Gällivare (; fi, Jällivaara; se, Jiellevárri or ; smj, Jiellevárre or ; fit, Jellivaara) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in

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

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns Malmberget and

Koskullskulle Koskullskulle is a locality situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 874 inhabitants in 2010. It was founded in 1898 when iron ore was discovered. The village got its name from Georg Adolf Koskull who was governor of N ...

it forms a conurbation with some 15,000 inhabitants. This conurbation is the second northernmost significant urban area of Sweden after

Kiruna (; se, Giron ; fi, Kiiruna ) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The city was ori ...

. Gällivare is situated at the northern end of the

Inlandsbanan The Inland Line ( sv, Inlandsbanan) is a railway line between Kristinehamn and Gällivare in Sweden. It runs through the central parts of northern Sweden, and was built between 1908 and 1937. History There were several reasons for constructi ...

railway line, about 100 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Gällivare is located in a major

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

mining region. Adjacent to Gällivare (about five kilometres) is Malmberget, known as a site for

extraction from deep mines by

LKAB Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB) is a government owned Swedish mining company. The company mines iron ore at Kiruna and at Malmberget in northern Sweden. The company was established in 1890, and has been 100% state-owned since the 195 ...

. Outside Gällivare lies the ski resort Dundret, which is equipped with six

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/ Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aeria ...

s and ten groomed slopes along with a conference center and

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

. The ski season stretches from the end of October all the way into early May. The town has been host for several World Cup skiing events, both alpine and cross-country. Gällivare is the center of the Firstborn Laestadian movement. It was the host town for the 2008 VIVA World Cup and also the filming spot for Avicii's single " Addicted to You". Sweden's second-largest fast food chain, Max Hamburgers, was founded in Gällivare, though the headquarters have since relocated to Luleå.

Climate

As expected given its high latitude, Gällivare has a rather cold climate. Under 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, nota ...

it is a subarctic climate (Dfc). Winters are very severe by Scandinavian standards, but are somewhat moderated by marine air from the North Atlantic. As a result, certain cities on the North American Great Plains such as

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

and

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

, along with East Asian cities even further south, have colder January averages than Gällivare. The winter temperature varies greatly due to the city's location between the open ocean and a large, snow-covered land mass, and can be one day to the next. Gällivare experiences

midnight sun The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, ...

for a significant period of summer, though sees some glimpses of daylight even during the winter solstice due to its notable distance from the Arctic Circle. As a result of prolonged warming from early morning by the midnight sun and Gällivare's inland position, temperatures can occasionally get hot in the summer. The all-time high stands at .

High incidence of congenital insensitivity to pain

Some inhabitants near Gällivare, mainly in the village of Tjautjas (also Tjautjasjaure or Čavččas) 20 km outside Gällivare, have a remarkably high incidence of congenital insensitivity to pain, an extremely rare disease which inhibits the sensation of pain, heat and cold. There have been nearly 40 reported cases in the area.

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Gällivare: * Gällivare Malmbergets FF

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallivare Lapland (Sweden) Municipal seats of Norrbotten County Open-pit mines Populated places in Arctic Sweden Populated places in Gällivare Municipality Swedish municipal seats fi:Jällivaaran kunta