Facts About Norrbotten Contents Norrbotten in Brief
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Facts about Norrbotten Contents Norrbotten in brief .................................................................................... 2 Did you know? .............................................................................................3 Geography .................................................................................................4-9 Provincial symbols ................................................................................................5 Distance chart ...................................................................................................... 7 Midnight sun ..............................................................................................10 Climate ........................................................................................................ 11 Visitors destinations ...........................................................................12-13 Protected species ......................................................................................14 Protected countryside .......................................................................15-17 Cultural heritage and culture ...........................................................18-21 Hunting and fi shing ...................................................................................22 Predators .................................................................................................... 23 Services ................................................................................................. 24-25 Infrastructure and commuting .........................................................26-31 Dwellings ..................................................................................................... 32 Education .............................................................................................. 33-35 Population ............................................................................................. 36-39 Work and business .............................................................................42-49 Unemployment and employment ..........................................................48-49 Regional economy ...............................................................................50-53 Transports ............................................................................................. 54-55 Mining and forestry ............................................................................. 56-57 Energy .................................................................................................... 58-59 Tourism .................................................................................................. 60-63 Agriculture ............................................................................................ 64-65 Reindeer industry ...............................................................................66-67 Integration ............................................................................................ 68-69 Healthcare and medical care ..................................................................70 Life expectancy and sick leave rate .................................................72-73 Crime and security ...................................................................................74 Politics ................................................................................................... 76-79 Read more ..................................................................................................80 Production: Pantzare Information AB, Luleå Translation: ELEX, Pajala Cover photo: Tomas Ek, Cascade Creative Media Copies printed: 5,000 Printing: GTC Luleå, June 2012 Preface Norrbotten – a rich county Norrbotten is the biggest and northernmost county in Sweden and the only Swedish county sharing a land border with two countries – Norway and Finland. Together with the vast natural resources, broad cultural spectrum and vivid contrasts, this gives the county a clearly-defi ned profi le. With this booklet of facts, we aim to present an up-to-date statistical picture of Norrbotten County. There is informa- tion about the labour market and business, population, geography, nature, culture, communications, education and a number of other areas. There is also more information about Norrbotten on the websites we list at the end of the booklet. Enjoy your reading! Administrative Board in Norrbotten County 1 Norrbotten in brief The county is Sweden’s largest by area and represents about a quarter of Sweden’s total land area. Norrbotten is as big as Austria and ten times bigger than the Swedish county of Skåne. A quarter of a million people, 2.6 per cent of Sweden’s