is , and the area of the municipality is . The population, as of 2017, was 15,774 people.
Geography
Tjörn i ...
, Öckerö
Öckerö () is an island and a locality and the seat of Öckerö Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 3,488 inhabitants in 2010.
Sports
The following sports clubs are located in Öckerö:
* Öckerö IF
Öckerö IF is a Swedish f ...
within Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden.
The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...
, and Kungsbacka
Kungsbacka () (old da, Kongsbakke) is a locality and the seat of Kungsbacka Municipality in Halland County, Sweden, with 19,057 inhabitants in 2010.
It is one of the most affluent parts of Sweden, in part due to its simultaneous proximity to the ...
within Halland County
Halland County ( sv, Hallands län, link=no, ) is a county ('' län'') on the western coast of Sweden. It corresponds roughly to the cultural and historical province of Halland. The capital is Halmstad.
It borders the counties of Västra Göta ...
.
Angered
Angered ( ) is a borough of Gothenburg Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. Angered is the biggest Million Programme area in Gothenburg, and one of the biggest in the country, with 60,000 inhabitants.
Transportation
Angered is s ...
, a suburb outside Gothenburg, consists of Hjällbo, Eriksbo, Rannebergen, Hammarkullen, Gårdsten, and Lövgärdet. It is a Million Programme
The Million Programme ( sv, Miljonprogrammet) was an ambitious public housing program implemented in Sweden between 1965 and 1974 by the governing Swedish Social Democratic Party to ensure the availability of affordable, high quality housing t ...
part of Gothenburg, like Rosengård
Rosengård (literally "Rose Manor") was a city district ( sv, stadsdel) in the center of Malmö Municipality, Sweden. On 1 July 2013, it was merged with Husie, forming Öster. In 2012, Rosengård had a population of 23,563 of the municipality' ...
in Malmö and Botkyrka
Botkyrka Municipality ( ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba.
In 1971 ''Grödinge'' was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 ''Salem'' was add ...
in Stockholm. Angered had about 50,000 inhabitants in 2015. /sup> It lies north of Gothenburg and is isolated from the rest of the city. Bergsjön
Bergsjön is a district in eastern Gothenburg, Sweden. On January 1, 2011, Bergsjön and Kortedala became the Eastern District of Gothenburg as part of a larger reorganization of the city of Gothenburg; the number of district councils was halved ...
is another Million Programme suburb north of Gothenburg, it has 14,000 inhabitants. Biskopsgården is the biggest multicultural suburb on the island of Hisingen
Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by the main arm of tha ...
, which is a part of Gothenburg but separated from the city by the river.
Climate
Gothenburg has an oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(''Cfb'' according to the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
). Despite its northerly latitude, temperatures are quite mild throughout the year and warmer than places at a similar latitude such as Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
; this is mainly because of the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...
. During the summer, daylight extends 18 hours and 5 minutes, but lasts 6 hours and 32 minutes in late December. The climate has become significantly milder in later decades, particularly in summer and winter; July temperatures used to be below Stockholm's 1961–1990 averages, but have since been warmer than that benchmark.
Summers are warm and pleasant with average high temperatures of and lows of , but temperatures of occur on many days during the summer. Winters are cold and windy with temperatures of around , though it rarely drops below . Precipitation is regular but generally moderate throughout the year. Snow mainly occurs from December to March, but is not unusual in November and April and can sometimes occur even in October and May.
Parks and nature
Gothenburg has several parks and nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
s ranging in size from tens of square meters to hundreds of hectares. It also has many green areas that are not designated as parks or reserves.
Selection of parks:
*''Kungsparken'', , built between 1839 and 1861, surrounds the canal that circles the city centre.
*Garden Society of Gothenburg
The Garden Society of Gothenburg ( sv, Trädgårdsföreningen) is a park and horticultural garden in central Gothenburg, Sweden. It is located next to Kungsportsavenyen.
The park was founded in 1842 by King Carl XIV Johan, on initiative of th ...
, a park and horticultural garden, is located next to Kungsportsavenyen
Avenyn ( en, The Avenue; formally Kungsportsavenyen, (en. "Kingsgate Avenue")) is the main boulevard of Gothenburg, Sweden. Designed in the mid 19th century as the first middle-class residential district outside the bastions of the fortified heart ...
. Founded in 1842 by the Swedish king Carl XIV Johan and on initiative of the amateur botanist Henric Elof von Normann, the park has a noted rose garden with some 4,000 roses of 1,900 cultivars.
*Slottsskogen
Slottsskogen (, "Castle Forest") is a 137-hectare park located in central Gothenburg, Sweden.
History
When Gothenburg was founded in the 17th century, the area of Slottsskogen was a forest that belonged to the Old Älvsborg fortress. In the 18 ...
, , was created in 1874 by August Kobb. It has a free "open" zoo that includes harbor seal
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...
s, penguin
Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...
s, horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s, pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
s, deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
, moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...
, goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s, and many bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
s. The Natural History Museum (''Naturhistoriska Museet'') and the city's oldest observatory are located in the park. The annual Way Out West festival is held in the park.
*''Änggårdsbergens naturreservat'', , was bought in 1840 by pharmacist Arvid Gren, and donated in 1963 to the city by Sven and Carl Gren Broberg, who stated the area must remain a nature and bird reserve. It lies partly in Mölndal.
*''Delsjöområdets naturreservat'', about , has been in use since the 17th century as a farming area; significant forest management was carried out in the late 19th century. Skatås gym and motionscentrum is situated here.
* Rya Skogs Naturreservat, , became a protected area in 1928. It contains remnants of a defensive wall built in the mid- to late-17th century.
*''Keillers park'' was donated by James Keiller in 1906. He was the son of Scottish Alexander Keiller, who founded the Götaverken
Götaverken was a shipbuilding company that was located on Hisingen, Gothenburg. During the 1930s it was the world's biggest shipyard by launched gross registered tonnage. It was founded in 1841, and went bankrupt in 1989.
History
The company w ...
shipbuilding company.
*''S A Hedlunds park'': Sven Adolf Hedlund
Sven Adolf Hedlund (24 February 1821 – 16 September 1900), also known as S. A. Hedlund, was a Swedish newspaper publisher and politician.
He was editor-in-chief of ''Göteborgs Handels- och sjöfartstidning'' and served as a Member of the ...
, newspaper publisher and politician, bought the Bjurslätt farm in 1857, and in 1928 it was given to the city.
*''Hisingsparken'' is Gothenburg's largest park.
*''Flunsåsparken'', built in 1950, has many free activities during the summer such as concerts and theatre.
*Gothenburg Botanical Garden
The Gothenburg Botanical Garden ( sv, Göteborgs botaniska trädgård) is located in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is one of the larger botanical gardens in Europe.
History
The Gothenburg Botanical Garden is situated in a formerly completely rural ar ...
, , opened in 1923. It won an award in 2003, and in 2006 was third in "The most beautiful garden in Europe" competition. It has around 16,000 species of plants and trees. The greenhouses contain around 4,500 species including 1,600 orchids. It is considered to be one of the most important botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
s in Europe with three stars in the French ''Guide Rouge''.
