Luleå ( , ,
locally ; ; ) 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 ...
on the coast of northern
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 ...
, and the
capital of
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 ...
, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core as of 2018 and is the seat of
Luleå Municipality with a total population of about 79,000 as of 2023. Luleå is Sweden's 25th largest city and Norrbotten County's largest city. Luleå is considered as the world's largest brackish water
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
with 1,312
islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below.
Lists of islands by count ...
, several rivers and vast forestland.
Luleå has the seventh biggest harbour in Sweden for shipping goods. It has a large steel industry and is a centre for extensive research. It is also home to the
Swedish Air Force Wing
Norrbotten Wing (F 21) based in
Luleå Airport.
Luleå University of Technology is one of Sweden's three technology universities with around 15,000 students and is the northernmost university in Sweden.
History
The town's Royal
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 ...
was granted in 1621 by King
. The original town was situated where
Gammelstad (Old Town) is situated today. The town had to be moved in 1649 to the current site, due to the
post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound an ...
that had made the bay too shallow for ships to enter.
In 1805, Luleå only had 947 inhabitants, but in 1865 Luleå succeeded Piteå as the county town in Norrbotten county and now had around 1400 residents. In the 1860s the industries also started taking root in the city.
The town was plagued by fires in 1653, 1657 and 1887, and the fire in 1887 was a devastating fire that destroyed most of the town, sparing only a few buildings. The
Neo-Gothic Cathedral (originally the Oscar Fredrik church), dedicated in 1893, standing at 67 meters (220 ft), is the tallest building in town.
Geography
Residential areas
*
Bergviken
*
Björkskatan
*
Centrum
*
Hertsön
*
Kronan
*
Lerbäcken
*
Lulsundet
*
Lövskatan
*
Malmudden
*
Mjölkudden
*
Notviken
*
Porsön
*
Skurholmen
*
Svartöstaden
*
Örnäset
*
Östermalm
Localities
*
Bergnäset
*
Gammelstaden
*
Karlsvik
Economy
Luleå's commerce and industry are a mix of industry, research, education, trade, and services.
Major employers in the city are the
SSAB steelworks and
Luleå University of Technology. A
Swedish Air Force wing, ''F 21'' (or ''Norrbotten Air Force Wing''), is stationed near Luleå at the neighbouring
Luleå Airport. Other major employers include Ferruform (a subsidiary of
Scania AB) and
Gestamp HardTech (acquired from
SSAB 2005-01-01).
IT industry

The
information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
industry in Luleå has about 2000 employees (2008).
Luleå is the home of several major innovations and technological milestones.
* Broadcast radio:
RDS,
DAB, DARC (1992–1997)
* The
Luleå algorithm for routing (1997)
*
Living Labs: leading European service testbed with 6000 users (2001–)
*
Marratech: pioneers in Internet-based E-meetings (1998–) – acquired by
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
, releasing in November 2008 video-chat support in
Gmail
Gmail is the email service provided by Google. it had 1.5 billion active user (computing), users worldwide, making it the largest email service in the world. It also provides a webmail interface, accessible through a web browser, and is also ...
* Arena project, IT in Sports: sensors, handheld wireless video (1999–2002)
* Estreet project: First large-scale mobile marketing experiment (2000)
* On 27 October 2011,
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
announced it would locate its first data center outside of the United States in Luleå. The whole facility is made up by a set of three buildings. The first building was to be operational in 2012. The establishment will help turn the Luleå region into a major node for European data traffic. The town's northern location and that it will become a hub for data traffic in Europe has generated a new epithet for the Luleå region –
The Node Pole. The Node Pole region provides stable, low-cost electricity that is 100-percent derived from renewable sources. In addition, they cite the benefits of low cooling expenses, given that the region is one of the coolest in Sweden. Sweden's long political stability is cited as another long-term benefit of the Node Pole's location.
Climate
Luleå has 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) with short, mild to warm summers and long, cold, snowy winters.
Luleå's climate is influenced both by the
North Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
and the proximity to the
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia (; ; ) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast ( West Bothnia an ...
and it has milder climate than most of cities on the same latitude and even some that are further south in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
,
Northeast China
Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...
and
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
. During the summer in June and July the temperature in Luleå can some days rise to around . Summers are very bright, with marginal twilight being the only exception during the
summer solstice
The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...
.
From September to March,
northern lights can be seen if the sky is clear.
Media
Newspapers include:
* ''
Norrbottens-Kuriren''
* ''
Norrländska Socialdemokraten''
Transportation
Luleå became a transport hub in the region for ore, steel and freight, with trans-shipping between road, ship and rail.
Public transport
Public transport in Luleå is operated by
Luleå Lokaltrafik and consists of five main bus lines, an additional five bus lines, and direct connection bus traffic and night bus service. From Luleå Bus station,
Länstrafiken i Norrbotten operates several regional bus lines within
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 ...
.
Air
Luleå/Kallax Airport (
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...
: LLA,
ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...
