Kiruna

Kiruna is the northernmost city in Sweden. The chief town of the same name located in the province of Norrbotten County and the historic province of Lapland. The name comes from the north Amish word giron - even the nordsamische name for the city - for grouse, which is also shown in the coat of arms.

Kiruna originated as a settlement for the same iron ore mine. Thus, the lying under the city can exploit, they will be moved in the coming years to five kilometers to the east.

The rocket launch site Esrange for the start of civil rockets located 45 kilometers east of the city.

Geography

Kiruna is located between the two Erzbergen Kiirunavaara ( 749 m above sea level. NN ) and Luossavaara ( 729 m), where high-grade magnetite was 60 to 70 percent iron content found. West of the town is the lake Luossajärvi.

The town lies north of the Arctic Circle. The midnight sun shines continuously 50 days from June to July. In winter there twenty days polar night: from 12 to 31 December, the sun never rises fully above the horizon.

In summer, temperatures in Kiruna between 8 and 16 degrees ( in July). Winters are cold, with temperatures from -9 to -15 degrees ( in January). Moreover, it can in clear, windless nights to go below -30 ° C.

History Kiruna

• Main article see history Kiruna

With the construction of the iron ore railway already known Erzfunde at Kiirunavaara and Luossavaara were reduced. Around the railway station Luossavaare was a settlement that was renamed in 1900 in Kiruna. Kiruna in 1908 raised to the market town. In 1948, the municipality Jukkasjärvi to which the place belonged Kiruna, Kiruna and renamed a town. Since 1993, here meets the samething, the parliamentary representation of the people of the seeds.

The former name Luossavaara is the first time in 1736 is as Luosawara and arose from the acquisition of the Sami word Luossavárri into Finnish, which is itself a composite of the word for ' salmon ' ( North Sami luossa ) and the word for ' mountain ' ( North Sami várri ). The name was originally from the nearby lake Loussajárvi ( Jarvi for lake ) on the one ore over and was until 1900 the name of the place. Today's Swedish name of the place is derived from the Finnish form Kiiruna, which in turn is a translation of the Sami word Giron ( grouse ). Originally this meant only the second Erzberg Kiirunavaara ( Berget Kieruna, 1736).

Ore mining and its consequences

• Main article see Kiruna iron ore mine

Ore mining takes place in a volcanic - exhalative deposit which runs obliquely beneath the city. At present (2008) about 24 million tons of crude ore are funded by the Swedish mining company LKAB.

With progress of degradation the neighborhoods about to be unsafe area, so it is necessary to relocate the population within the next few decades. The alternative to resettlement would be the cessation of mining and thus the economic base of the city.

In January 2007, the City Council of Kiruna took the decision that the city needs to be "shifted" accordingly. The center of Kiruna must be added within the next few decades to four kilometers, so it is not endangered by cave-ins. The plan was to relocate the railroad west of the mountain Kiirunavaara. The settlements would gradually to the northwest attached to the existing city, so that the maintenance of the infrastructure would be relatively easy. In this way, Kiruna would shift over the next 50-100 years to a few kilometers from its present position.

In June 2010, it was finally decided, a new city center, five kilometers east to build. The new building is scheduled to begin before 2012. The old wooden houses from the city center and larger buildings like the town hall should remain as in original condition. A green area as a buffer between the mine and town should ever grow as needed.

Traffic

The most important link is the 1903 completed, on July 14, 1903 officially inaugurated by King Oscar II and until 1915, fully electrified railway line from Lulea about Gällivare, Kiruna to Narvik. From there, the one with the so-called Malmbanan ( " Erzbahn " by Norwegians called " Ofotbanen " ) shipped from Kiruna antransportierte ore. The route Lulea - Narvik is 473 km. Luleå direction it travels five times a day and in the opposite direction four times per day. This route is the most important rail link for freight transport within Scandinavia. In addition to the Malmbanan there is a direct night train from Gothenburg Stockholm to Kiruna and back.

The city, located on the street 10 Kiruna also has an airport that is served several times daily from SAS and Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Tourism

Kiruna offers a variety of activity for vacationers. In summer you can go hiking, canoeing, hunting and fishing, skiing and dog sledding in the winter or take walks with snowshoes. The highest mountain in Sweden, Kebnekaise, is not far. It is known to the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, which is built from October each year and opened in December.

Also worth seeing is the whole built of wood Kiruna Church, which was built in 1912 by Gustaf Wickman based on the form of a cloth tent. Particularly impressive is the altarpiece, which was painted by Prince Eugene of Sweden and a sun- streamed landscape shows. The church was elected in 2001 as the most beautiful building in Sweden.

Also worth a visit is the Kåppashålagrotte, one of the longest cave systems in Sweden. It crawls through the tunnel and can admire underground waterfalls. In the mining museum you can learn about the 100 -year history and the development of the mine.

For some time the LKAB also offers guided tours through an exhibition mine. You drive by bus from Kiruna tourist office to the exhibition mines (not all are open to visitors ). There you can visit the 500 meters under the ground, how to win iron ore. A guide explains slideshows with the further processing of the ore. The museum is open from September to May. Children under six years old are not allowed for safety reasons, to enter the mine.

Another attraction are taking place at certain times of sightseeing tours of the rocket launch site Esrange.

In a few years to start from Kiruna commercial space flights. Originally it was planned in 2012 as the earliest date. Provider of flights to be in collaboration with the company Virgin Galactic Spaceport Sweden.

Sports

The local football club Kiruna FF stood in 1991 on the go in the first Swedish league (Allsvenskan) and currently playing in the Div. Norrland II (4th league).

The ice hockey team of the city, Kiruna IF plays in the Div. I Norra, the third-highest ice hockey class in Sweden.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the town

• Börje Salming ( born 1951 ), former ice hockey player
• Mathias Eden Born ( b. 1975 ), a musical actor
• Sigvard Eklund (1911-2000), scientist, second general of the International Atomic Energy Agency
• Åsa Larsson (born 1966 ), mystery author, some of her thrillers act in and around Kiruna

Those who worked in Kiruna

• Hans Holmér (1930-2002), Commissioner and lawyer
• Karl Holmström (1925-1974), former ski jumper
• Gustaf Wickman (1858-1916), architect