Architecture
Very few buildings are left from the 17th century when the city was founded, since all but the military and royal houses were built of wood. Some structures which do survive from this early phase in the city's history are Kronhuset
Kronhuset ('the Crown House' in English language, English), formerly known as ''Giötheborgz Tyghuhs'' ('Gothenburg's Arsenal'), is a redbrick building in Nordstaden, Västra Nordstaden in Gothenburg. It was constructed during the years 1643–165 ...
and the Torstenson Palace
The Torstenson Palace is a building on Södra Hamngatan in Gothenburg, also known as Kungshuset ('the King's House') because it was formerly the Swedish king's residence in Gothenburg. It is currently the residence and offices of the ''landshöv ...
, and the fortresses Skansen Kronan
Skansen Kronan ("the Crown Sconce") is a redoubt on the hill Risåsberget, in the Haga district of Gothenburg, Sweden.
The fortress and its twin, Skansen Lejonet, were built to protect the city of Gothenburg against possible Danish attack, a ...
and Skansen Lejonet
Skansen Lejonet ("the Lion Sconce"), formally Westgötha Leijon ("the Westrogothic Lion"), is a redoubt on the hill Gullberg in Gothenburg, Sweden, built in 1687-92 on the site of an earlier medieval castle. It was decommissioned in 1822 and has ...
.
The first major architecturally interesting period is the 18th century when the East India Company made Gothenburg an important trade city. Imposing stone houses in Neo-Classical style were erected around the canals. One example from this period is the East India House, which today houses the Göteborg City Museum
The Museum of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs stadsmuseum) is a local history museum located in the city centre of Gothenburg in western Sweden. It is located in the East India House ( sv, Ostindiska huset), originally built as the Swedish East Indi ...
.
In the 19th century, the wealthy bourgeoisie began to move outside the city walls which had protected the city. The style now was an eclectic, academic, somewhat overdecorated style which the middle-class favoured. The working class lived in the overcrowded city district Haga in wooden houses.
In the 19th century, the first comprehensive town plan after the founding of city was created, which led to the construction of the main street, Kungsportsavenyen. Perhaps the most significant type of houses of the city, Landshövdingehus
Landshövdingehus () is a building type unique to the Swedish city of Gothenburg. Nineteenth-century city bylaws ruled that houses made of wood could be of maximum of two storeys high, in order to protect against fires. However, one buildi ...
en, were built in the end of the 19th century – three-storey houses with the first floor in stone and the other two in wood.
The early 20th century, characterized by the National Romantic
Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
style, was rich in architectural achievements. Masthugg Church is a noted example of the style of this period. In the early 1920s, on the city's 300th anniversary, the Götaplatsen
Götaplatsen is a public square in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the southern end of Avenyn, the city's main boulevard. The square was inaugurated when Gothenburg held a major international industrial exhibition, 1923, celebrating the city's 300th anniv ...
square with its Neoclassical look was built.
After this, the predominant style in Gothenburg and rest of Sweden was Functionalism which especially dominated the suburbs such as Västra Frölunda
Västra Frölunda, sometimes referred to as just Frölunda, is one of 21 boroughs in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. It is located in the south western part of the city, and is the smallest of the boroughs with a population of 12,855 (2004) on 3.7 ...
and Bergsjön. The Swedish functionalist architect Uno Åhrén
Uno Åhrén (6 August 1897 – 8 October 1977) was a Swedish architect and city planner, and a leading proponent of functionalism in Sweden.
Biography
Uno Emrik Åhrén was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He graduated as an architect at the KTH R ...
served as city planner from 1932 through 1943. In the 1950s, the big stadium Ullevi
Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...
was built when Sweden hosted the 1958 FIFA World Cup
The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country.
Brazil be ...
.
The modern architecture of the city has been formed by such architects as Gert Wingårdh
Gert Wingårdh (born 1951) is a Swedish architect whose company, Wingårdh arkitektkontor, maintains an international practice.''Gert Wingårdh; Thirty Years of Architecture'', Mikael Nanfeldt (ed.) (Birkhäuser Publishers for Architecture, 2008 ...
, who started as a Post-modernist
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
in the 1980s.
Gustaf Adolf Square is a town square located in central Gothenburg. Noted buildings on the square include Gothenburg City Hall (formerly the stock exchange, opened in 1849) and the Nordic Classicism
Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930.
Until a resurgence of interest for the period during the 1980s (marked by several scholarly ...
law court. The main canal of Gothenburg also flanks the square.
Characteristic buildings
The Gothenburg Central Station
Gothenburg Central Station ( sv, Göteborgs centralstation, Göteborg C) is the main railway station of Gothenburg and it is the oldest railway station in Sweden still in use. The station serves 27 million passengers per year, making it the second ...
is in the centre of the city, next to Nordstan and Drottningtorget. The building has been renovated and expanded numerous times since the grand opening in October 1858. In 2003, a major reconstruction was finished which brought the 19th-century building into the 21st century expanding the capacity for trains, travellers, and shopping. Not far from the central station is the Skanskaskrapan, or more commonly known as "The Lipstick". It is high with 22 floors and coloured in red-white stripes. The skyscraper was designed by Ralph Erskine and built by Skanska
Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...
in the late 1980s as the headquarters for the company.
By the shore of the Göta Älv at Lilla Bommen
Lilla Bommen is a part of Gothenburg harbor used for visiting boats and also the name given to the land surrounding the harbor. The eponymous building along with The Göteborg Opera house and the barque Viking are all located at Lilla Bommen.
...
is The Göteborg Opera. It was completed in 1994. The architect Jan Izikowitz was inspired by the landscape and described his vision as "Something that makes your mind float over the squiggling landscape like the wings of a seagull."
Feskekörka, or ''Fiskhallen'', is an indoor fishmarket by the Rosenlundskanalen in central Gothenburg. Feskekörkan was opened on 1November 1874 and its name from the building's resemblance to a Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
church. The Gothenburg city hall is in the Beaux-Arts architectural style. The Gothenburg Synagogue
The Gothenburg Synagogue ( sv, Göteborgs synagoga) at Stora Nygatan, near Drottningtorget, Gothenburg, Sweden, was opened in 1855 according to the designs of the German architect August Krüger. The congregation is Conservative. The synagogue sa ...
at Stora Nygatan, near Drottningtorget, was built in 1855 according to the designs of the German architect August Krüger.
The Gunnebo House
Gunnebo House (Swedish: Gunnebo slott) is a mansion located outside Gothenburg, in Mölndal Municipality, Sweden.
History
The estate consists of a main building from the end of the 18th century, built by merchant John Hall, and drawn by city ...
is a country house located to the south of Gothenburg, in Mölndal. It was built in a neoclassical architecture towards the end of the 18th century. Created in the early 1900s was the Vasa Church. It is located in Vasastan and is built of granite in a neo-Romanesque style.
Another noted construction is Brudaremossen TV Tower, one of the few partially guyed tower
A guyed mast or guyed tower is a tall thin vertical structure that depends on guy lines (diagonal tensioned cables attached to the ground) for stability. The mast itself has the compressive strength to support its own weight, but does not h ...
s in the world.
