Porjus is a

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

situated in

Jokkmokk Municipality Jokkmokk Municipality (, fi, Jokimukan kunta, se, Johkamohkki gielda, fit, Jokinmukka) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Jokkmokk. The name ''Jokkmokk'' is Sami for the words "river" and "bend", ...

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

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

with 328 inhabitants in 2010. Geographically it is situated by the shores of

Lule River Lule River ( smj, Julevädno, sv, Lule älv, ''Luleälven'') is a major river in Sweden, rising in northern Sweden and flowing southeast for before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Luleå. It is the second longest river by watershed area or length ...

at 499 meter height. Porjus is known for having one of the oldest

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

plants in Sweden ( Porjus kraftverk - Porjus hydroelectric power station), built 1910–1915. The power plant was built to deliver electricity to the building of the railroad between

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

and

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ball ...

, where the mining industry shipped iron ore. Today, Porjus is a living village and the old power plant is a popular tourist attraction among many others. Swedish power company

Vattenfall Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational power company owned by the Swedish State. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The company's name is Swedish for "waterfall", and ...

is the biggest employer, but there are also a number of smaller companies such as the small aviation compan
Fiskflyg
which offered the first regular passenger flights in Sweden back in the days (the route: Porjus -

Suorva Suorva () or Suorvadammen ("the Suorva Dam") is a small settlement situated at the southern parts of Akkajaure, in Stora Sjöfallet National Park, Sweden. The settlement can be reached by car (and bus, from Gällivare). It consists of a few hous ...

). There is also a unique golf course (you play across the Lule river, next to a big dam), a small downhill skiing course, snowmobile routes, small shops, a 50 kilometer long walking trail from

Gällivare Gällivare (; fi, Jällivaara; se, Jiellevárri or ; smj, Jiellevárre or ; fit, Jellivaara) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town wa ...

, used by the workers to carry building material 90 years ago, and a uniqu
photo gallery
which has

aurora borealis An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of br ...

as its specialty. Porjus was the home of the online artists

Lagoona Lagoona was a dance and techno band, consisting of the two music producers Andreas Viklund (born 1980) and Björn Karlsson (born 1976). The band was based in a small town called Porjus in northern Sweden. Lagoona was one of the first groups to ca ...

between the years 1996–2004. Singer

Birgitta Svendén Birgitta Svendén (née Lundberg, 20 March 1952), is a Swedish operatic mezzo-soprano. Svendén was born in Porjus and then raised in Vuollerim. She studied at Operahögskolan in Stockholm, and later embarked on an international career in the f ...

and the former MD of major Swedish technology company Ericsson,

Carl-Henric Svanberg Carl-Henric Svanberg (born 29 May 1952), is a Swedish businessman and current Chairman of Volvo. He was Chairman of BP for eight years, from 2010 to 2018. Life and career Svanberg holds a master's degree in applied physics from the Linköping ...

, now chairman of BP, are two other well-known persons who were born in Porjus. Porjus is also the last stop before you enter

Laponia area The Laponian area is a large mountainous wildlife area in the Lapland province in northern Sweden, more precisely in Gällivare Municipality, Arjeplog Municipality and Jokkmokk Municipality. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996; the ...

, a UNESCO world heritage area which includes four national parks. In October 1944, an

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

bomber crash landed in nearby marshes after bombing the during

Operation Obviate Operation Obviate was an unsuccessful British air raid of World War II which targeted the German battleship ''Tirpitz''. It was conducted by Royal Air Force heavy bombers on 29 October 1944, and sought to destroy the damaged battleship after sh ...

. After crash landing, the crew sold the fuel and set fire to Lancaster NF920 ("Easy Elsie"). They were unable to destroy the entire airplane so much of it still lies in the marshes of Sweden.

References

External links

*
Official site of Porjus
(in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

)
Porjus, Northern Lights village
Populated places in Jokkmokk Municipality Lapland (Sweden) Populated places in Arctic Sweden {{Norrbotten-geo-stub