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 Umeå Municipality (, sme, Ubmi gielda) is a municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is Umeå, which is also the county seat of Västerbotten County. Administration The municipality is an administrative entity defined ...

and the capital of

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 ...

. Situated on the

Ume River The Ume River (Swedish: ''Ume älv'' or ''Umeälven'') is one of the main rivers in northern Sweden. It is around long, and flows in a south-eastern direction from its source, the lake ''Överuman'' by the Norwegian border within the Scandinavian ...

, Umeå is the largest

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 ...

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 ...

and the thirteenth largest in Sweden, with a wider municipal population of 130,224 inhabitants in 2020. When

Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2 ...

was established in 1965, growth accelerated, and the amount of housing has doubled in 30 years from 1980 to 2010. , Umeå was gaining around 1000 inhabitants per year and the municipality plans for having 200 000 inhabitants by 2050. The projection of municipality size in 2050 has, however, been questioned as an overestimation in an independent study. Umeå is a

university town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...

and centre of education, technical and medical research in northern Sweden. The two universities located in the city,

and one of the 3 main branches of SLU, host around 40,000 enrolled students, which corresponds to around 30% of the total population.

CRISPR gene editing CRISPR gene editing (pronounced "crisper") is a genetic engineering technique in molecular biology by which the genomes of living organisms may be modified. It is based on a simplified version of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 antiviral defense syst ...

was developed by researchers at Umeå University, being awarded the 2020

Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

. Umeå was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Riga in Latvia. Consulates from ten countries can be found in Umeå (2021): Denmark (from 1848), Finland (from 1921), France (from 1989), Iceland (from 2002), Italy (from 2012), Latvia (1939–1940; again from 2014), Lithuania (from 2012), Norway (from 1963), and the Republic of Seychelles (from 2001).

History

The first written mention of Umeå is from the 14th century. The northern parts of Sweden, including the counties of

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), known in English as West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in the north of Sweden, bordering Ångermanland, Lapland, North Bothnia, and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is known for the cheese named after the p ...

and

Norrbotten Norrbotten (), known in English as North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland. Administration The traditional provinces of Swe ...

, were mostly settled by nomadic Sami people before this time but not necessarily forming any permanent settlement in the city's exact location. The name is believed to be derived from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

word ''Úma'' which means ''roaring''. The name of the town would therefore mean "''The Roaring River''". The coast came to be permanently settled by Germanic peoples moving upwards on 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 ...

by boat, hence the Germanic names of towns and villages on the Westrobothnian coast. Southern Westrobothnia (Umeå and Skellefteå) has been a permanent Germanic settlement since at least the 14th century, but probably since the Viking ages or earlier. Umeå in its first form was a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

with a wooden church and trade post located in the section of town now known as Backen (or Kyrkbacken). Its location near the coast and on a river was probably one of the reasons that people chose to settle there.1300-1652 Umeå kommun
- Umeå official website. Retrieved 26 August 2008 For the next couple of centuries, Umeå was a place consisting of scattered parishes, where merchandise originating with the Sami people was traded, and was the last inhabited place before the northern wilderness took over. However, no real city was built at the location selected by the king, and it lost its

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in the 1590s. In 1622, a city was again founded by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. In 1638, it had about 40 houses. It suffered from Russian attacks in 1714 and in 1720 when it was burnt to the ground during the

Russian Pillage of 1719-1721 Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and pe ...

. At the close of the

Finnish War The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a re ...

in 1809 the Russian army under

Barclay de Tolly Barclay de Tolly () is the name of a Baltic German noble family of Scottish origin (Clan Barclay). During the time of the Revolution of 1688 in Britain, the family migrated to Swedish Livonia from Towy (Towie) in Aberdeenshire. Its subsequent ...

took Umeå and held it from June to August. In 1874 the town improved the plans for its structure after it became a government requirement. Umeå had already started making these changes when on 25 June 1888, a fire devastated the eastern parts of Umeå and at least 2,300 of the 3,000 inhabitants became homeless. In the restoration following the fire, almost 3,000

silver birch ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found ...

trees were planted along wide avenues to prevent future fires from spreading. For this reason Umeå is sometimes known as "Björkarnas Stad", the "City of Birches". The name of the Umeå ice-hockey team, Björklöven, means "The Birch Leaves".