Culture
The sea, trade, and industrial history of the city are evident in the cultural life of Gothenburg. It is also a popular destination for tourists on the Swedish west coast.
Museums
Many of the cultural institutions, as well as hospitals and the university, were created by donations from rich merchants and industrialists, for example the Röhsska Museum
The Röhsska Museum ( sv, Röhsska museet, earlier named ''Röhsska konstslöjdsmuseet'', also known as Design Museum), is located in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is a museum focused on design, fashion and applied arts.
The museum collection consists ...
. On 29December 2004, the Museum of World Culture
The National Museum of World Culture ( sv, Världskulturmuseet) opened in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2004. It is a part of the public authority Swedish National Museums of World Cultures and builds on the collections of the former Göteborgs Etnog ...
opened near Korsvägen
Korsvägen (literary ”the cross road”) is a public square and transport hub in the events district of Gothenburg, Sweden. Many important event venues and visitor attractions are located on or near Korsvägen, including the Swedish Exhibition an ...
. Museums include the Göteborgs Konsthall
Göteborgs Konsthall is a museum of contemporary art in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Description
Göteborgs Konsthall features both Swedish and international art. It is situated in a classicistic building from 1923 at Götaplatsen in the center of ...
, Gothenburg Museum of Art
Gothenburg Museum of Art ( sv, Göteborgs konstmuseum) is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden.
It claims to be the third largest art museum in Sweden by size of its collection.
Collections
The museum holds the world's finest collect ...
, and several museums of sea and navigation history, natural history, the sciences, and East India. Aeroseum, close to the Göteborg City Airport, is an aircraft museum in a former military underground air force base. The Volvo museum
The Volvo Museum is in Gothenburg, Sweden. It covers the development of Sweden's leading vehicle manufacturer Volvo, from the first ÖV 4 to the current cars, trucks, buses and other products. The museum also has displays of Volvo Aero and Volvo ...
has exhibits of the history of Volvo and the development from 1927 until today. Products shown include cars, trucks, marine engines, and buses.
Universeum
Universeum is a public science centre and museum in Gothenburg, Sweden that opened in 2001. It is a part of ''Evenemangsstråket'', the ''thoroughfare of events'' – close to Korsvägen and Skånegatan – which includes sights of interest like S ...
is a public science centre that opened in 2001, the largest of its kind in Scandinavia. It is divided into six sections, each containing experimental workshops and a collection of reptiles, fish, and insects. Universeum occasionally host debates between Swedish secondary-school students and Nobel Prize laureates or other scholars.
Leisure and entertainment
The most noted attraction is the amusement park Liseberg
Liseberg is an amusement park located in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened in 1923. It is one of the most visited amusement parks in Scandinavia, attracting about three million visitors annually. Among the noteworthy attractions is the wooden roll ...
, located in the central part of the city. It is the largest amusement park in Scandinavia by number of rides, and was chosen as one of the top ten amusement parks in the world (2005) by ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
''. It is the most popular attraction in Sweden by number of visitors per year (more than 3 million).
There are a number of independent theatre ensembles in the city, besides institutions such as Gothenburg City Theatre
Gothenburg City Theatre ( sv, Göteborgs stadsteater) opened in 1934 at Götaplatsen square in Gothenburg, Sweden. The theatre was designed by Swedish architect Carl Bergsten who gave the exterior a Neo-Classical look with a touch of Streamline M ...
, Backa Theatre
Backa Theatre (Swedish: ''Backa Teater'') is a youth theater located in Gothenburg, Sweden.
It focuses on producing theater for children and their families.
(youth theatre), and Folkteatern
Folkteatern is a regional theatre in Gothenburg, Sweden. The theater receives grants and assignments from the Västra Götaland Regional Council.
The theatre was built 1951 at Järntorget and has from the start had close connections with the wo ...
.
The main boulevard is called Kungsportsavenyn (commonly known as ''Avenyn'', "The Avenue"). It is about long and starts at Götaplatsen – which is the location of the Gothenburg Museum of Art
Gothenburg Museum of Art ( sv, Göteborgs konstmuseum) is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden.
It claims to be the third largest art museum in Sweden by size of its collection.
Collections
The museum holds the world's finest collect ...
, the city's theatre, and the city library, as well as the concert hall – and stretches all the way to Kungsportsplatsen
Kungsportsplatsen is a square in the city centre of Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It i ...
in the old city centre of Gothenburg, crossing a canal and a small park. The ''Avenyn'' was created in the 1860s and 1870s as a result of an international architecture contest, and is the product of a period of extensive town planning and remodelling. ''Avenyn'' has Gothenburg's highest concentration of pubs and clubs. Gothenburg's largest shopping centre (8th largest in Sweden), Nordstan
Nordstan is a shopping center in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is the largest shopping centre in Sweden in terms of revenue, and with approximately 180 shops and 150 offices. The shopping centre's total area is about divided into nine interconnected ...
, is located in central Gothenburg.
Gothenburg's Haga district is known for its picturesque wooden houses and its cafés serving the well-known ''Haga bulle'' – a large cinnamon roll similar to the ''kanelbulle
A cinnamon roll (also known as cinnamon bun, cinnamon swirl, cinnamon Danish and cinnamon snail) is a sweet roll commonly served in Northern Europe (mainly in Nordic countries, but also in Austria and Germany) and North America. In Sweden it is ...
''.
Five Gothenburg restaurants have a star in the 2008 ''Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...
'': 28 +, Basement, Fond, Kock & Vin, Fiskekrogen, and Sjömagasinet.
The city has a number of star chefs – over the past decade, seven of the Swedish Chef of the Year awards have been won by people from Gothenburg.
The Gustavus Adolphus pastry
Gustavus Adolphus pastry ( sv, Gustav Adolfsbakelse) is a pastry traditionally eaten every 6 November in Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus Day, the death day of King Gustavus Adolphus the Great. It is especially popular in Gothenburg, a city founded by ...
, eaten every 6November in Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus Day
Gustavus Adolphus Day ( sv, Gustav Adolfsdagen; fi, Kustaa Aadolfin päivä; et, Gustav Adolfi päev) is celebrated in Sweden, Finland, and Estonia on 6 November in memory of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Observing the day became popular a ...
, is especially connected to, and appreciated in, Gothenburg because the city was founded by King Gustavus Adolphus.
One of Gothenburg's most popular natural tourist attractions is the southern Gothenburg archipelago
The archipelago of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs skärgård) comprises northern and southern archipelagoes. The southern archipelago is part of Gothenburg municipality located in the province of Västergötland while the northern archipelago is Öck ...
, which is a set of several islands that can be reached by ferry boats mainly operating from Saltholmen. Within the archipelago are the Älvsborg fortress
Älvsborg Fortress ( sv, Älvsborgs fästning), with its main facility Oscar II's Fort ( sv, Oscar II:s fort) built 1899–1907, is a now-defunct Swedish fortification located at the mouth of the Göta River in the Älvsborg district of Gothenbu ...
, Vinga
Vinga is a commune in Arad County, western Romania, south of the county seat of Arad, with a population of 5,828 inhabitants (as of 2011).
