Gävle ( ; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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 ...

, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of

Gävleborg County Gävleborg County () is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders the counties of Uppsala County, Uppsala, Västmanland County, Västmanland, Dalarna County, Dalarna, Jämtland County, Jämtland and V� ...

. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical

Norrland Norrland (, , originally ''Norrlanden'', meaning '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 administrative p ...

(Sweden's northern lands), having received its

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria. However, Gävle is far nearer to the greater

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

region than it is to most other major settlements in Norrland and has a much milder climate than associated with said region. In recent years, the city has received much international attention due to its large

Yule Goat The Yule goat is a Scandinavian and Northern European Yule and Christmas symbol and tradition. Its origin is from Germanic paganism and has existed in many variants during Scandinavian history. Modern representations of the Yule goat are typica ...

figure made of straw – the

Gävle Goat Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

. The goat is erected in December each year and is often subsequently vandalized, usually by being set on fire. The goat has now become a symbol for the city and is being used for various marketing purposes.

History

It is believed that the name ''Gävle'' derives from the word , meaning river banks in

Old Swedish Old Swedish ( Modern Swedish: ) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1225 until about 1375, and Late Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1375 unti ...

and referring to the Gavleån (Gävle River). The oldest settlement was called ''Gävle-ägarna'', which means "Gavel-owners". This name was shortened to ''Gävle'', then ''Gefle'', and finally ''Gävle''. Gävle is first mentioned as a town in official history books in 1413 but only received its official town charters in 1446. For a long time, Gävle consisted solely of small, low,

turf Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses. In British and Australian English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', ...

or shingle roofed wooden buildings. Boat-houses lined the banks of Gavleån, Lillån, and Islandsån. Until the 18th century the town was built, as was the practice then, around the three most important buildings: the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

, the regional

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

, and the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. In the 1400s Gävle grew as a city and flourished due to trade allowed by its harbor and river. However, in the 1500s Sten Sture forbade Gävle from pursuing international trade. The city at this time was only allowed to trade with Stockholm and Åbo, which at the time was a part of Sweden. The restrictions were lifted in 1531 when 6 ships were allowed to trade iron, copper and pelts and in 1546 Gustaf Vasa allowed unlimited trade to and from Gävle with the exception of copper. In 1569 a fire destroyed many of the archaeological records of Gävle from the Middle Ages. Over the last 300 years, Gävle has been ablaze on three occasions. After the fire of 1776, the town was rebuilt with straight streets and rectangular city blocks. The number of stone and brick houses also started to increase. The biggest town fire occurred 1869, when out of a population of around 10,000 approximately 8,000 inhabitants lost their homes, and about 350

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

s were destroyed. Almost the whole town north of Gavleån was burnt down. All the buildings south of Gavleån were saved. An area of the old town between the museum and the library has been preserved to this day as a historic reserve, '' Gamla Gefle''. After the catastrophe of the fire Gävle developed its characteristic

grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...

with large

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

s and green areas. It is now a green town with wide avenues. Stopping the spread of future town fires was the main idea behind this development. In July 1719 Hugo Hamilton, who built Fredriksskans fort, defended Gävle against Russian attacks. After attacking along the coast, the Russian forces, numbering 5000 and under the command of Peter von Lacy, attacked Gävle from the south along the road from Harnäs which they had recently occupied. Hamilton stopped them outside of the city near Järvsta. The Russians instead tried to attack the city from the sea but the 10 cannon battery at Fredriksskans were sufficient to turn away their forces 3 times. A final attempt was made to take the city by landing forces to the north at Engesberg. Hamilton quickly moved the defending forces northward to stop the attack. On 2 August von Lacy gave up and sailed homewards with his forces. An extensive redevelopment of the central town area was started during the 1950s. Around 1970 Gävle became a large urban district when it was united with the nearby municipalities of Valbo, Hamrånge,

Hedesunda Hedesunda is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and a parish situated in Gävle Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 1,028 inhabitants as of 2010. The area used to be a municipality in its own right before being incorporated into Gävle. Th ...

, and Hille. New

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s like Stigslund,

Sätra Sätra is a suburb in the district in Söderort in Stockholm, Sweden. Location The district is bounded on the north by Lake Mälaren and on the south by Södertalje Road, a section of European route E4 and European route E20. Sätra borders ...

