Skellefteå (,
locally ) is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in
Västerbotten County
Västerbotten County ( sv, Västerbottens län) is a county or ''län'' in the north of Sweden. It shares the borders with the counties of Västernorrland, Jämtland, and Norrbotten, as well as the Norwegian county of Nordland and the Gulf of Bo ...
,
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 ...
. It is the seat of
Skellefteå Municipality
Skellefteå Municipality () is a municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Skellefteå.
History
Most of the amalgamations leading to the present municipality took place in 1967 when the then "City of Skelle ...
, which had 73,246 inhabitants in 2021.
The city is historically industrial, with mining being a large part of that industry, especially for gold, leading to the city being nicknamed ''Guldstaden'' ("gold town"). Politically, Skellefteå is a
Social Democratic stronghold. The city is a well-known
ice hockey town, with its main team
Skellefteå AIK
Skellefteå AIK is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Skellefteå, Sweden. They currently play In the Swedish Hockey League. They play their home games in Skellefteå Kraft Arena, which seats 6,001 spectators. The team has won the Sw ...
playing in the Swedish top division: the
SHL, which they have won on several occasions; most recently in
2014.
The city was incorporated in 1845 and grew to its current population size in the 1950s and 1960s, growing only slowly since. It is the second largest city in Västerbotten after
Umeå
Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County.
Situated on the Ume River, U ...
and is located roughly halfway between it and
Luleå. The
Skellefte River
The Skellefte River ( sv, Skellefteälven or ; sje, Seldutiedno; sju, Syöldateiednuo) is a river in northern Sweden; one of the major Norrland rivers.
Geographically, it starts in the Norrbotten County, also known as the Swedish Lappland pro ...
passes through the city and it is located around from the
Bothnian Bay
The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has been removed, and wit ...
open sea. Skellefteå is served by
Skellefteå Airport
Skellefteå Airport , is located about 17 km from Skellefteå, Västerbotten, Sweden. Skellefteå Airport is ranked as one of ten largest airports in Sweden in terms of domestic flights.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines opera ...
, IATA airport code SFT but locally known as ''Falmark'' because of the village nearby, also around from the city centre to the south.
History
![Nygatan skelleftea 1927](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Nygatan_skelleftea_1927.jpg)
The name Skellefteå is recorded to having been spelled as ''Skelepht'' in 1327. On
Carta marina
''Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum'' (Latin for ''Marine map and description of the Northern lands''; commonly abbreviated ''Carta marina'') is the first map of the Nordic countries to give details and place names, created by S ...
the name is spelt ''Skellitta''. The origin of the name remains unknown, but is assumed to be of Sami origin.
From the 14th century on, attempts were made to Christianize Skellefteå. A parish was formed and a church built. However, for the most part, the entire large Northern Swedish territory of
Norrland
Norrland (, "Northland", originally ''Norrlanden'' or "the Northlands") is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administ ...
was not Christianized until several hundred years after the rest of Sweden, and many northern areas such as Skellefteå remained unexplored well past the Middle Ages.
Not before the very end of the 17th century did the indigenous
Sami people of Northern Sweden begin turning to Christianity, much due to the efforts by the Northern Swedish superintendent
Mathias Steuchius
Mathias Steuchius (; 26 October 1644 – 2 August 1730) was Bishop of the Diocese of Lund, 1694 to 1714 and Archbishop of Uppsala in the Swedish Church from 1714 to his death.
Steuchius was born in Fogdö, and grew up in Härnösand in norther ...
, who worked hard to accomplish this. Several
Sami priests were killed for this reason.
Eventually, the reason for the sudden awakened interest towards Skellefteälven and the surrounding areas was the great northern fishing grounds of
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
. The increased demand for fish was sparked by a stricter enforcement of the annual month-long
fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
by the Catholic Church, whereby meat was substituted by fish.
The actual city of Skellefteå is one of the youngest cities of Norrland. It was founded in 1845 by the vicar Nils Nordlander.
Today
In the 20th century, Skellefteå evolved to an industrial and mining city and many wooden houses were demolished to make room for brick buildings. Skellefteå is now trying to become a leading city in education with the construction of Floraskolan, a school that mostly focuses on entrepreneurial learning.
It will become the home of a massive battery plant made by Northvolt by circa 2023.
The largest private employer in Skellefteå is the mining company
Boliden AB, with about 1,200 employees. The mine's copper ore contains particles of gold, silver and platinum. Skellefteå is still referred to as the ''"Goldtown"''.
During the 1990s, the computer industry flourished, subsidiaries of
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 informa ...
and
Tieto Enator becoming important employers.
Climate
Skellefteå is transitioning from a
subarctic climate (
Dfc) to
continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
with mild summers and cold, snowy winters. In the 21st century the climate has more resembled the latter. The climate is somewhat moderated by the Bothnia Bay, although maritime effects are limited, ensuring very warm summer temperatures for a coastal area so far north.