Vinga is located in the northern section of the Banat. The people in Vinga are mainly Romanians, the sec ...
and Styrsö
Styrsö () is a small island and a locality situated in Göteborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,304 inhabitants in 2010.
It lies in the Southern Göteborg Archipelago of Sweden with about 1,400 inhabitants. Regulaferries ...
islands.
Festivals and fairs
The annual Gothenburg Film Festival
Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the larg ...
, is the largest film festival in Scandinavia. The Gothenburg Book Fair
The Gothenburg Book Fair (also known as ''Göteborg Book Fair'', ''Bok & Bibliotek'', ''Bok- och biblioteksmässan'' or ''Bokmässan'') is an annual event held in Gothenburg, Sweden, since 1985.
Overview
It started primarily as a trade fair (fo ...
, held each year in September. It is the largest literary festival in Scandinavia, and the second largest book fair in Europe. A radical bookfair is held at the same time at the Syndikalistiskt Forum
Syndikalistiskt Forum is a self-managed social centre in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was founded in 1980, at the Sprängkullen social centre. It moved to the Landsvägatan and then the Folkets hus. Between 2012 and 2018, it was based at Övre Husarga ...
.
The International Science Festival in Gothenburg
The International Science Festival in Gothenburg (Swedish: Vetenskapsfestivalen) is an annual festival in Gothenburg with science activities.
About the festival
The International Science Festival in Gothenburg took place for the first time in Ap ...
is an annual festival since April 1997, in central Gothenburg with thought-provoking science activities for the public. The festival is visited by about people each year. This makes it the largest popular-science event in Sweden and one of the leading popular-science events in Europe.
Citing the financial crisis
A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...
, the moved the 2010 World Library and Information Congress, previously to be held in Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, Australia, to Gothenburg. The event took place on 10–15August 2010.
Music
Gothenburg has a diverse music community—the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO; sv, Göteborgs Symfoniker) is a Swedish symphony orchestra based in Gothenburg. The GSO is resident at the Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen. The orchestra received the title of the National Orche ...
is the best-known in classical music. Gothenburg also was the birthplace of the Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg
Kurt Magnus Atterberg (, 12 December 188715 February 1974) was a Swedish composer and engineer. He is best known for his symphonies, operas, and ballets.
Biography
Atterberg was born in Gothenburg. His father was Anders Johan Atterberg, engineer ...
. The first internationally successfully Swedish group, instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes musical instruments and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style. Instru ...
group The Spotnicks
The Spotnicks were an instrumental rock group from Sweden that formed in 1961. They were known for wearing "space suit" costumes on stage and for their innovative electronic guitar sound. They released 43 albums and sold more than 18 million recor ...
came from Gothenburg.
Bands such as The Soundtrack of Our Lives
The Soundtrack of Our Lives, often abbreviated T.S.O.O.L., was a Swedish Rock music, rock band that formed in Gothenburg in 1995 and disbanded in 2012. The band's style draws heavily from sixties and seventies rock and Punk rock, punk, such as Ro ...
and Ace of Base are well-known pop representatives of the city. During the 1970s, Gothenburg had strong roots in the Swedish progressive movement (progg
Progg was a left-wing and anti-commercial musical movement in Sweden that began in the late 1960s and became more widespread in the 1970s. Not to be confused with the English expressions "progressive music" or "prog rock," progg is a contraction ...
) with such groups as Nationalteatern
Nationalteatern is a Swedish progg rock group from the 1970s that featured leftist political lyrics. It was originally a traveling theater ensemble with many members, most notably Ulf Dageby, Anders Melander, Totta Näslund, Nikke Ström, Hans Mo ...
, Nynningen, and Motvind. The record company Nacksving and the editorial office for the magazine Musikens Makt which also were part of the progg movement were located in Gothenburg during this time as well.
There is also an active indie scene in Gothenburg. For example, the musician Jens Lekman
Jens Martin Lekman (; born 6 February 1981) is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is heavily influenced by Jonathan Ric ...
was born in the suburb of Angered and named his 2007 release ''Night Falls Over Kortedala
''Night Falls Over Kortedala'' is the second studio album by Swedish indie pop musician Jens Lekman. Described as "a collection of recordings 2004–2007" on Lekman's website and in the album's liner notes, ''Night Falls Over Kortedala'' was relea ...
'' after another suburb, Kortedala
Kortedala is a district, mainly residential (apartments), in the north-eastern part of Gothenburg in western Sweden. The area has a population of around 10,000 and is one of the typical 1950s suburbs of Gothenburg. The area has many trees and park ...
. Other internationally acclaimed indie artists include the electro pop duos Studio
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
, The Knife, Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
, The Tough Alliance
The Tough Alliance, or ''TTA'', was an electronic pop music duo from Gothenburg, Sweden. The duo first came together in 2003 and consisted of childhood friends Henning Fürst and Eric Berglund. Previously on Swedish record label Service, in 2006, ...
, indie rock band Love is All Love Is All may refer to:
Bands
*Love Is All (band), Swedish indie rock band
Films
* ''Love is All'' (2007 film), Dutch film
* ''Love Is All'' (2014 film), a documentary film by Kim Longinotto
Songs
*"Love Is All", a song by The Action
*"Love Is ...
, songwriter José González, and pop singer El Perro del Mar
El Perro Del Mar (literally "The Dog of the Sea" in Spanish) is a musical project that was founded in December 2003 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The sole member of El Perro Del Mar, Sarah Assbring(born 1977/1978), initially started as an MP3/CD-R artis ...
, as well as genre-bending quartet Little Dragon
Little Dragon are a Swedish electronic music band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1996. The band consists of Yukimi Nagano (vocals, percussion), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards).
Little Dragon's ...
fronted by vocalist Yukimi Nagano
Yukimi Eleanora Nagano (born 31 January 1982) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is the vocalist for the Swedish electronic group Little Dragon.
Career Early career
Nagano first made a record at the age of 18 with Andreas Saag (Swell Sessi ...
. Another son of the city is one of Sweden's most popular singers, Håkan Hellström
Håkan Georg Hellström (; born 2 April 1974) is a Swedish musician. He made his breakthrough in Sweden in 2000 with the song "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg" and the album with the same name. He has released nine studio albums to date wit ...
, who often includes many places from the city in his songs. The glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...
group Supergroupies
Supergroupies was a glam rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was formed in 2001 and have released one studio album, ''Supergroupies''. The group consists of Kim Simon (vocals), Leo Hansson (guitar), Micael Grim (bass) and John Linden (dr ...
derives from Gothenburg.
Gothenburg's own commercially successful At the Gates
At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Ga ...
, In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal.
During t ...
, and Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are considered one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates. Dark Tranquillity is regarded a ...
are credited with pioneering melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
. Other well-known bands of the Gothenburg scene are thrash metal band The Haunted
Haunted or The Haunted may refer to:
Books
* ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005
* ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004
* ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005
* ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...
, progressive power metal band Evergrey
Evergrey is a Swedish progressive metal band from Gothenburg.
History
Evergrey was formed in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden as a progressive power metal band, in contrast to the melodic death metal that Gothenburg is known for. Since then, the band ...
