Arvika | |
|---|---|
 Central Arvika in June 2004 | |
  Arvika | |
| Coordinates:59°39′15″N12°35′29″E / 59.65417°N 12.59139°E /59.65417; 12.59139 | |
| Country | Sweden |
| Province | Värmland |
| County | Värmland County |
| Municipality | Arvika Municipality |
| Established | 1911 |
| Area | |
• Total | 10.62 km2 (4.10 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 58 m (190 ft) |
| Population (31 December 2010)[1] | |
• Total | 14,244 |
| • Density | 1,341/km2 (3,470/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 671 xx |
| Area code | (+46) 570 |
| Website | Official website |
Arvika is alocality and the seat ofArvika Municipality,Värmland County,Sweden with 14,244 inhabitants in 2010.[1]
The town of Arvika is situated atKyrkviken, a bay ofGlafsfjorden, Sweden's only inlandfjord, a remnant of the time following the lastice age (once a fjord of theAncylus Lake). The town is located approximately 380 km west ofStockholm, 250 km north ofGothenburg, 150 km east ofOslo, and 50 km from theNorwegian border.
The area is hilly with the tallest hillStorkasberget close to the town centre.
Arvika and its surroundings have excellent water infrastructure. In fact, Arvika has the innermost harbour in the whole of Sweden. Through a system ofcanals, lakeVänern can be reached, and from there theGöta Canal allows further passage toGothenburg and Sweden's west coast.
Ten kilometers west of the city, inBergs Klätt, there are remnants of a youngerStone Age andNordic Bronze Age settlements in the form of graves.
The town was avillage until 1811 when it was given town privileges by royal charter under the nameOscarsstad in order to improve the economy of the area. This attempt was unsuccessful, and the town privileges were repealed in 1821 and the town was instead given the status ofköping (township) and renamed Arvika. The town privileges were reinstated at the founding centennial in 1911, and the name Arvika remained. The city status is now obsolete, but Arvika is since 1971 the seat of the larger Arvika municipality.
The church Mikaelikyrkan is from 1647, and the church in the centre, Trefaldighetskyrkan, is from the same year as the town, 1911.
Arvika has several heavy industrial production facilities which employ the majority of the population, among these Thermia,Volvo Construction Equipment (Wheel loaders),Arvika Gjuteri (nodular and grey iron foundry) andCoffee Queen, a coffee machine factory.
Arvika is known for the turn of the century (around 1900) artist communeRackstad just outside the city. Here, several famous Swedish artists lived and worked, the most well-known probably beingChristian Eriksson andGustaf Fjæstad and his wifeMaja Fjæstad. Other talents that lived in Rackstad includeBjörn Ahlgrensson andFritz Lindström. Arvika is also home ofNHL playerJacob De La Rose, drafted by theMontreal Canadiens in 2012.[2]
TheArvika Festival (since 1992) was the biggest annual event in the area, with several international bands visiting the town during three days in July every summer. In recent years such bands asEinstürzende Neubauten,Hot Chip,Robyn,The Knife,Ministry,New Order,Kraftwerk andFranz Ferdinand have performed here. The 2009 festival was headlined byDepeche Mode,Nine Inch Nails,Röyksopp andKorn and was the biggest edition of the festival ever.
One of the sixuniversity colleges of music in Sweden,Ingesund College of Music, a department ofKarlstad University, is situated in Arvika.
Arvika has three twin cities:
 | Kongsvinger,Norway |
 | Skive Municipality,Denmark |
 | Ylöjärvi,Finland |
 | Szigetszentmiklós,Hungary |
Arvika has ahumid continental climate (KöppenDfb) that borders being subarctic (Dfc) using the official reference period 1961-1990. It has partial maritime influence, but retains its classification due to cool nights throughout the year courtesy of its inland position with less maritime influence than the Värmland capital ofKarlstad onLake Vänern. The highest recorded temperature since the weather station's inception in 1945 is 33.9 °C (93.0 °F) on August 7, 1975, and the lowest is −38.0 °C (−36.4 °F) from February 9, 1966.
| Climate data for Arvika (temperature & precipitation 2002–2018 — extremes 1945–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.2 (50.4) | 14.0 (57.2) | 20.4 (68.7) | 25.5 (77.9) | 30.2 (86.4) | 33.8 (92.8) | 33.7 (92.7) | 33.9 (93.0) | 28.0 (82.4) | 20.4 (68.7) | 16.1 (61.0) | 13.0 (55.4) | 33.9 (93.0) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 6.6 (43.9) | 6.8 (44.2) | 13.5 (56.3) | 18.8 (65.8) | 25.0 (77.0) | 27.4 (81.3) | 29.2 (84.6) | 27.0 (80.6) | 22.5 (72.5) | 16.6 (61.9) | 11.4 (52.5) | 7.7 (45.9) | 30.2 (86.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.7 (30.7) | 0.6 (33.1) | 5.6 (42.1) | 11.7 (53.1) | 17.2 (63.0) | 21.0 (69.8) | 23.3 (73.9) | 21.3 (70.3) | 17.0 (62.6) | 10.0 (50.0) | 4.8 (40.6) | 0.5 (32.9) | 11.0 (51.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.5 (23.9) | −3.8 (25.2) | −0.1 (31.8) | 5.3 (41.5) | 10.6 (51.1) | 14.5 (58.1) | 17.0 (62.6) | 15.4 (59.7) | 11.3 (52.3) | 5.4 (41.7) | 1.5 (34.7) | −3.2 (26.2) | 5.8 (42.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −8.3 (17.1) | −8.2 (17.2) | −5.8 (21.6) | −1.1 (30.0) | 4.0 (39.2) | 7.9 (46.2) | 10.7 (51.3) | 9.5 (49.1) | 5.6 (42.1) | 0.7 (33.3) | −1.9 (28.6) | −6.9 (19.6) | 0.5 (32.9) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | −21.7 (−7.1) | −20.4 (−4.7) | −15.3 (4.5) | −7.6 (18.3) | −3.7 (25.3) | 1.6 (34.9) | 4.7 (40.5) | 2.3 (36.1) | −2.8 (27.0) | −7.2 (19.0) | −10.9 (12.4) | −18.7 (−1.7) | −25.4 (−13.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −35.5 (−31.9) | −38.0 (−36.4) | −30.0 (−22.0) | −16.0 (3.2) | −6.7 (19.9) | −3.4 (25.9) | 1.2 (34.2) | −1.9 (28.6) | −7.0 (19.4) | −14.5 (5.9) | −24.0 (−11.2) | −31.9 (−25.4) | −38.0 (−36.4) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 46.6 (1.83) | 31.5 (1.24) | 26.6 (1.05) | 32.8 (1.29) | 57.5 (2.26) | 60.8 (2.39) | 82.7 (3.26) | 85.7 (3.37) | 53.7 (2.11) | 59.3 (2.33) | 55.2 (2.17) | 42.4 (1.67) | 634.8 (24.97) |
| Source 1:[3] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:[4] | |||||||||||||
Municipalities and seats ofVärmland County | ||
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| Municipalities |  | |
| Municipal seats | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