Industry
*
Boliden AB, a big mining and smelting company
*
Skellefteå Kraft, largest power company in Skellefteå
*
Northvolt
Northvolt AB is a Swedish battery developer and manufacturer, specializing in lithium-ion technology for electric vehicles.
History
The company was founded as SGF Energy in 2015 by Peter Carlsson (now chief executive), who was formerly an ex ...
, lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing company
Sports
*
Skellefteå AIK
Skellefteå AIK is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Skellefteå, Sweden. They currently play In the Swedish Hockey League. They play their home games in Skellefteå Kraft Arena, which seats 6,001 spectators. The team has won the Sw ...
, an ice hockey team in the highest Swedish league,
Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
1978,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
and
2014 Swedish Champions.
*
Morön BK
Morön BK is a Swedish football club located in Skellefteå in Västerbotten County.
Background
Morön Bollklubb was formed at a meeting held in 1935, the driving force being Elof Burman who became the club chairman. After a lot of hard work ...
, football club playing in
Division 3 Norrland
*
Skellefteå FF
Skellefteå FF is a Association football, football club in Skellefteå, Västerbotten, Sweden. The club was founded in 1921, and was then called ''Skellefteå AIK Fotboll'', a name it kept until 2006. In the 2015 season, the club plays in the Sw ...
, football club playing in
Division 2 Norrland
*
Sunnanå SK, women's football (soccer)
*
Skellefteå IBK, floorball club
*
Skellefteå Innebandy IF, floorball club
*The
Skellefteå Kraft Grandmaster Chess Cup 1999, one of the strongest all Swedish chess tournaments was won by
IGM
Immunoglobulin M (IgM) is one of several isotypes of antibody (also known as immunoglobulin) that are produced by vertebrates. IgM is the largest antibody, and it is the first antibody to appear in the response to initial exposure to an antig ...
Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972.
Career
At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. Tourname ...
. The event took place from March 26 – April 4, 1999. An international chess tournament, the final of the two-year World Cup series was held in Skellefteå from August 12 to September 3, 1989. The final sixteen grandmasters participating included three former World Chess Champions
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
,
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Che ...
and
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...
. The activities organized around the World Cup final included two performances in Skellefteå of
''Chess'', with music by
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma M ...
and
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 ...
of the pop group
ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...
.
Notable people
People
Sportspeople
*
Anders Andersson, ice hockey player
*
Johan Alm, ice hockey player
*
Viktor Arvidsson
Johan Viktor Arvidsson (born 8 April 1993) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Nashville Predators in the fourth round, 112th overall, at the 2014 NHL ...
, ice hockey player for the
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
*
Johan Backlund
Johan Backlund (born July 24, 1981) is a former Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender. He previously played in two National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2009–10 season.
Playing career
On March 26, 20 ...
, ice hockey player
*
Evy Berggren
Evy Margareta Berggren (later ''Westerberg''; 16 June 1934 – 5 December 2018) was a Swedish gymnast. She competed at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics and won a gold and a silver medal in ''team exercise with portable apparatus'', respect ...
, Gymnast, Olympic and World Champion
*
Filip Berglund, ice hockey player
*
Niclas Burström, ice hockey player
*
Robert Dahlgren
Robert Dahlgren (born 1 December 1979 in Skellefteå) is a Swedish auto racing driver who currently competes for the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. He previously competed in Australia and New Zealand for a single season in the V8 Superc ...
, racing driver
*
Jimmie Ericsson, ice hockey player
*
Jan Erixon
Jan Erixon (born July 8, 1962) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player. Erixon was the thirtieth overall pick in the second round by the New York Rangers in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters ...
, ice hockey player
*
Tim Erixon
Tim Carl Erixon (born 24 February 1991) is an American-born Swedish professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing with Timrå IK in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Erixon was selected in the first round—23rd overall—by the Calg ...
, ice hockey player
*
Toini Gustafsson-Rönnlund, skier
*
Filip Gustavsson, ice hockey goaltender
*
Jonathan Hedström, ice hockey player
*
Adam Larsson
Nils Erik Adam Larsson (born 12 November 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected fourth overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2011 ...
, ice hockey player for the
Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...
*
Oscar Lindberg, ice hockey player for the
Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expa ...
*
Mats Lindgren
Mats Anders Lindgren (born 1 October 1974) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey forward. He was selected in the first round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, 15th overall, by the Winnipeg Jets, although he never had the opportunity to play for ...
, ice hockey player
*
Joakim Lindström
Joakim Claes Lindström (born December 5, 1983) is a Swedish professional ice hockey winger currently playing for Skellefteå AIK of the Swedish Hockey League. Lindström has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Columbu ...
, ice hockey player
*
Gustaf Lindvall, ice hockey player
*
Arvid Lundberg
Arvid Lundberg (born September 29, 1994) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently playing with Skellefteå AIK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He has also previously played with the Växjö Lakers.
Lundberg made his ...