, and power metal bands HammerFall
HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak.
History
Early days (1993–1996)
HammerFall was formed when rhythm guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremonial ...
and Dream Evil
Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999.
History
Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a power metal band of his own for a long time, but had difficulty finding anyone ...
.
Many music festivals take place in the city every year. The Metaltown Festival
The Metaltown Festival was a three-day festival featuring heavy metal bands, held in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was arranged annually from 2004 to 2016.
The original Metaltown venue was at Frihamnen, but was moved in 2011 to Göteborg Galopp clos ...
was a two-day festival featuring heavy metal music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...
bands, held in Gothenburg. It used to be arranged annually since 2004, taking place at the Frihamnen venue. In June 2012, the festival included bands such as In Flames, Marilyn Manson
Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...
, Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
, Lamb of God
Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...
, and Mastodon
A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...
. Another popular festival, Way Out West, focuses more on rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
, electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
, and hip-hop genres.
Sports
As in all of Sweden, a variety of sports are followed, including football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, 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 ...
, basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
, floorball
Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. Men and women play indoors with sticks and a plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role ...
, baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
, and figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
. A varied amateur and professional sports clubs scene exists.
Gothenburg is the birthplace of football in Sweden
Association football is the most popular sport in Sweden, with over 240,000 licensed players (approximately 56,000 women and 184,000 men) with another 240,000 youth players. There are around 3,200 active clubs fielding over 8,500 teams, which ...
as the first football match in Sweden The first football match in Sweden was played at Heden, Gothenburg 22 May 1892 between Örgryte IS
Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based ...
was played there in 1892. The city's three major football clubs, IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
, Örgryte IS
Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based in Gothenburg. It consists of four departments, namely bowling, football, athletics and wrestling. H ...
, and GAIS
, neighboring_municipalities= Altstätten (SG), Appenzell (AI), Bühler (AR), Eichberg (SG), Rüte (AI), Schlatt-Haslen (AI), Trogen (AR)
, twintowns=
}
Gais () is a village and a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden i ...
share a total of 34 Swedish championships between them. IFK has also won the UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
twice. Other notable clubs include BK Häcken
Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg. It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Formed on 2 Augu ...
(football), Göteborg HC
Göteborg Hockey Club, abbreviated as Göteborg HC or GHC, are an ice hockey club in Angered, a borough of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborg) in southwestern Sweden. They played in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL), the top Swedish women's hockey ...
(women's ice hockey), Pixbo Wallenstam IBK
Pixbo Wallenstam Innebandyklubb, also known as Redfox or Pixbo IBK, is a Swedish floorball club, based in Mölnlycke
Mölnlycke is a small town nearby Greater Gothenburg, a locality and the seat of Härryda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, ...
(floorball
Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. Men and women play indoors with sticks and a plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role ...
), multiple national handball champion Redbergslids IK
Redbergslids IK (RIK), is a handball team from Gothenburg, Sweden founded in 1916. Redbergslids is the most successful club in Sweden, having won 20 Swedish Championship titles. Home games are played in Prioritet Serneke Arena.
Redbergslid is ...
, and four-time national ice hockey champion Frölunda HC
Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...
, Gothenburg had a professional basketball team, Gothia Basket
Gothia Basket was a Swedish basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximatel ...
, until 2010 when it ceased. The bandy
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...
department of GAIS, GAIS Bandy
GAIS Bandy is the bandy section of sports club GAIS from Gothenburg. In 1920, GAIS won the Gothenburg district championship, but the club had not had an active bandy department for years when it took up playing bandy again in 2005.
GAIS play ...
, played the first season in the highest division Elitserien
Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan.
Elitserien leagues at present:
* Elitserien (badmint ...
last season. The group stage match between the main rivals 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 ...
and Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
in the 2013 Bandy World Championship
The 2013 Bandy World Championship was an edition of the top annual event in international bandy, held between January 23 and February 3, 2013, in Norway and Sweden.
14 countries participated in the 2013 championships: Belarus, Finland, Kazakhstan, ...
was played at Arena Heden in central Gothenburg.
The city's most notable sports venues are Scandinavium
Scandinavium () is an indoor arena located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Construction on Scandinavium began in 1969 after decades of setbacks, and was inaugurated on 18 May 1971.
Scandinavium has been selected as a championship arena at least fifty t ...
, and Ullevi (multisport) and the newly built Gamla Ullevi
Gamla Ullevi () is a football stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened on 5 April 2009. The stadium replaced the city's previous main football stadium, also called Gamla Ullevi, and is the home ground of GAIS, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS. ...
(football).
The 2003 World Allround Speed Skating Championships
The 2003 World Allround Speed Skating Championships were held in Ruddalens IP in Gothenburg, Sweden, on 8–9 February 2003. Canadian Cindy Klassen and Dutchman Gianni Romme
Gianni Petrus Cornelis Romme (born 12 February 1973) is a Dutch maratho ...
were held in Rudhallen, Sweden's only indoor speed-skating arena. It is a part of Ruddalens IP, which also has a bandy field and several football fields.
The only Swedish heavyweight champion of the world in boxing, Ingemar Johansson
Jens Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson (; 22 September 1932 – 30 January 2009) was a Swedish professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1963. He held the world heavyweight title from 1959 to 1960, and was the fifth heavyweight champion born outside ...
, who took the title from Floyd Paterson in 1959, was from Gothenburg.
Gothenburg has hosted a number of international sporting events including the 1958 FIFA World Cup
The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country.
Brazil be ...
, the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup Final
The 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match contested between Aberdeen of Scotland and Real Madrid of Spain. It was the final match of the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup tournament and the 23rd European Cup Winners' Cup fi ...
, an NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
preseason game on 14August 1988 between the Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
and the Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
, the 1992 European Football Championship
The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA.
Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...
, the 1993 and the 2002 World Men's Handball Championship
The IHF Men's Handball World Championship has been organized indoor by the International Handball Federation since 1938.
In the twenty-seven tournaments held, eleven nations have won the title. France is the most successful team with six titl ...
, the 1995 World Championships in Athletics
The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995.
This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nat ...
, the 1997 World Championships in Swimming (short track), the 2002 Ice Hockey World Championships
The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...
, the 2004 UEFA Cup final, the 2006 European Championships in Athletics
The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Championsh ...
, and the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships
The 2008 World Figure Skating Championships was a senior international figure skating competition in the 2007–08 figure skating season. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. T ...
. Annual events held in the city are the Gothia Cup
The Gothia Cup () is an international youth association football tournament organized by professional football club BK Häcken, which has been held annually since 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms ...
and the Göteborgsvarvet
Göteborgsvarvet () is an annual half marathon running competition in Gothenburg, Sweden (often called the Gothenburg Half Marathon in English).
It is the largest annual running competition in the world in terms of entries, with its 62,000 ent ...
. The annual Gothia Cup
The Gothia Cup () is an international youth association football tournament organized by professional football club BK Häcken, which has been held annually since 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms ...
, is the world's largest football tournament with regards to the number of participants: in 2011, a total of 35,200 players from 1,567 teams and 72 nations participated.