, Andersberg, and Bomhus have grown up around the central city. In the middle of the 1800s to the beginning of the 1900s, there was a bad harvest and a high unemployment rate in Sweden. At the same time, political and religious oppression occurred, and religious encounters outside the State Church were not allowed. This led many Swedes to emigrate to other countries such as the United States. During the early emigration era, Gävle was one of the cities from which people left on their journey to the US. People from parts of Gästrikland and other neighboring counties made their way to the harbor town of Gävle and then commenced their departure to America. Soviet POWs at Fredriksskans

50,000 Russians who were in Germany at the outbreak of the First World War traveled up through Sweden to Gävle where they gathered at the harbor before setting off via steamboat back to Russia. The Harbor in Gävle was used for trade during the First World War and as a result some ships from Gävle were sunk during the German unrestricted submarine warfare campaign. One such example was the sailing vessel ''Jönköping'', which was sunk on its way to Raumo from Gävle with a cargo of cognac and champagne for the Tsar. A Finnish cargo vessel was sunk off the coast in Gävle. In June 1945, 800 Soviet prisoners of war transited from Oslo to Gävle, whence they were transported aboard the boat ''Aldebaran'' across the Baltic Sea to the Soviet Union. In 1986 as a result of the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

, Gävle was subjected to a severe deposition of

radionuclides A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...

, exceeding 185 kBq per

square meter The square metre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square meter (American spelling) is the unit of area in the International System of Units (SI) with symbol m2. It is the area of a square w ...

. The impact was much greater than experienced by other regions of western Europe and as such, Gävle became one of the most affected areas outside of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Between 1905 and 1997, the I14 Regiment was located in Gävle. In 2022 the City Library Building, constructed in 1962, was demolished to make room for a modern cultural center known as Agnes Kulturhus. During his jubilee visit to the city in 2023, King

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

toured the construction site of the cultural center and gifted it a plaque commemorating the visit and Time Capsule. As of October 2023 the Cultural Center is still under construction.

Geography

Gävle is situated by the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

near the mouth of the river Dalälven. At 60 degrees north and 17 degrees east, Gävle has the same

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

and the same

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Bordering municipalities are

Söderhamn Söderhamn is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Söderhamn Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 11,761 inhabitants in 2010. Sports The biggest local sport is bandy. Broberg/Söderhamn Bandy play in the highest division E ...

, Ockelbo, Sandviken, Heby, Tierp and Älvkarleby. Twenty kilometers west of Gävle lies Sandviken.

Climate

Gävle has a similar

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

to the rest of central

with winter highs just below freezing and summer highs a bit above . The average yearly precipitation is around . 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 ...

Gävle is classified as humid continental (Dfb), in spite of the significant maritime influence. It is also one of the northernmost cities of significant size in the world with this climate type, since areas north of the 60th latitude for the most part are dominated by various subarctic climate types. Under the 1961-1990 normals, Gävle's fourth warmest month was just around the isotherm of to not be classified as subarctic, but temperatures did go up sufficiently to be clear humid continental since. While precipitation usually is moderate, in August 2021, Gävle was hit by a

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...

after recording of rainfall in one day. Considerable flooding occurred in multiple regions with entire

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

s flooded. Vehicles were submerged and landslides occurred as well. At least 10 heavy rain reports were reported.

Economy

Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

from the port of Gävle increased markedly during the 15th century when

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

began to be exported from the port. In order to ensure that all trade was via

, sailing to foreign ports from Gävle and a few other ports was forbidden. During the 16th century, Gävle was one of the most important port and merchant towns with many shipping companies and

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

s. In 1787 Gävle was awarded "free and unrestricted sailing rights" to and from foreign ports. This led to an increase in

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

, which in turn led to an increase in buildings, industrial developments, trade and shipping. From 1910-1979 Gefle Porslinfabrik produced porslin products. The factory, locally named 'Pottan' struggled during the First World War to get clay that would allow them to continue producing high quality products. Due to high transport and coal costs the factory had to raise the prices of their products by 40%. Today there are few shipping companies or

s left, but an important

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

remains. It has over 1000 ships calling per year and is among the top ten common ports in Sweden.