Geography

Umeå is situated on the inlet of the Gulf of Bothnia at the mouth of the

, in the south of Västerbotten. Umeå is about north of Stockholm and about south of the Arctic Circle. It is the largest city north of the Stockholm-

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

region, and is sometimes referred to as the regional centre of northern Sweden. The nearby community of

Holmsund Holmsund is a locality situated in Umeå Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden with 5,489 inhabitants in 2010. It is located 18 km south of the city of Umeå and serves as a port for Umeå. Position Holmsund lies at the mouth of the Um ...

serves as its port. From here a ferry line connects it with the neighbouring city of

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

(Swedish: ''Vasa'') in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The near connections to Finland affects the population of the city - several

Sweden Finns Sweden Finns ( fi, ruotsinsuomalaiset; sv, sverigefinnar) are a Finnish-speaking national minority in Sweden. People with Finnish heritage comprise a relatively large share of the population of Sweden. In addition to a smaller part of Sweden F ...

live in Umeå.

Residential areas and localities

Central

Berghem Berghem (older spelling: ''Berchem'') is a town in the 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 communi ...

Centrum (Latin for ''center'') may refer to: Places In Greenland * Nuuk Centrum, a district of Nuuk, Greenland * Centrum Lake, Greenland In the Netherlands * Amsterdam-Centrum, the inner-most borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands * Rotterdam Centrum, a borou ...

* Fridhem * Gammlia * Haga * Sandbacka * Umestan * Väst på stan * Öbacka * Öbacka Strand * Östermalm * Öst på stan

West

* Backen * Grisbacka * Grubbe * Klockarbäcken * Kronoparken * Kungsänget * Lundåkern * Rödäng * Sandåkern * Umedalen * Västerslätt * Västerhiske * Ytterhiske

South

* Alvik * Böle * Böleäng * Röbäck * Röbäcksdalen * Söderslätt * Teg * Ön

Southeast

* Carlshem * Carlshöjd * Carlslid * Gimonäs * Lilljansberget * Sofiehem * Tavleliden * Tomtebo * Tunnelbacken * Universitetsområdet * Ålidbacken * Ålidhem * Ålidhöjd

North/Northeast

Ersboda Ersboda is a residential area in Umeå, 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 ...

* Ersmark * Marieberg *

Mariedal Mariedal is a locality situated in Upplands-Bro Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 297 inhabitants in 2010. References Populated places in Upplands-Bro Municipality {{Stockholm-geo-stub ...

* Mariehem * Mariestrand * Nydalahöjd * Olofsdal * Sandahöjd

Climate

Umeå has a subarctic climate ( Dfc), bordering on a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Dfb DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback ...

) with short and fairly warm summers. Winters are lengthy and freezing but usually milder than in areas at the same latitude with a more continental climate. Average January temperature is about , July is . Considering its proximity to a major water body and its latitude, summers are warmer than would be expected. The record high of was recorded on 23 July 2014, during a very warm summer in Sweden. The record low of was recorded on 15 February 1978.

Demography

The population of Umeå has grown consistently since the 1960s, when the university was built. In part because of the university, the town has attracted many residents from outside of Sweden, as well as students from other regions of Sweden. As of 2015, 10.4% of the population in the municipality of Umeå were foreign-born. The largest national origin group is from

, followed by

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. In April 2017 the Jewish association in Umeå closed after receiving multiple threats from

neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

, allegedly associated with the

Nordic Resistance Movement The Nordic Resistance Movement; Norwegian: nb, Nordiske motstandsbevegelsen, NMB; nn, Nordiske motstandsrørsla NMR; fi, Pohjoismainen Vastarintaliike, PVL; is, Norræna mótstöðuhreyfingin, NMH; da, Den nordiske modstandsbevægelse, ...

Transportation

The road infrastructure includes two European highways ( E4 and E12) which pass the city.Sweden Tourism
Map of Sweden. Accessed 14 April 2010.
/ref> The local bus system is centred at Vasaplan in the city centre, and has multiple routes travelling throughout the city.Umeå University
Bus Transportation. Accessed 24 September 2014.
/ref> About from the city centre is

Umeå Airport Umeå Airport is an airport located on the southern outskirts of the city of Umeå, Sweden. As of 2019, it is the seventh-largest airport in Sweden. It had 960,351 passengers in 2019. By road, the airport is located about from Umeå city centre ...