: ESPA), located 7 km (5 mi) south of the city centre, is the fifth largest airport in Sweden, with about 1.2 million yearly passengers. It is the largest airport in
Norrland. The domestic route to
Stockholm Arlanda Airport is the third busiest domestic route in Sweden with over 1 million passengers per year. There are about 15 daily flights to and from Stockholm.
Luleå Lokaltrafik operates connections to and from Luleå/Kallax Airport via lines 4 and 104.
In total, there are seven scheduled destinations and about 15 additional charter destinations. The
Stockholm Arlanda Airport route is operated by
Scandinavian Airlines and
Norwegian Air Shuttle and serves the vast majority of passengers at the airport with about 16 daily connections each way. Scandinavian Airlines also operates a direct connection to
Göteborg Landvetter Airport.
Nextjet operates connections to and from
Göteborg Landvetter Airport via
Höga Kusten Airport, and their
Tromsø Airport –
Oulu Airport route lands at Luleå/Kallax Airport on some departures.
Jonair offers connections to
Pajala Airport.
Rail
Luleå has rail lines coming from both north and south.
SJ operates night train services northbound for Kiruna and Narvik, and southbound for Stockholm.
Norrtåg operates train services from Luleå to Umeå, Kiruna and Haparanda.
Sea
In terms of bulk shipments, the Port of Luleå is one of the country's biggest ports.
Shopping
The world's first indoor mall was opened in Luleå in 1955 (architect:
Ralph Erskine) and was named ''
Shopping
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...
''. There are two other malls in Luleå: Strand and Smedjan. The main shopping streets in Luleå are Storgatan and Kungsgatan. A few kilometres outside Luleå there is a shopping centre called Storheden.
Culture
Luleå has a variety of cultural institutions, among them
Norrbottensteatern;
Norrbottens Museum; and , led by
Tim Hagans. In January 2007 the Cultural House (Kulturens Hus) was opened. A library, concerts, and art exhibitions are all hosted here.
Luleå is also home to hardcore punk band
Raised Fist, melodic death metal band
The Duskfall, power metal band
Machinae Supremacy and death 'n' roll band
Helltrain.

One of the largest winter festivals in Luleå is the indoor Minus 30-festivalen, held at Kulturens hus (the House of Culture) annually on a Saturday in mid-March.
Luleå Hamnfestival (Luleå harbor festival) is a big summer event in the center of Luleå, mostly centered around the north harbor. The festival has been a recurring event each summer since 2013. Held in July, it is a free event not targeting a specific group. The festival is the new version of Luleåkalaset which was held each summer from 2002 to 2012, which itself replaced sjöslaget, the summer festival from 1988 to 2002.
Musikens makt (The power of music) is a smaller, free music festival that is held each summer in August at Gültzauudden since 2010.
Ice music is a new art form where professional musicians play on instruments made out of ice. The concerts are performed in a huge igloo and the instruments pulsate in all the colors of the rainbow.
Luleå is the base for the Norrbotten Band of the
Home Guard Music which consists of voluntary musicians from Norrbotten County's
Home Guard.
Sports
Luleå has many teams competing in a variety of sports.
Four teams in Luleå compete in the highest Swedish leagues:
Luleå Basket (female basketball team, previously called Northland Basket);
BC Luleå (male basketball team, previously named Plannja Basket and LF Basket Norrland); and
Luleå Hockey/MSSK (Munksund-Skuthamns Sportklubb) (female ice hockey team) and
Luleå Hockey (male ice hockey team).
Luleå Basket has won two Swedish championships (2014 and 2015), while BC Luleå has won eight Swedish championships (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2017). Luleå Hockey/MSSK female team won their first Swedish Championship in 2016 while the male Luleå Hockey team has won one Swedish Championship in 1996, the European Trophy in 2012 and the Champions Hockey League in 2015.
Football
*
Bergnäsets AIK
*
Ersnäs IF
*
IFK Luleå
*
Lira BK
*
Luleå SK
*
Notvikens IK
Ice hockey
*
Luleå HF play in the
Swedish Hockey League
The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...
*
Luleå HF/MSSK play in the
SDHL
Basketball
*
BC Luleå, formerly LF Basket Norrbotten and Plannja, for men and
Luleå Basket for women; Plannja has won
Basketligan seven times, which is a record
Yukigassen
The Swedish Championship in
Yukigassen is held in Luleå annually.