Gothenburg hosted the XIII FINA World Masters Championships
The FINA World Masters Championships (or "Masters Worlds") is an international Aquatics championships for adults (per FINA rules, Masters are 25 years old and older). The championships is held biennially, with competition in all five of FINA's dis ...
in 2010. Diving, swimming, synchronized swimming and open-water competitions were held on 28July to 7August. The water polo events were played on the neighboring city of Borås
Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010.
Geography
Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them the ...
.
Gothenburg is also home to the Gothenburg Sharks, a professional baseball team in the Elitserien
Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan.
Elitserien leagues at present:
* Elitserien (badmint ...
division of baseball in Sweden.
With around 25,000 sailboats and yachts scattered about the city, sailing is a popular sports activity in the region, particularly because of the nearby Gothenburg archipelago. In June 2015, the Volvo Ocean Race
The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...
, professional sailing's leading crewed offshore race, concluded in Gothenburg, as well as an event in the 2015–2016 America's Cup World Series
The America's Cup World Series are match races and fleet regattas used as heats for the 2013 America's Cup and the 2017 America's Cup.
The Yachts AC45 and AC45F
The World Series uses AC45 catamarans, a one-design wingsail catamaran designed spec ...
in August 2015.
The Gothenburg Amateur Diving Club (Göteborgs amatördykarklubb) has been operating since October 1938.
Economy
Due to Gothenburg's advantageous location in the centre of Scandinavia, trade and shipping have always played a major role in the city's economic history, and they continue to do so. Gothenburg port has come to be the largest harbour in Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
.
Apart from trade, the second pillar of Gothenburg has traditionally been manufacturing and industry, which significantly contributes to the city's wealth. Major companies operating plants in the area include SKF, Volvo (both cars and trucks), and Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informat ...
. Volvo Cars
Volvo Cars ( sv, Volvo personvagnar, styled VOLVO in the company's logo) is a Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Torslanda, Gothenburg. The company manufactures SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The company's ...
is the largest employer in Gothenburg, not including jobs in supply companies. The blue-collar industries which have dominated the city for long are still important factors in the city's economy, but they are being gradually replaced by high-tech industries.
Banking and finance are also important, as well as the event and tourist industry.
Gothenburg is the terminus of the Valdemar-Göteborg gas pipeline
Pipeline may refer to:
Electronics, computers and computing
* Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
, which brings natural gas from the North Sea fields to Sweden, through Denmark.
Historically, Gothenburg was home base from the 18th century of the Swedish East India Company
The Swedish East India Company ( sv, Svenska Ostindiska Companiet or ''SOIC'') was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East ...
. From its founding until the late 1970s, the city was a world leader in shipbuilding, with such shipyards as Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad
Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstads AB was a Swedish shipbuilding company based in Gothenburg. It was founded in 1850 by Christian Barchman under the name ''Ericsbergs metall och tackjerns-gjuteri''. It delivered its last ship in 1979.
History In ...
, Götaverken, Arendalsvarvet, and Lindholmens varv
Lindholmens or Lindholmen varv was a shipyard on the Göta älv in Gothenburg, Sweden. Named after the small leaf linden that grew on the island, Lindholmen was founded in 1848 and closed in 1976. It was at one time the largest employer in Gothenb ...
. Gothenburg is classified as a global city by GaWC
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershire ...
, with a ranking of Gamma. The city has been ranked as the 12th-most inventive city in the world by ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
''.
Government
Gothenburg became a city municipality with an elected city council when the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863. The municipality has an assembly consisting of 81 members, elected every fourth year. Political decisions depend on citizens considering them legitimate. Political legitimacy can be based on various factors: legality, due process, and equality before the law, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of public policy. One method used to achieve greater legitimacy for controversial policy reforms such as congestion charges is to allow citizens to decide or advise on the issue in public referendums.
In December 2010 a petition for a local referendum on the congestion tax, signed by 28,000 citizens, was submitted to the City Council. This right to submit so-called "people's initiatives" was inscribed in the Local Government Act, which obliged local governments to hold a local referendum if petitioned by 5% of the citizens unless the issue was deemed to be outside their area of jurisdiction or if a majority in the City Council voted against holding such a referendum. A second petition for a referendum, signed by 57,000 citizens, was submitted to the local government in February 2013. This petition followed a campaign organised by a local newspaper – Göteborgs Tidningen – whose editor-in-chief argued that the paper's involvement was justified by the large public response to a series of articles on the congestion tax, as well as out of concern for the local democracy.
Proportion of foreign born
In 2019, approximately 28% (159,342 residents) of the population of Gothenburg were foreign born and approximately 46% (265,019 residents) had at least one parent born abroad. In addition, approximately 12% (69,263 residents) were foreign citizens.
In 2016, 45% of Gothenburg's immigrant population is from other parts of Europe, and 10% of the total population is from another Nordic country.
Education
Gothenburg has two universities, both of which started as colleges founded by private donations in the 19th century. The University of Gothenburg
The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 st ...
has about 38,000 students and is one of the largest universities in Scandinavia, and one of the most versatile in Sweden. Chalmers University of Technology
Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international level ...
is a well-known university located in Johanneberg south of the inner city, lately also established at Lindholmen in Norra Älvstranden, Hisingen.
In 2015, there were ten adult education centre
Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...
s in Gothenburg: ''Agnesbergs folkhögskola'', ''Arbetarrörelsens folkhögskola i Göteborg'', ''Finska folkhögskolan'', ''Folkhögskolan i Angered'', ''Göteborgs folkhögskola'', ''Kvinnofolkhögskolan'', ''Mo Gård folkhögskola'', ''S:ta Birgittas folkhögskola'', ''Västra Götalands folkhögskolor'' and ''Wendelsbergs folkhögskola''.
In 2015, there were 49 high schools
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
in Gothenburg. Some of the more notable schools are Hvitfeldtska gymnasiet
Hvitfeldtska Gymnasiet, the "Hvitfeldtska High School" ( gymnasium), is in central Gothenburg, Sweden. The school was founded in 1647 by Queen Kristina and is the largest in Gothenburg. It was originally called "''Göteborgs gymnasium''" and lat ...
, Göteborgs Högre Samskola
Göteborgs Högre Samskola is an independent school in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Information
In 2006 the school had about 1350 students. The school has students aged 5 through 18 and has a '' Förskola'', a '' Grundskola'' and a '' Gymnasium''. The scho ...
, Sigrid Rudebecks gymnasium
Sigird Rudebecks Gymnasium, often called Rudebecks, is a private high school that was founded 1869 by reform educator, Sigrid Rudebeck. It is along with Göteborgs Högre Samskola, one of Gothenburg's most esteemed high schools with high academic ...
and Polhemsgymnasiet. Some high-schools are also connected to large Swedish corporations, such as SKF Technical high-school owned by SKF
AB SKF (Swedish: ''Svenska Kullagerfabriken''; 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory') is a Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1907. The company manufactures and supplies bearings, seals, lubrication and l ...
and Gothenburg's technical high-school jointly owned by Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
, Volvo Cars
Volvo Cars ( sv, Volvo personvagnar, styled VOLVO in the company's logo) is a Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Torslanda, Gothenburg. The company manufactures SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The company's ...
and Gothenburg municipality.