. It is the 7th largest airport in Sweden by number of passengers, with 844,932 passengers in 2010. The Bothnia Line (''Botniabanan'') connects to Umeå from the south, it runs along the

High Coast The High Coast ( sv, Höga Kusten) is a part of the coast of Sweden on the Gulf of Bothnia, in the Ångermanland province of northeast Sweden, centered in the area of the municipalities of Kramfors, Härnösand, Sollefteå and Örnsköldsvik. It ...

via

Örnsköldsvik Örnsköldsvik (, ) is a locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017. Its natural harbour and archipelago is in the Gulf of Bothnia and the northern boundaries of the Hig ...

to Umeå. This railway was opened on 28 August 2010. The new railway line is long, containing 140 bridges and of tunnels. It provides Umeå with a fast train connection to Stockholm ( hours). A new railway station, Umeå East Station, was built in connection to Norrland's University Hospital and

. The Wasaline ferry takes four hours to arrive at Vaasa, Finland. Umeå is located along the

Blue Highway Blue Highway is an American contemporary bluegrass band formed in 1994 and based in Tennessee. The band's albums include ''Wondrous Love'' (2003), ''Marbletown'' (2005), and '' Original Traditional'' (2016). Background After helping found th ...

, which is an international tourist route from

Mo i Rana Mo i Rana () is a city, and the administrative centre of the municipality of Rana, in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Helgeland region of Nordland, just south of the Arctic Circle. Some of the city's suburbs include Båsmoen and Yt ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Pudozh Pudozh (russian: Пудож; krl, Puudoži; vep, Pudož; fi, Puudosi or ') is a town and the administrative center of Pudozhsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located on the Vodla River east of Petrozavodsk, but traveling by the ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

via

Culture

The Opera of northern Sweden, the Norrland Opera, is based in the city, as is the English-language non-profit Umeå Theatre Company and the Museum of Contemporary Art and Visual Culture. The annual

Umeå Jazz Festival Umeå Jazz Festival (Swedish: ''Umeå Jazzfestival'') is an annual jazz festival held in Umeå, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name ...

is one of the larger Scandinavian festivals for modern jazz. Well-known metal bands from Umeå include

Cult of Luna Cult of Luna is a Swedish heavy metal band from Umeå founded in 1998. They are known for post-metal music similar to the contemporary bands Neurosis and Isis. The band was signed to Earache Records in the early 2000s and released five albums, i ...

, Gotham City, Hollow,

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1985. Originally, the band's name was Metallien. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer To ...

, Mexicoma,

Nocturnal Rites Nocturnal Rites is a Swedish power metal band formed in 1990. Biography The band started off under the name ''Necronomic'' playing death metal, as can be heard on their demo (''The Obscure'', 1991). This attracted some independent labels' at ...

Refused Refused (also known as the Refused) is a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå and formed in 1991. Refused is composed of vocalist Dennis Lyxzén, guitarist Kristofer Steen, drummer David Sandström, and bassist Magnus Flagge. G ...

, and Persuader. During the 1990s, the influence of Umeå

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

bands such as

Final Exit ''Final Exit'' (fully titled ''Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying'') is a 1991 book written by Derek Humphry, a British-born American journalist, author, and assisted suicide advocate who co-f ...

, Step Forward,

Abhinanda Abhinanda is a Swedish hardcore punk band that was active from 1992 until 1999 (with brief reunions in 2004 and from 2009 to 2010), releasing three albums. The band was part of the Umeå hardcore scene and had close ties to influential hardcor ...