Notable people
; Acting & Art
*
Martin Ljung (1917–2010) a Swedish comedian, actor and singer
*
Gösta Wallmark (1928–2017) a Swedish artist
*
Lena Granhagen (born 1938) a Swedish actress and singer
*
Bernt Ström (1940–2009) a Swedish actor
*
Hans Ernback (1942–2013) a Swedish actor between 1966 and 1984
*
Maud Adams (born 1945) Swedish actress, appeared in two
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
films
*
Fanny Gjörup (1961–2001) a Swedish child actress
*
Mamma Andersson (born 1962) aka ''Karin Andersson'', a Swedish artist of domestic interiors, lush landscapes and
genre scenes
*
Gry Forssell (born 1973) a Swedish TV host and radio talk-show host; brought up in Luleå
; Writing
*
Nels F. S. Ferré (1908–1971) a theologian and writer on Christian theology
*
Erik Lindegren (1910–1968) a Swedish author, poet, critical writer and member of the
Swedish Academy
*
Staffan Göthe (born 1944) a Swedish playwright, actor and director
*
Katarina Kieri (born 1965) a Swedish writer
; Classical Music
*
Ingvar Wixell (1931–2011) a Swedish baritone, active from 1955 to 2003
*
Gunnar Wiklund (1935–1989) a Swedish singer
*
Malin Gjörup (1964–2020) a Swedish actress, mezzo-soprano and producer at
Gävle Symphony Orchestra
*
Peter Mattei (born 1965) a Swedish operatic baritone
Sweden.se
Peter Mattei puts Luleå on the musical map
; Modern Music
* Gunnar Wiklund (1935–1989) a Swedish singer of Schlager music
* Emilia de Poret (born 1976) a Swedish singer, fashion designer and editor
* Zacke (born 1983) aka ''Zakarias Lekberg'', rapper
* The Bear Quartet (formed 1989) a Swedish indie rock band
* Elizabeth and Victoria Lejonhjärta (born 1990) raised in Luleå, Swedish twin models, and writers; work with rapper Drake
* Him Kerosene (formed 1991) a Swedish alternative rock band
* Breach (active 1993–2002) a defunct Swedish post-hardcore band
* Raised Fist (formed in 1993) a Swedish hardcore punk band
* The Duskfall (formed in 1999) a Swedish melodic death metal band
* Machinae Supremacy (formed 2000) a Swedish modern heavy metal, power metal and alternative rock band
* Movits! (formed 2007) a Swedish swing and hip hop band
; Public Service
* Erik Benzelius the Elder (1632–1709) a Swedish theologian and Archbishop of Uppsala
* Anders Hackzell (1705–1757) the chief enforcement officer and cartographer for the Swedish crown.
* Paul Petter Waldenström (1838–1917) a Swedish theologian, leader of the free church
* Fritiof Enbom (1918–1974) a Swedish railway worker and convicted spy for the Soviet Union
* Marita Ulvskog (born 1951) a Swedish politician and Member of the European Parliament
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
* Jan Lexell (born 1958) a Swedish physician and academic, specialises in rehabilitation medicine and neurology
* Åsa Nyström (born 1960) a Swedish prelate and current bishop of the Diocese of Luleå
* Amanda Lind (born 1980) a Swedish politician, since 2019 the Culture minister and Democracy minister
; Business
* John W. Nordstrom (1871–1963) a Swedish American businessman, co-founded the chain store Nordstrom
* Stephan Gip (born 1936) a Swedish designer and interior designer
* Leif Östling (born 1945) CEO of Scania AB
* Adam Dunkels
Adam Dunkels (born 28 May 1978) is a Swedish computer scientist, software engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of Thingsquare, an Internet of things (IoT) product development business.
His father was professor of mathematics Andrejs Dunkels. His ...
(born 1978) a Swedish computer scientist, programmer and entrepreneur
; Sport
* August Wikström (1874–1954) a Swedish sports shooter, competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...
* Robert Zander (1895–1966) a Swedish footballer, competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...
* Sigge Bergman (1905–2001) a Swedish sports executive, secretary general of the International Ski Federation
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation, also known as FIS (), is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. It was previously known as the International Ski Federation () until 26 May 2022 when the name was cha ...
1961–1979
* Stig Lundholm (1917–2009) a Swedish chess master, won 1944 Swedish Chess Championship
* Sonja Edström (born 1930) a retired Swedish cross-country skier, competed at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics
* Runald Beckman (born 1951) a Swedish athlete, competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...
and the 1980 Winter Olympics
* Lars Petrus (born 1960) an accomplished speedcuber
* Göran Titus (born 1967) a former Swedish freestyle swimmer, competed in the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
* Magnus Ingesson (born 1971) a Swedish cross country skier, competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...
* Jonas Eriksson (born 1974) a former Swedish football referee, a full FIFA referee 2002–2018
* Sara Eriksson (born 1974) a retired amateur Swedish freestyle wrestler
* Peter Larsson (born 1978) a Swedish cross-country skier, competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...
* Per Ledin (born 1978) a Swedish professional ice hockey forward
* Niklas Bäckström (born 1989) semi-retired Swedish mixed martial arts fighter, competed in the UFC
* Anders Nilsson (born 1990) a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender
* Alexander Majorov (born 1991) a Swedish figure skater, lives in Luleå
* Linus Werneman (born 1992), Swedish professional ice hockey player
;Other
* Märta Bucht (1882–1962), suffragist and peace activist
* Inga Hedberg (1927–2024), botanist and academic
Panorama
See also
* Diocese of Luleå
* Luleå Cathedral
* North Sweden European Office
References
External links
The official guide for the location Luleå
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lulea
County seats in Sweden
Populated places in Luleå Municipality
Norrbotten
Coastal cities and towns in Sweden
Municipal seats of Norrbotten County
Swedish municipal seats
Cities in Sweden