There are two folkhögskola that teach fine arts: Domen and Goteborg Folkhögskola.
Transport
Public transport
With over of double track, the Gothenburg tram network
The Gothenburg tramway network ( sv, Göteborgs spårvägar) is part of the public transport system organised by Göteborgs Spårvägar, controlled by Västtrafik in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. The system's approximately of single track &md ...
covers most of the city and is the largest tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
/ light rail network in Scandinavia. Gothenburg also has a bus network. Boat and ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
services connect the Gothenburg archipelago
The archipelago of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs skärgård) comprises northern and southern archipelagoes. The southern archipelago is part of Gothenburg municipality located in the province of Västergötland while the northern archipelago is Öck ...
to the mainland. The lack of a subway is due to the soft ground on which Gothenburg is situated. Tunneling is very expensive in such conditions.
The Gothenburg commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
with three lines services some nearby cities and towns.
Public transport on the Göta älv
The Göta älv (; "River of (the) Geats") is a river that drains lake Vänern into the Kattegat, at the city of Gothenburg, on the western coast of Sweden. It was formed at the end of the last glaciation, as an outflow channel from the Baltic Ic ...
river is operated on the Älvsnabben
Älvsnabben is a small island near Muskö in the archipelago south of Stockholm, Sweden. The name may also refer to a natural harbour, more correctly called Älvsnabbsbassängen (''Älvsnabben Basin''), between the four small islands Älvsnabb ...
ferry line, operated by Styrsöbolaget
Styrsöbolaget is a Swedish shipping line owned by Transdev Sverige AB. Styrsöbolaget operates maritime public transport in the Gothenburg archipelago and on the Göta älv river (on the "Älvsnabben" ferry line) on a commission from Västtraf ...
on a commission from Västtrafik
Västtrafik is the agency responsible for public transport services involving buses, ferries, trains, and the Gothenburg tram network in the county of Västra Götaland, Sweden (plus Kungsbacka Municipality). It was established with the Västra G ...
.
Rail and intercity bus
Other major transportation hubs are ''Centralstationen'' (Gothenburg Central Station
Gothenburg Central Station ( sv, Göteborgs centralstation, Göteborg C) is the main railway station of Gothenburg and it is the oldest railway station in Sweden still in use. The station serves 27 million passengers per year, making it the second ...
) and the Nils Ericson Terminal
The Nils Ericson Terminal is a major bus terminus in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is placed in the city center just next to Gothenburg Central Station (Centralstationen), and across the street from the main Nordstan shopping center. The main stree ...
with trains and buses to various destinations in Sweden, as well as connections to Oslo and Copenhagen (via Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
).
Air
Gothenburg is served by Göteborg Landvetter Airport
Göteborg Landvetter Airport () is an international airport serving the Gothenburg (Swedish: ''Göteborg'') region in Sweden. With just over 6.8 million passengers in 2018 it is Sweden's second-largest airport after Stockholm–Arlanda. Landvette ...
, located about 20 km (12 mi) east of the city centre. It is named after nearby locality Landvetter
Landvetter is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Härryda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 7,152 inhabitants in 2010.
It is the second largest town in the municipality and has given its name to the international a ...
. Flygbussarna
Flygbussarna provide an airport bus service between many airports in and cities in Sweden. They are operated by ''FAC Flygbussarna Airport Coaches AB''.
Airports and cities served
FAC Flygbussarna Airport Coaches provides bus transfer to and fro ...
offer frequent bus connections to and from Gothenburg with travel time 20–30 minutes. Swebus, Flixbus and Nettbuss
Vy Buss, formerly branded as Nettbuss, is the largest bus company in Norway, owned by Vy. It was established on 10 February 2000 as the continuation of the bus operations from former NSB Biltrafikk. In addition to bus services in major parts of N ...
also serve the airport with several daily departures to Gothenburg, Borås
Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010.
Geography
Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them the ...
and other destinations along European route E4
European route E4 passes from north to south through Sweden from the border with Finland, with a total length of . The Finnish part lies entirely within Tornio in northern Finland, and is only long. The Swedish part traverses most of Sweden ex ...
. Västtrafik
Västtrafik is the agency responsible for public transport services involving buses, ferries, trains, and the Gothenburg tram network in the county of Västra Götaland, Sweden (plus Kungsbacka Municipality). It was established with the Västra G ...
, the local public transport provider in the area, offers additional connections to Landvetter
Landvetter is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Härryda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 7,152 inhabitants in 2010.
It is the second largest town in the municipality and has given its name to the international a ...
.
The airport is operated by Swedish national airport operator Swedavia
Swedavia AB is a Swedish state-owned company, which owns and operates ten of airports of Sweden, Sweden's busiest airports. It has its head office at the air traffic control tower of Stockholm-Arlanda Airport in Sigtuna Municipality near Stockholm ...
, and with 6.8 million passengers served in 2017, it is Sweden's second-largest airport after Stockholm Arlanda
Stockholm Arlanda Airport is an international airport located in the Sigtuna Municipality of Sweden, near the town of Märsta, north of Stockholm and nearly south-east of Uppsala. The airport is located within Stockholm County and the provi ...
. It serves as a base for several domestic and international airlines, e.g. Scandinavian Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...
, Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle Aksjeselskap, ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norway, Norwegian Low-cost carrier, low-cost airline and Norway's largest airline. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, the ...
and Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
. Göteborg Landvetter, however, does not serve as a hub for any airline. In total, there are about 50 destinations with scheduled direct flights to and from Gothenburg, most of them European. An additional 40 destinations are served via charter.
The second airport in the area, Göteborg City Airport
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...
, is closed. On 13January 2015, Swedish airport operator Swedavia
Swedavia AB is a Swedish state-owned company, which owns and operates ten of airports of Sweden, Sweden's busiest airports. It has its head office at the air traffic control tower of Stockholm-Arlanda Airport in Sigtuna Municipality near Stockholm ...
announced that Göteborg City Airport will not reopen for commercial services following an extensive rebuild of the airport started in November 2014, citing that the cost of making the airport viable for commercial operations again was too high, at 250 million kronor ($31 million). Commercial operations will be gradually wound down. The airport was located northwest of the city centre. It was formerly known as ''Säve Flygplats.'' It is located within the borders of Gothenburg Municipality
Gothenburg Municipality (''Göteborgs kommun'' or ''Göteborgs stad'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Gothenburg.
When the first Swedish local government acts were implement ...
. In addition to commercial airlines, the airport was also operated by a number of rescue services, including the Swedish Coast Guard, and was used for other general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
. Most civil air traffic to Göteborg City Airport was via low-cost airlines
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
such as Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
and Wizz Air
Wizz Air, legally incorporated as Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. ( hu, Wizz Air Hungary Légiközlekedési Zrt.) is a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier with its head office in Budapest, Hungary. The airline serves many cities across Europe, as well as s ...
. Those companies have now been relocated to Landvetter Airport.
Sea
The Swedish company Stena Line
Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...
operates between Gothenburg/Frederikshavn
Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand.
