Sandviken is a

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

and the seat of

Sandviken Municipality Sandviken Municipality (''Sandvikens kommun'') is a municipality in Gävleborg County, in east central Sweden. The seat is the town of Sandviken. The present municipality was created in 1971 through the amalgamation of the City of Sandviken (it ...

Gävleborg County Gävleborg County ( sv, Gävleborgs län) is a county or '' län'' on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders the counties of Uppsala, Västmanland, Dalarna, Jämtland and Västernorrland. The capital is Gävle. Provinces Gävleborg Cou ...

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 countries, Nordic c ...

with 39,234 inhabitants in 2019. It is situated about 25 km west of

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swed ...

and lies approximately 190 km north of Stockholm. The rail journey to Stockholm takes about 2 hours and to Arlanda, Sweden's main international airport, no more than 1.5 hours. Sandviken is the home town of the major high-technology Swedish engineering concern

Sandvik Sandvik AB is a Swedish multinational engineering company specializing in metal cutting, digital and additive manufacturing, mining and construction, stainless and special steel alloys, and industrial heating. The company was founded in Swe ...

and the main office of the company was located in Sandviken until January 2012 when it was moved to Stockholm.

Culture and recreation

Sandviken is home to a number of cultural activities: Kulturskolan means "the culture school" (extramural music, dance and drama training), Sandviken Big Band, Sandviken Symphonic Orchestra and many musicians in the region. Sandvikens Art Gallery shows throughout the year various interesting exhibitions. Amongst the many popular tourist attractions in the municipality, the following merit special mention: the attractive old, carefully restored industrial villages in Gysinge and Högbo Bruk with their forges and smithies, handicraft, manor houses and possibilities they offer for outdoor recreation. During the winter months the downhill skiing facilities and the Snowpark at Kungsberget attract many visitors.

Sports

Sandvikens AIK Sandvikens AIK (commonly known as SAIK) a sports club in Sandviken, Sweden. The bandy section plays its home games in the Göransson Arena in Sandviken. They play in a black outfit. History Sandvikens AIK was founded on 16 March 1901. Originall ...

have become Swedish bandy champions several times. From the season 2009-10, they play indoors in

Göransson Arena Göransson Arena is an indoor arena in Sandviken, Sweden. It opened in 2009 and holds up to 10,000 people at music events and 4,000 spectators for bandy. History The building of the arena was financed by the Göransson Foundations, established ...

. This arena was the Division A venue for the

2017 Bandy World Championship Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese ...

. Sandviken also hosts the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, in which the home team in 2017 won for the first time on home ice (and the first time at all ever since 2002). Football clubs located in Sandviken are

Sandvikens IF Sandvikens IF is a Swedish football club located in Sandviken. The club, formed 6 June 1918, has played 21 seasons in the highest Swedish league, but is in the third highest Swedish league, Division 1. Sandvikens IF are affiliated to the Ge ...

who play in Division 1 Norra and Sandvikens AIK FK who play in Division 3 Södra Norrland. Their Jernvallen stadium was a venue of 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 ...

, making Sandviken the northernmost city to host the tournament. Sandviken is the birthplace of footballer Kim Källström and

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

ski racer Sara Hector. Sandvikens AIK Bandy

Transportation

Sandviken lies on the southern side of the intersection of Route 68/80 and Route 272 "Högbovägen." The city extends to the south along Route 272 until they meet

Storsjön Storsjön (, lit. "The Great Lake") is the fifth largest lake in Sweden, with an area of and a greatest depth of . It is the largest lake in central Sweden, located in the province of Jämtland in modern Jämtland County. From Storsjön runs the ...

, where the road creates a causeway across the lake. Sandviken airport, although closer to the town of Valbo, serves the air travel needs for Sandviken, as well nearby

References

{{Authority control Municipal seats of Gävleborg County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Sandviken Municipality Gästrikland