, Shield and Doughnuts and the local labels Desperate Fight Records and

Busted Heads Records Busted Heads Records was an independent record label operating between 1997 and 2004 in Umeå, Sweden. It released records by both local and worldwide punk and hardcore bands. The label was run by Christoffer Röstlund Jonsson, then bass player ...

led to the growth of Umeå's hardcore scene. Independent record label Ny Våg is headquartered in Umeå, and have released records of Umeå artists such as AC4,

Masshysteri Masshysteri ( en, Mass hysteria) was a Swedish Post-Punk band, formed in Umeå in 2008. The group consisted of Robert Pettersson (rhythm guitar, vocals), Sara Almgren (bass guitar, vocals), Kajsa Bergsten (lead guitar) and Erik Viklund (drums) H ...

and

Invasionen INVSN (pronounced "Invasion") is a Swedish post-punk band from Umeå. Originally formed as The Lost Party as a solo project for Dennis Lyxzén, already know for the punk bands Refused and The (International) Noise Conspiracy, the project's ear ...

. In 2009 the town was designated European Capital of Culture for 2014, along with Riga. Umeå is the centre of television in northern Sweden; SVT Nord and TV4's northern region office are both based in the city. The main newspapers of the county of Västerbotten,

Västerbottens-Kuriren ''Västerbottens-Kuriren'' (also known as VK) is a Swedish newspaper founded in 1900. It is published in Umeå, Västerbotten, Sweden. The newspaper covers regional news from the region Västerbotten (with the exception of the municipalities Mala, ...

and

Västerbottens Folkblad ''Västerbottens Folkblad'' is a Swedish language newspaper published in Umeå, Sweden. History and profile ''Västerbottens Folkblad'' was founded in 1917. It is published in Umeå, Västerbotten Västerbotten (), known in English as West Bo ...

are also based in Umeå. The background and setting for the video game '' Unravel'' are based on landscapes around Umeå.

Sports

The city of Umeå currently hosts four major sports clubs. The women's football club is

Umeå IK Umeå IK () is a professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football clubs in ...

. The men's hockey team

IF Björklöven IF Björklöven (often simply referred to as Björklöven or Löven) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club in Umeå, Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. The club is currently playing in the second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan as of the 2014� ...

was very successful in the 1980s but has been less successful in recent years. Björklöven are currently playing in the Swedish second-tier league

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system (after the SHL). Since the 2009–10 season, the league consists of fourteen team ...

while Umeå IK plays in the top Swedish women's football league

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

. IBK Dalen and

IKSU IKSU (Idrottsklubben Studenterna i Umeå) is a sports club and nonprofit organization in Umeå. It has three facilities, ''IKSU sport'' at the Umeå University, Umeå University campus, ''IKSU'' plus at the Arts campus and ''IKSU spa'' in Umedalen. ...

are among the major floorball teams in Sweden; both teams has been in the Swedish Championships finals two years in a row (). Other sports clubs include

IFK Umeå IFK Umeå (IFK Umeå Fotboll) is a Swedish football club located in Umeå 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 Väst ...

Mariehem SK Mariehem SK (Mariehem sportklubb, MSK) is a Swedish football team from Mariehem in Umeå currently playing in Division 2 Norrland after finishing 8th in 2009. Background Mariehem SK was formed in 1974 and currently has 28 teams including jun ...

Umeå FC Umeå FC is a Swedish professional football club located in Umeå, Sweden. The club, formed in 1987, is currently playing in the third tier of the Swedish league, Ettan Fotboll. The club is affiliated to the Västerbottens Fotbollförbund. Seaso ...

, and

Umedalens IF Umedalens IF a sports club in Umeå, Sweden formed on 12 January 1935 by the merger of Grubbs NS and Backens SK. Gunnar Lindahl was elected president. On 21 January 1935, the decision was taken to be a member of the Swedish Sports Confederation ...

. In 2018 and 2020, Umeå was named Sweden's best sports city by SVT Sport. In 2011, a baseball and softball team, Umeå Baseboll & Softbol, klubb, was founded. The team has 2 former national team players as coaches and currently plays in Norra Regionserien.

Education and research

In 1951 the city's library was recognised as important for northern Sweden. The library is given a copy of every new book printed in Sweden.

has about 37,000 students and 4,200 staff. The establishment of the university in the mid-1960s led to a population expansion from about 50,000 inhabitants to today's 121,032. The expansion continues, with about 1100 new inhabitants every year, and has made Umeå a modern, somewhat intellectual city to add to the traditional basis of heavy industry for cities along the coast of northern Sweden (

). The

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, or Swedish Agricultural University (Swedish: ''Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet'') (SLU) is a university in Sweden. Although its head office is located in Ultuna, Uppsala, the university has several c ...

or ''Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet'' is a university in Sweden. Although its head office is located in

(

Ultuna Ultuna () is a locality in Uppsala Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 449 inhabitants in 2017. Located south of central Uppsala, it hosts the headquarters and main campus of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sveriges lant ...