population, live here in 14 municipalities. Most of them, about 170,000, live in the coastal area within a few dozen kilometres of Luleå, the county town. If the population NORRBOTTEN IN BRIEF NORRBOTTEN density of Norrbotten County was equal to the EU average, 12 million people would be living here. Norrbotten is a county of contrasts - contrasts between winter dark and midnight sun, alpine areas and archipelago, sparseness and city life, and a diversity of cultures. The na- tional minority languages Finnish, Meänkieli and Sámi are spoken here. The Sámi parliament has its seat in Kiruna. Norrbotten has the highest mountain in Sweden, Kebnekaise at 2,107 m, and Sweden’s deepest lake, Hornavan, 232 m deep. Norrbotten County came into being in 1810 and Norrbotten’s fi rst towns, Piteå and Luleå, were founded in 1621. Photo:2 Kent Norberg DID YOU DID YOU KNOW Did you know? … Facebook is building its fi rst three data centres outside the USA in Luleå? Start-up in April 2013. … Norrbotten County has the highest productivity reckoned as gross regional product per employee after Stockholm County? … Norrbotten is Sweden’s prime investment county? On average, 6.2 billion SEK a year have been invested in Norrbotten in 2010 and 2011. That is roughly the equivalent of 25,000 SEK per inhabitant, which can be compared to Stockholm for example, which has invested 6.1 billion SEK per year or 3,000 SEK per inhabitant. … Norrbotten is Sweden’s sixth largest exporting county (42.6 billion SEK for 2011) and we have the highest value of exports per inhabitant in Sweden? … the number of exporting companies in Norrbotten County more than doubled between 2001 and 2011? In 2011 there were 848, the highest number in the Norrland region. … 90 per cent of Europe’s iron ore is extracted in the county? … mining operations in Kiruna and Malmberget mean that large sections of those communities have to be relocated? This is attracting attention worldwide. … unemployment is falling in Norrbotten, while it is in- creasing in Sweden (April 2012 compared to April 2011)? Norrbotten has an overall total of 7.7 per cent unemployed while the average for Sweden is 6.3 per cent. … youth unemployment is falling more in Norrbotten County than in the rest of Sweden? … Northland Resources is planning to start shipments from a new iron ore mine in Pajala in 2013? 3 Provinces GEOGRAPHY Kiruna Gällivare Pajala Jokkmokk Övertorneå Överkalix Arjeplog Haparanda Boden Kalix Luleå Sorsele Arvidsjaur Älvsbyn Storuman Piteå Malå Vilhelmina Lycksele Province of Norrbotten Dorotea Province of Lapland Åsele County boundary National border Norrbotten County was formed in 1810 and now comprises 14 municipalities. The county encompasses the province of Norrbotten and a large part of the province of Lapland. 4 PROVINCIAL EMBLEMS PROVINCIAL Provincial emblems Norrbotten Lapland Flower Arctic bramble Mountain avens Animal Siberian jay Arctic fox Fish Vendace Char Bird Whooper swan Blue throat Mineral Gabbro Apatite Fungus Conifer false morel Orange birch-bolete Insect Hairy ground beetle Colias hecla Moss Yellow collar moss Pohlia wahlenbergii Apple Malus x domestica ‘Silva’ Malus Rescue Arctic bramble - Rubus Arcticus. Photo: Tomas Utsi 5 Norrbotten - The big county Kiruna GEOGRAPHY Arjeplog Haparanda LuLuleuuleleå 6 Bodø Oulu Tromsø Strasbourg Rovaniemi Rome Paris Murmansk Brussels Archangelsk Sundsvall Stockholm Malmö Gothenburg Luleå Kiruna Haparanda Arjeplog Arjeplog 491 723 2569 483 3454 2767 1059 2458 286 2504 523 901 1508 1282 244 411 359 - Haparanda 132 622 2690 124 3575 2888 700 2579 644 2144 644 1022 1629 1403 128 351 - 359 Kiruna 483 389 2904 340 3788 3102 790 2793 488 2509 858 1236 1842 1617 342 - 351 411 Luleå 260 662 2575 252 3460 2774 828 2464 529 2273 532 907 1514 1289 - 342 128 244 Gothenburg 1449 1931 1304 1531 2306 1491 2108 1181 1493 2778 719 471 273 - 1289 1617 1403 1282 Malmö 1612 2165 1061 1755 1946 1259 2331 950 1762 2914 986 612 - 273 1514 1842 1629 1508 Distance chart, (km) mainroads Distance Stockholm 998 1556 1674 1146 2559 1872 1723 1563 1185 2314 376 - 612 471 907 1236 1022 901 Sundsvall 690 1181 2046 770 2931 2245 1348 1935 809 2493 - 376 986 719 530 858 644 523 Archangelsk 2534 2755 3744 2166 4326 4113 2165 3824 2790 - 2493 2314 2914 2778 2273 2509 2144 2504 Bodø 777 559 2720 767 3721 2905 1344 2606 - 2790 809 1185 1762 1493 529 485 644 286 Brussels 2507 3035 431 2703 1490 311 3289 - 2606 3824 1935 1563 950 1181 2464 2793 2579 2458 Murmansk 797 917 3392 577 4275 3588 - 3289 1344 2165 1348 1723 2331 2108 828 790 700 1059 Paris 2891 3345 487 3012 1471 - 3588 331 2905 4113 2245 1872 1259 1491 2774 3102 2888 2767 Rome 3399 4108 1064 3699 - 1471 4275 1490 3721 4326 2931 2559 1946 2306 3460 3788 3575 3454 Rovaniemi 224 586 2816 - 3699 3012 577 2703 767 2166 770 1146 1755 1531 252 340 124 483 Strasbourg 2693 3158