The town h ...
in Denmark and Gothenburg/Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
in Germany.
The "England ferry" (''Englandsfärjan'') to Newcastle via Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...
(run by the Danish company DFDS Seaways
DFDS Seaways is a Danish shipping company that operates passenger and freight services across northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions (DFDS Tor Line and DFDS Lisco) in ...
) ceased at the end of October 2006, after being a Gothenburg institution since the 19th century. DFDS Seaways' sister company, DFDS Tor Line, continues to run scheduled cargo
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...
ships between Gothenburg and several English ports, and these used to have limited capacity for passengers and their private vehicles. Also freight ships to North America and East Asia leave from the port.
Freight
Gothenburg is an intermodal logistics hub and Gothenburg harbour has access to Sweden and Norway via rail and trucks. Gothenburg harbour is the largest port in Scandinavia with a cargo turnover of 36.9 million tonnes per year in 2004.
Notable people
Two of the noted people from Gothenburg are fictional, but have become synonymous with "people from Gothenburg". They are a working class couple called Kal and Ada
Kal and Ada are an archetypal, fictional working-class couple from Gothenburg. They have become synonymous with "people from Gothenburg" and are featured in "Gothenburg jokes" (''göteborgsvitsar''), songs, plays and names of events.
The urbaniz ...
, featured in "Gothenburg jokes" (''göteborgsvitsar''), songs, plays and names of events. Each year two persons who have significantly contributed to culture in the city are given the honorary titles of "Kal and Ada". A bronze statue of the couple made by Svenrobert Lundquist, was placed outside the entrance to Liseberg in 1995.
Some of the noted people from Gothenburg are Academy Award Winning actress Alicia Vikander
Alicia Amanda Vikander (, ; born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics' Choice Movie Award, as well as receiving nominations for ...
, footballer Gunnar Gren
Johan Gunnar Gren (; 31 October 1920 – 10 November 1991) was a Swedish professional football player and coach. He is best remembered for playing for IFK Göteborg and A.C. Milan.
A creative forward, known for his technical skill, vision, tac ...
, artist Evert Taube
Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th c ...
, golfer Helen Alfredsson
Helen Christine Alfredsson (born 9 April 1965) is a Swedish professional golfer who played primarily on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and is also a life member of the Ladies European Tour. She won the LPGA major Nabisco Dinah Shore and twice finished ...
, industrialist Victor Hasselblad
Victor Hasselblad (8 March 1906 – 5 August 1978) was a Swedish inventor and photographer, known for inventing the Hasselblad 6x6 cm medium format camera.
Life and work
Hasselblad was born in Gothenburg. In 1940 Swedish Air Force officers re ...
, singer-songwriter Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, a member of the musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma Mia!'' He co-produced the films ...
, diplomat Jan Eliasson
Jan Kenneth Eliasson (born 17 September 1940) is a Swedish diplomat who was Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations from July 2012 to December 2016. A member of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Eliasson served as Minister for Forei ...
, British Open Winner and professional golfer Henrik Stenson
Henrik Olof Stenson (; born 5 April 1976) is a Swedish professional golfer.
He is the first male Swedish and first male Nordic major champion, having won the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon with a major championship record score of 264. ...
, Miss Sweden 1966 and Miss Universe 1966
Miss Universe 1966, the 15th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 16 July 1966 at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Apasra Hongsakula of Thailand crowned her successor Margareta Arvidsson of Sweden at the end of the ...
's winner Margareta Arvidsson, YouTuber PewDiePie
Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg ( , ; born 24 October 1989), better known as PewDiePie ( ), is a Swedes, Swedish YouTuber known for his Let's Play videos and comedic formatted videos and shows. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media co ...
(Felix Kjellberg
Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg ( , ; born 24 October 1989), better known as PewDiePie ( ), is a Swedish YouTuber known for his Let's Play videos and comedic formatted videos and shows. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media coverage h ...
), the most subscribed-to individual on the platform, with over 100 million subscribers and YouTuber RoomieOfficial (Joel Berghult
Joel Gustaf Berghult (born 8 April 1988), better known as Roomie or Lil Pitchy, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, producer, and YouTuber based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his YouTube channel ''RoomieOfficial'', which consist ...
).
International rankings
Gothenburg has performed well in international rankings, some of which are mentioned below:
The Global Destination Sustainability Index has named Gothenburg the world's most sustainable destination every year since 2016.
In 2019 Gothenburg was selected by the EU as one of the top 2020 European Capitals of Smart Tourism.
In 2020 Business Region Göteborg received the 'European Entrepreneurial Region Award 2020' (EER Award 2020) from the EU.
International relations
The Gothenburg Award is the city's international prize that recognises and supports work to achieve sustainable development – in the Gothenburg region and from a global perspective. The award, which is one million Swedish crowns, is administrated and funded by a coalition of the City of Gothenburg and 12 companies. Past winners of the award have included Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...
, Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
, and Michael Biddle.
Twin towns and sister cities
Gothenburg is twinned with:
* Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, Norway
* Aarhus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...
, Denmark, 1946
* Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, United States
* Turku, Finland, 1946
* Tallinn, Estonia
* St. Petersburg, Russia, 1962
* Bergen, Norway, 1946
* Kraków, Poland, 1990
* Rostock, Germany, 1965
* Badalona, Spain 1990
* Port Elizabeth, South Africa
With Lyon (France) there is no formal partnership, but "a joint willingness to cooperate".[See]
Les villes partenaires en Europe, Göteborg
. Accessed on 15 May 2014.
Gothenburg had signed an agreement with Shanghai in 1986 which was upgraded in 2003 to include exchanges in culture, economics, trade and sport. The agreement was allowed to lapse in 2020.
See also
* Gothenburg archipelago
The archipelago of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs skärgård) comprises northern and southern archipelagoes. The southern archipelago is part of Gothenburg municipality located in the province of Västergötland while the northern archipelago is Öck ...
* Multi-effect Protocol, Gothenburg Protocol (on acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone)
* Gothenburg quadricentennial jubilee
* Gråå BK
* Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits
* List of metropolitan areas in Europe
* Metropolitan Gothenburg
* Göteborgs Rapé
References
External links
Goteborg.se
– Official site for city of Gothenburg
Goteborg.se/english
– Official web page for short English description of the content in city of Gothenburg site
International.Goteborg.se
– Official international site for city of Gothenburg
*
Goteborg.com
nbsp;– Gothenburg tourism portal
VisitSweden
nbsp;– VisitSweden's profile of Gothenburg
Virtual Tour Panoramas of Goteborg
{{Attached KML
Gothenburg,
Metropolitan Gothenburg
County seats in Sweden
Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County
Swedish municipal seats
Populated places in Västra Götaland County
Populated places in Gothenburg Municipality
Populated places in Härryda Municipality
Populated places in Mölndal Municipality
Populated places in Partille Municipality
Coastal cities and towns in Sweden
Cities in Västra Götaland County
Geats
Port cities in Sweden
Port cities and towns of the North Sea
Populated places established in 1621
1621 establishments in Sweden
Planned cities in Sweden
Skagerrak