, ice hockey player
*
Hanna Marklund, football player
*
Hardy Nilsson
Hardy Nilsson (born 23 June 1947) is a Swedish retired ice hockey player and coach. During his playing career he mainly played for Skellefteå AIK where he won the Swedish championships in 1978. In 1978 Nilsson moved to the German team Kölner H ...
, ice hockey player and later coach
*
Joakim Nyström
Joakim "Jocke" Nyström (born 20 February 1963) is a former top ten ranked tennis player from Sweden who won 13 singles titles during his professional career. The right-hander reached his highest singles ranking on the ATP Tour on 31 March 1986, ...
, tennis player
*
Marcus Pettersson
Marcus Karl Gustav Pettersson (born 8 May 1996) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). His nickname is The Dragon.
Playing career
Pettersson made his Swedish Hockey League d ...
, ice hockey player for the
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
*
David Rundblad
David Rundblad (born October 8, 1990) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is currently playing with Kärpät in the Liiga. Rundblad was drafted 17th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He began his NHL career ...
, ice hockey player
*
Patrik Wallón, ice hockey player
*
Adam Wilsby, ice hockey player
Other
*Erik Normark, YouTuber
and Naturalist
*
Per Olov Enquist
Per Olov Enquist, also known as P. O. Enquist, (23 September 1934 – 25 April 2020) was a Swedish author. He had worked as a journalist, playwright and novelist.
Biography
Enquist was born and raised in , a village in present-day Skellef ...
, writer
*
Tore Frängsmyr
Tore Lennart Frängsmyr (8 July 1938 in Skellefteå – 28 August 2017 in Uppsala) was a Swedish historian. He was the first holder of the Hans Rausing professorship in the history of science at Uppsala university. According to J.L. Heilbron, Frä ...
, historian
*
Ingrid García-Jonsson, Spanish-Swedish actress
*
Peter Haber
Peter Alexander Haber (born 12 December 1952) is a Swedish actor. His father was German, his mother Swedish. He grew up in Skåne, Sweden, and in Remscheid, Germany. In 1987 he was hired by the Stockholm City Theatre where he was active unti ...
, actor
*
Andreas "Vintersorg" Hedlund, musician
*
Helena Helmersson
Helena Helmersson (born 1973) is a Swedish business executive. Since 2010, she has been head of sustainability at the Swedish retail clothing company H&M, and since 2020 she is its CEO.
Biography
Born in Skellefteå in the north of Sweden sh ...
, CEO of
H&M since 2020
*
Thomas Idergard, political commentator
*
Stieg Larsson, writer
*
Stig Larsson, writer
*
David Lindgren, musician
*
Anna Nordlander, painter
*
Victoria Silvstedt
Karin Victoria Silvstedt (born 19 September 1974)''Expressen'', 29 October 2004. is a Swedish model, actress, singer, and television personality.Victoria Silvstedt Official Homepage, victoriasilvstedt.com, 8 May 2010.
Early life
Born in Skellef ...
, supermodel
*
Henning Sjöström, lawyer
*
Margot Wallström
Margot Elisabeth Wallström (; born 28 September 1954) is a Swedish politician of the Swedish Social Democratic Party who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2019 and Minister for Nordic Coope ...
, former first Vice President of the European Commission and current Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict with the UN. Foreign Secretary of Sweden 2014–2019
Artists
*
Moon Safari
''Moon Safari'' is the debut studio album by French electronic music duo Air, released on 16 January 1998 by Source and Virgin Records. ''Moon Safari'' was re-released on 14 April 2008 to mark the album's 10th anniversary, including a bound book ...
, a symphonic rock band.
*
The Wannadies
The Wannadies is an alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. The band's initial line-up featured Pär Wiksten (vocals, guitars), Christina Bergmark (born 1 March 1969) ( keyboards, vocals), Stefan Schönfeldt (born 5 ...
, an alternative rock band formed in 1988.
*
Vintersorg
Vintersorg (; "Winter Sorrow" in English) is a Swedish band from Skellefteå, formed in 1994 under the name Vargatron (Wolfthrone in English). Musically, Vintersorg has covered a wide number of heavy metal genres; while the band is mostly ro ...
, a metal band.
*
Amber Oak, a pop-rock band.
*Black Bonzo (2003-2011) and Gin Lady (2012-present), progressive-rock bands
See also
*
Kroksjön lake
*
Morö backe
*
Sollefteå
Sollefteå () is a locality and the seat of Sollefteå Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 8,562 inhabitants in 2010.
The earliest written account on Sollefteå is found in a script dating back to 1270. During this time the name o ...
(similar name)
References
*https://web.archive.org/web/20050802111949/http://lokalhistoria.skelleftea.org/
*''Some material has been translated and incorporated from
:sv:Skellefteå''
External links
Skellefteå– Official site
Tourist in Skellefteå– Tourist information in Swedish, English and German languages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skelleftea
Populated places in Västerbotten County
Populated places in Skellefteå Municipality
Municipal seats of Västerbotten County
Swedish municipal seats
Coastal cities and towns in Sweden