), the university has several campuses in different parts of Sweden, including Umeå. Unlike other government-run universities in Sweden, it is funded through the budget for the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. The

university hospital A university hospital is an institution which combines the services of a hospital with the education of medical students and with medical research. These hospitals are typically affiliated with a medical school or university. The following i ...

serves the entire region of northern Sweden.

Economy

Key research fields of the University are life sciences (especially medical and cell and the molecular biology of plants), human-technology interaction, social welfare, ecology and gender perspectives. The Umeå University works collaboratively with companies such as

ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to crea ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 Öhrlings

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

(PwC). The

(SLU) in Umeå, with Umeå Plant Science Centre, is another major site of research and education. Notable companies based in Umeå include: *

GE Healthcare GE HealthCare is a subsidiary of American multinational conglomerate General Electric incorporated in New York and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. As of 2017, it is a manufacturer and distributor of diagnostic imaging agents and radiopharma ...

, which produces chromatography systems such as FPLC, HPLC and

DNA sequencer A DNA sequencer is a scientific instrument used to automate the DNA sequencing process. Given a sample of DNA, a DNA sequencer is used to determine the order of the four bases: G (guanine), C (cytosine), A (adenine) and T (thymine). This is the ...

equipment. *

Handelsbanken Svenska Handelsbanken AB is a Swedish bank providing banking services including traditional corporate transactions, investment banking and trading as well as consumer banking including insurance. Handelsbanken is one of the major banks in Sweden ...

, HQ in the northern region of Sweden. * Komatsu Forest, European HQ. *

Siemens Financial Services Siemens Financial Services (SFS) is a Division of Siemens. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. SFS offers international financing solutions in the business-to-business area. Financial Services serves Siemens as well as other ...

, Scandinavian HQ. *

Volvo Trucks Volvo Trucks ( sv, Volvo Lastvagnar) is a truck manufacturing division of Volvo based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Trucks was a separate company within Volvo. The Volvo Group was reorganised on 1 January 2012 and as a part of the process, Vo ...

. *

Nasdaq Technology AB The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

*, production facilities for tractor front-end loaders.

Notable people

Athletes * Sebastian Aho * Björn Berg * Jesper Blomqvist *

Jörgen Brink Jörgen Brink (born March 10, 1974 in Delsbo, Hälsingland) is a retired Swedish cross-country skier and biathlete who has competed since 1994. He earned three bronze medals at the 2003 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme (10& ...

* Åsa Elfving * Per Elofsson *

Fredrik Ericsson Jan Fredrik Ericsson (14 March 1975 in Sundsvall, Sweden – 6 August 2010 at K2, Pakistan) was a Swedish mountaineer and extreme skier. He grew up in Umeå in the northern part of Sweden, but spent most of his time in Chamonix, in the French Alps ...

Hanna Ljungberg Hanna Carolina Ljungberg (born 8 January 1979) is a Swedish former football player, who played the position of forward. She played for the club side Umeå IK and for the Swedish national football team. She debuted for Sweden, at age 17, on 6 Febr ...

Mikael Lustig Carl Mikael Lustig (; born 13 December 1986) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a right or centre back. Beginning his career with Umeå FC in 2004, he went on to represent GIF Sundsvall, Rosenborg BK, Celtic, and Gent bef ...

Gunnar Nordahl Nils Gunnar Nordahl (; 19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995) was a Swedish professional footballer. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, with an eye for goal, he is best known for his spell at AC Milan from 1949 to 1956, ...

* Maria Pietilä Holmner * Anja Pärson *

Assar Rönnlund Bernt Assar Rönnlund (3 September 1935 – 5 January 2011) was a Swedish cross-country skier. Rönnlund's biggest success was at the 1962 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Zakopane where he won two gold medals (15 km and 4 × 10 ...

