Gällivare (; ; or ; or ; ) is a
locality
Locality may refer to:
* Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada
* Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England
* Locality (linguistics)
* Locality (settlement)
* Suburbs and localitie ...
and the seat of
Gällivare Municipality
Gällivare Municipality (; or ; ; ) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is Gällivare. It is the third largest municipality in Sweden. Gällivare Lapland Airport is the only airport in the region able to accommod ...
in
Norrbotten County
Norrbotten County (, Meänkieli/, ) 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 borders with Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf ...
,
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Lapland,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010.
The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns
Malmberget
Malmberget ("The Ore Mountain", Finnish language, Finnish and Meänkieli dialects, Meänkieli: ''Malmivaara'') is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and mining town situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden. It had 5,590 inhabit ...
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
A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...
with some 15,000 inhabitants.
Gällivare is situated at the northern end of the
Inlandsbanan
The Inland Line () 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 constructing the railway. T ...
railway line, about 60 kilometres north of the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circl ...
. 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 f ...
mining region.
Adjacent to Gällivare (about five kilometres) is
Malmberget
Malmberget ("The Ore Mountain", Finnish language, Finnish and Meänkieli dialects, Meänkieli: ''Malmivaara'') is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and mining town situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden. It had 5,590 inhabit ...
, known as a site for
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 f ...
extraction from deep
mines by
LKAB
Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB) is a state-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 1950s. Th ...
. In addition
Aitik
The Aitik copper mine is owned by Boliden AB and situated outside the town of Gällivare in northern Sweden. It is one of Europe's largest open pit copper mines. Alongside copper, some quantities of gold and silver are produced alongside the m ...
, one of Europe's largest open pit copper mines, is operated just twenty kilometers away by
Boliden AB
Boliden AB (stylized as Boliden) is a Swedish multinational metals, mining, and smelting company headquartered in Stockholm. The company produces zinc, copper, lead, nickel, silver, and gold, with operations in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Portugal ...
.
Outside Gällivare lies the
ski
Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...
resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...
Dundret
Dundret (in Lule Sami language: ''Váhtjerduottar'') is a fell (823m above sea level), located just outside the town Gällivare in Sweden. Standing east of the main chain of the Scandinavian Mountains Dundret is an inselberg.
Dundret has a ski ...
, which is equipped with six
ski lift
A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a Lift ticket, paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, ...
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 re ...
. 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. Around the town roughly 130km (13 Swedish miles) o
nordic skiing tracksare maintained and freely accessible.
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
Max, formally ''Max Burgers Aktiebolag'', is a Swedish hamburger chain founded in 1968 in Gällivare. , the hamburger chain had 155 restaurants in Sweden, 26 restaurants in Poland, eight in Norway and six in Denmark. The company had seven in E ...
, was founded in Gällivare, though the headquarters have since relocated to
Luleå
Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...
.
History
Gällivare's history as a settlement date back to the
1690s
The 1690s decade ran from January 1, 1690, to December 31, 1699.
References
{{Authority control
...
, when iron ore was discovered in the mountain ''Illuvare'', which came to be known as ''Gällivare malmberg''. The find was located in what is now
Malmberget
Malmberget ("The Ore Mountain", Finnish language, Finnish and Meänkieli dialects, Meänkieli: ''Malmivaara'') is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and mining town situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden. It had 5,590 inhabit ...
, where test mining began in
1735
Events
January–March
* January 2 – Alexander Pope's poem '' Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot'' is published in London.
* January 8 – George Frideric Handel's opera '' Ariodante'' is premièred at the Royal Opera House in Covent ...
.
At that time, the population in the area was largely composed of
Sámi
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
belonging to the ''Kaitum'' Sámi community. Since
1605
Events
January–March
* January 1 – William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', copyrighted 1600, is given its earliest recorded performance, and witnessed by the Viscount Dorchester.
* January 7 – Shakespeare's play ' ...
, they had had their church in
Jokkmokk
Jokkmokk () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Jokkmokk Municipality in Norrbotten County, provinces of Sweden, province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland, Sweden, with 2,786 inhabitants in 2010. The Lule Sámi name of the place (compos ...
, but in the early 18th century, the Swedish parliament received rumors that they had not yet been fully Christianized.
In
1738
Events
January–March
* January 1 – At least 664 African slaves drown when the Dutch West Indies Company slave ship ''Leusden'' capsizes and sinks in the Maroni River during its arrival in Surinam. The Dutch crew escapes ...
, the parliament therefore decided that a new church should be established closer to the Kaitum Sámi, with each household in Sweden contributing one öre silver coin. In
1742
Events
January–March
* January 9 – Robert Walpole is made Earl of Orford, and resigns as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, effectively ending his period as Prime Minister of Great Britain. On his f ...
, missionaries Pehr Högström and Petrus Holmbom traveled around Kaitum and, together with the Sámi, decided that Easter should be celebrated near Gällivare malmberg. There, they also placed the church that was built two years later from the collected coins, ''Ettöreskyrkan'' (Gällivare Old Church).
In connection with the church, Gällivare developed as a settlement in tandem with the commercial extraction of ore in Malmberget, which began in the
1740s
File:1740s montage.jpg, 335x335px, From top left, clockwise: The War of Jenkins' Ear, a conflict between the British and Spanish Empires lasting from 1739 to 1748. The War of the Austrian Succession from 1740 to 1748, caused by the death of Empero ...
.
The major boost came with the construction of the
Malmbanan
The Iron Ore Line () is a long railway line between Riksgränsen and Boden in Norrbotten County, Sweden, owned by Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration). The line also contains two branches, from Kiruna to Svappavaara and from G� ...
railway in the late 19th century, which greatly facilitated ore transportation. In
1910
Events
January
* January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military.
* January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...
, a hospital was also established in Gällivare.
Climate
As expected given its high latitude, Gällivare has a rather cold climate. Under the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
it is a
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...
(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
The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...
such as
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
and
Grand Forks
Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the state, after Fargo and Bismarck. Grand For ...
, 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
Midnight sun, also known as polar day, 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 midnight sun is see ...
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
Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), also known as congenital analgesia, is an inability for a person to feel physical pain due to various rare genetic conditions. CIP is caused by genetic mutations that affect the development or function of no ...
, 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
Gällivare Malmbergets FF is a Swedish Association football, football club in Gällivare.
Background
Since its foundation in 2005, Gällivare Malmbergets FF has participated in the middle divisions of the Swedish football league system. The clu ...
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