Major companies

* BillerudKorsnäs (pulp and paper industry) * Jacobs Douwe Egberts S.E. AB ( Gevalia coffee) * Cale Industri (parking meters) * Cibes Lifts (lifts for buildings)

Demography

• Population: Approximately 102,000 residents. • Age Distribution: The population has a balanced age distribution, with a significant proportion of young adults, working-age residents, and an older population. The city has a sizable student presence due to its proximity to the University of Gävle. • Ethnic Composition: Gävle has a diverse population, with Swedish-born citizens being the majority of the population. • Gender Ratio: The gender distribution is quite balanced, with slightly more women than men. • Economy: Gävle has a mixed economy with strong sectors in services, logistics, manufacturing, and education. The Port of Gävle is one of Sweden’s largest export harbors.

Culture

Gävle has, considering its size, a large and well nourished cultural life, being a cradle for many musicians such as The Deer Tracks and The Sound of Arrows. The city applied to become the

European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...

in 2014.

Arts and museums

The prison museum of Sweden, the county museum of Gävleborg, and the national railway museum are the three largest museums in the city. The prison museum is located near Gävle Castle and depicts the history of crime and punishment in Sweden. The county museum (located downtown) hosts an art collection spanning from the 1600s to present time and well as a section dedicated to cultural history. Finally, the Swedish Railway Museum (Rälsgatan 1), hosts a collection that began to accumulate in 1906 in

and which was moved to Gävle in 1970. Gävle has a theater dating back to the 1800s. It is still used for performances today, including classic theater, opera, variety and stand-up. There is also a concert hall in Gävle which was inaugurated in 1998. It is home to the 1912 Gävle Symphony Orchestra, whose principal conductor is Jaime Martín. Gavlerinken Arena 02

Media

''Gefle Dagblad'' founded in 1895 and ''Arbetarbladet'' are the two leading media outlets covering Gävle in the papers. Both have a long history dating back to the early 1900s and the late 1800s, respectively. Aside from this, the Swedish national public TV broadcaster, SVT, has an editorial office in the city and the national public radio

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

broadcasts from the city.

Sports

Gävle's most well-known sports club is

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

club Brynäs IF, competing in the highest national league. Other successful clubs are Gefle IF (

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and athletics) and Gävle GIK (

floorball Floorball (also known by other names) is a sport played with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. It is played indoors with sticks and a hollow plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three periods. The sport of bandy also playe ...

Å-Draget

Each September Gävle Kommun organises a weekend where outdoor candles are lit along the banks of the Gavle River in an attempt to highlight its beauty and its importance to the city. The kommun organises different performances and activities for residents and visitors to enjoy as the walk along the river.

Education

The University College of Gävle currently enrolls 16,000 students. It offers over 800 courses and around 50 degree programs in technology, social and natural sciences, and the humanities. Its research profiles are "Built Environment" ("Byggd miljö") and "Health in working life" ("Hälsofrämjande arbetsliv"). Some courses are offered in English and are taken by both international and Swedish students.

Miscellanea

Gävle is known for being the birthplace of the Gevalia

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

brand, which is produced by Kraft General Foods Scandinavia and exported around the globe. Gevalia is particularly popular in the Americas and produces dozens of unique flavored coffees for the United States that are not available to its customers in Europe. However, visitors who come to the factory in Gävle can sample many of the premium blends. ( Gevalia is the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name for Gävle). Other brands from Gävle include the throat lozenges Läkerol and the car-shaped sweets Ahlgrens Bilar. Gävle preserves the memory of the Swedish-American labor activist and martyr Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, better known as Joe Hill, who was born there in 1879. The Hägglund family home still stands in Gävle at the address Nedre Bergsgatan 28, in ''Gamla Stan'', the Old Town. it houses a museum and the ''Joe Hill-gården'', which hosts cultural events.

Gävle goat

The history of the

Gävle goat Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

began in 1966. Stig Gavlén came up with the idea of placing a giant version of the traditional Swedish Christmas goat of

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry wikt:stalk, stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the crop yield, yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, ry ...

in Slottstorget (Castle Square) in central Gävle. On 1 December the 13-metre tall, 7-metre long, 3 tonne goat was erected on the square. At midnight on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

, the goat went up in flames. The goat has since had a history of being burnt almost every year, 2005 being the 22nd time it was burnt. Burning the goat is an illegal act and not welcomed by most citizens of Gävle, but undoubtedly this is what has made the goat famous. In 2006 the goat was covered in a flame-resistant coating to prevent

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

, enabling the goat to remain standing throughout that winter. On December 27, 2015, the goat was burnt for the 28th time. In its 59-year history, the goat has been burnt down 39 times.

