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| Missing image Skellefteå_Municipality.png See also:Municipalities of Sweden | Coat of arms Missing image Skellefteå_City_Arms.png | |
| Seat | Skellefteå | |
| County | Västerbotten County | |
| Province | Westrobothnia | |
| Area Rank | 6,838.4 km² 13th of 290 | |
| Population Rank | 71,786 (2005) 26th of 290 | |
| Density | 11/km² | |
Skellefteå Municipality is a Municipality in northern Sweden where the City Skellefteå is the seat of government with 35,000 inhabitants.
The municipality borders in the south to Robertsfors, and clockwise to Umeå, Vindeln, Norsjö, Arvidsjaur and Piteå. Norra Västerbotten is the local newspaper of Skellefteå.
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History
Skellefteå is believed to have been inhabited from around 1000 AD by the Sami people and possibly partly Finnish people.
In the 14th century attempts were made to Christianize Skelleftå. Norrland was not Christianized until several hundred years after the rest of Sweden, and northern cities such as Skellefteå were largely unexplored. The reason for the sudden awakened interest was the fishing of salmon in the areas around Skelleftå, which was sparked by an increased demand of fish, due to stricter enforcement of the annual month long fasting by the Catholic Church whereby meat was substituted by fish.
The city itself is much younger, and infact one of the youngest cities of Norrland. It was founded in 1845 by vicar Nils Nordlander.
Today
In the 20th century Skellefteå evolved to an industrial and mining city and many wooden houses were demolished to give room for brick buildings. The largest employer in Skellefteå is the mining company Boliden, with about 1,200 employers. Mining is done for gold, and Skellefteå is sometimes refered to as the Gold City.
Reference
- http://lokalhistoria.skelleftea.org
- Some material has been translated and incorporated from sv:Skellefteå
See also
External links
- Skellefteå (http://www.skelleftea.se) - Official site
- Tourist in Skellefteå (http://turistinfo.skelleftea.se/) - Tourist information in Swedish, English and German languages