Luleå


Luleå is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, 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 80,000 as of 2025. Luleå is Sweden's 25th largest city and Norrbotten County's largest city. Luleå is considered as the world's largest brackish water archipelago with 1,312 islands, 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.
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History

The town's Royal charter was granted in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The original town was situated where Gammelstad is situated today. The town had to be moved in 1649 to the current site, due to the post-glacial rebound 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, dedicated in 1893, standing at 67 meters, is the tallest building in town.

Geography

Residential areas

Localities">Urban areas in Sweden">Localities

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, is stationed near Luleå at the neighbouring Luleå Airport. Other major employers include Ferruform and Gestamp HardTech.

IT industry

The information technology industry in Luleå has about 2000 employees.
Luleå is the home of several major innovations and technological milestones.
  • Broadcast radio: RDS, DAB, DARC
  • The Luleå algorithm for routing
  • Living Labs: leading European service testbed with 6000 users
  • Marratech: pioneers in Internet-based E-meetings – acquired by Google, releasing in November 2008 video-chat support in Gmail
  • Arena project, IT in Sports: sensors, handheld wireless video
  • Estreet project: First large-scale mobile marketing experiment
  • On 27 October 2011, Facebook 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 with short, mild to warm summers and long, cold, snowy winters.
Luleå's climate is influenced both by the North Atlantic and the proximity to the Gulf of Bothnia and it has a milder climate than most cities on the same latitude and even some that are further south in Canada, Alaska, Northeast China and Siberia. 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.
From September to March, northern lights can be seen if the sky is clear.
Average sea temperatures and daily daylight hours in Luleå-------------
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Average sea temperature °C -0.3
-0.7
-0.2
0.4
3.1
10.8
16.3
15.7
11.8
7.6
5.0
2.8
5.9
Source: Weather Atlas-------------

Media

Newspapers include:Norrbottens-Kuriren

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.

Air

Luleå/Kallax Airport, located 7 km 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 and was named Shopping. 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 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 annually on a Saturday in mid-March.
Luleå Hamnfestival 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 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 ; BC Luleå ; and Luleå Hockey/MSSK and Luleå Hockey.
Luleå Basket has won two Swedish championships, while BC Luleå has won eight Swedish championships. Luleå Hockey/MSSK female team won their first Swedish Championship in 2016 while the male Luleå Hockey team has won two Swedish Championships, the European Trophy in 2012 and the Champions Hockey League in 2015.

Football

Ice hockey

Basketball

Yukigassen

The Swedish Championship in Yukigassen is held in Luleå annually.

Notable people

; Acting & Art
; Writing
; Classical Music
; Modern Music
; Public Service
; Business
; Sport
;Other