Notable people

* Linn Ahlborg (born 1999) Swedish blogger and influencer * Siri Andersson-Palmestav (1903–2002) writer and missionary. * Anna Bartels (1869–1950), opera singer * Alexandra Dahlström (born 1984) actress and film director. * Thomas Di Leva (born 1963) singer and songwriter. * John E. Forsgren (1816–1890) the first

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

to preach in Sweden * Hans Forssell (1843–1901) historian and political writer. * Åke Fridell (1919–1985) a film actor. *

Erik Acharius Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish botanist who pioneered the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of lichens and is known as the "father of lichenology". Acharius was famously the last pupil of Carl Linnaeus. Life Ac ...

(born 1757) botanist. * Valborg Elisabeth Groning (1890-1970) circus princess * Joe Hill (1879–1915) labour activist and songwriter *

Rolf Lassgård Rolf Holger Lassgård (born 29 March 1955) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his many roles in crime dramas. Life and career Lassgård was born in Östersund, Jämtland. A keen amateur ice hockey player in his youth, he also joined theatre tea ...

(born 1955) an actor in crime dramas. * Regina Lund (born 1967) actress and singer. * Åke Lundqvist (1936–2021) actor at Stockholm City Theatre * Yat Malmgren (1916–2002) dancer and acting teacher at the

Drama Centre London Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in Kings Cross, London, King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. It was part of Central Saint ...

* Andreas Rudman (1668–1708), pioneer

Swedish American Swedish Americans () are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arrivi ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister. * Rikard Sjöblom (born 1982), musician with Gungfly, Beardfish &

Big Big Train Big Big Train are an English progressive rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. The current line-up includes band founder Gregory Spawton (bass, guitars and keyboards), along with Nick D'Virgilio (drums, vocals, guitars and keyboards), Rikar ...

. *

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...

(born 1948) musician; his mother Ingrid Wickman was from Gävle, where he lived during his childhood * Joakim Sundström (born 1965) sound editor, sound designer and musician * Daniel Waluszewski (born 1982) novelist and children's author * Lars-Åke Wilhelmsson (born 1958) fashion designer and drag artist.

Sports professionals

* Nicklas Bäckström (born 1987) ice hockey player for the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

* Christian Edstrom (born 1976) rally co-driver * Anders Eklund (1957–2010) Olympic heavyweight boxer * Peppe Femling (born 1992) biathlete and Olympic gold medallist * Andreas Johnsson (born 1994) ice hockey player for the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

* Calle Järnkrok (born 1991) ice hockey player for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

* Ewa Laurance (born 1964) pool player * Oskar Lindblom (born 1996) ice hockey player for Brynas IF Gavle * Anders Lindbäck (born 1988) ice hockey goaltender who has played for several NHL teams * Elias Lindholm (born 1994) ice hockey player for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

* Jacob Markström (born 1990) ice hockey player for the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

* Christian Djoos (born 1994) ice hockey player for Brynas IF Gavle,

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

winner in 2018 with the

. * Felix Sandström (born 1997) ice hockey goaltender for the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

* Jakob Silfverberg (born 1990) ice hockey player for Brynas IF Gavle.

European cooperation

Gävle is a member city of Eurotowns network.

Hospital

Gävle Hospital has approximately 300 physicians, and serves an area of approximately 150.000 people. It has a centre for clinical research in cooperation with

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

.Centre for Clinical Research – Gävleborg (CFUG)
from

homepage > Medicine and Pharmacy > Centres. Updated: 11/29/2011.

Twin towns – sister cities

Gävle is twinned with five cities: *

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and is sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach and is the ...

, Latvia * Galva, Illinois, United States *

Næstved Næstved () is a town in Næstved Municipality, the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five Primary education, elemen ...

, Denmark * Rauma, Finland *

Gjøvik Gjøvik () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Gjøvik (town), town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Norway, Biri, Bybrua, ...

, Norway

References

;Notes

External links

*
Gävle
- official site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gavle County seats in Sweden Populated places in Gävle Municipality Municipal seats of Gävleborg County Gästrikland Swedish municipal seats Coastal cities and towns in Sweden Cities in Sweden