* Patrik Sundström * Daniel Tjärnqvist * Tor Troéng * Marcus Wallmark Musicians *

Karl Backman Karl Backman, (born 27 October 1970, Umeå) is a Swedish artist and musician. Music Backman became involved in Punk rock in 1980 and started his first punk band the Boredom Brothers in 1982 when he was squatting in Umeå. He formed the pun ...

* Katarina Barruk * Eva Dahlgren *

Mats Gustafsson Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player. Career Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...

* Frida Hyvönen *

Inge Johansson Inge Rolf Johansson () (born May 10, 1977) is a Swedish musician. He is best known for his time playing bass in bands such as Against Me! and The (International) Noise Conspiracy, of which he was a founding member. Before forming The (Internatio ...

Daniel Lindström Daniel Lindström (born 30 January 1978) is a Swedish singer from Umeå who won the Swedish Idol 2004 contest against Darin Zanyar. His first single, " Coming True", sold double platinum, and his self-titled album, released in December 2004, to ...

Dennis Lyxzén Sven Olov Dennis Lyxzén (born June 19, 1972) is a Swedish singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for influential Swedish hardcore punk band Refused, as well as the bands INVSN and Fake Names. He is also a former member of bands ...

Lisa Miskovsky Lisa Miskovsky (born 9 March 1975) is a Swedish musician and singer-songwriter. Biography Miskovsky quickly placed herself on the Swedish rock music charts with her debut album ''Lisa Miskovsky'' and single "Driving One of Your Cars", with Swed ...

* Nicklas Nygren *

David Sandström David Sandström (born 2 January 1975) is the drummer for hardcore punk group Refused. After Refused broke up, Sandström and the other members of Refused worked on a project entitled TEXT and released one album. Then David went on to do solo w ...

Kristofer Steen Kristofer Steen (born June 26, 1974) is a Swedish musician, who is the guitarist for hardcore punk band Refused. He directed ''Refused Are Fucking Dead'', a 2006 documentary charting the demise of Refused in 1998. After Refused's demise, Steen ...

Tove Styrke Tove Anna Linnéa Östman Styrke (; born 19 November 1992) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She gained popularity as a contestant on '' Swedish Idol 2009'', finishing in third place. After the show, she started a solo career in electropop. Sh ...

Morgan Ågren Morgan Ågren (born 1967) is a Swedish drummer who plays with the progressive rock band Kaipa. Biography A native of Umeå, Västerbotten, Ågren was spotted as an outstanding talent at a young age as he began performing publicly at age seve ...

Fricky Carl Erik Friman, better known by his stage name Fricky (born 9 March 1992), is a Swedish rapper and musician. In 2018, he released his debut EP ''Aqua Aura'', which peaked at number five on the Swedish Albums Chart. The EP contained songs like ...

Infernus Roger Tiegs (born 18 June 1972 in Umeå), better known by his stage name Infernus, is a Norwegian black metal musician and Satanist. He is the sole founding member and chief ideologist of the black metal band Gorgoroth, which was formed in 1 ...

Fredrik Thordendal Fredrik Thordendal (born 11 February 1970) is a Swedish musician, best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah, of which he is a founding member. Along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagst ...

Politicians *

Ibrahim Baylan Ibrahim Baylan (born 15 March 1972) is a Swedish politician who served as Minister for Schools from 2004 to 2006, as Minister for Energy from 2014 to 2019, Minister for Policy Coordination from 2016 to 2019 and as Minister for Business, Indu ...

* Kjell-Olof Feldt * Jonas Sjöstedt * Ola Ullsten Other * Stieg Larsson, novelist * Stig Lindberg, artist * David Sandberg, film director and actor *

Amanda Kernell Amanda Kernell (; born 9 September 1986) is a Swedish, Southern Sami director and screenwriter. She is best known for the movie ''Sami Blood'', which won several awards. Biography Amanda Kernell was born in Umeå. In her early teens, she devote ...

, film director and screenwriter * Forsen, video game streamer * Vargskelethor Joel, video game streamer

Notes

References

External links

Website of Umeå municipality

Umeå Region

Umeå Tourist Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umea County seats in Sweden Municipal seats of Västerbotten County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Umeå Municipality Populated places established in 1622 Cities in Västerbotten County