Gällivare | |
|---|---|
 The main street (Storgatan) with snow and Christmas lights in Gällivare at about noon in December 2005. | |
  Gällivare  Gällivare | |
| Coordinates:67°07′48″N20°39′36″E / 67.130°N 20.66°E /67.130; 20.66 | |
| Country | Sweden |
| Province | Lapland |
| County | Norrbotten County |
| Municipality | Gällivare Municipality |
| Area | |
• Total | 7.48 km2 (2.89 sq mi) |
| Population (31 December 2010)[1] | |
• Total | 8,449 |
| • Density | 1,130/km2 (2,900/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Gällivare (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈjɛ̌lːɪvɑːrɛ];[2]Finnish:Jällivaara;Northern Sami:Jiellevárri orVáhčir;Lule Sami:Jiellevárre orVáhtjer;Meänkieli:Jellivaara) is alocality and the seat ofGällivare Municipality inNorrbotten County,province ofLapland,Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010.[1] The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby townsMalmberget andKoskullskulle it forms aconurbation with some 15,000 inhabitants.
Gällivare is situated at the northern end of theInlandsbanan railway line, about 60 kilometres north of theArctic Circle. Gällivare is located in a majoriron ore mining region.Adjacent to Gällivare (about five kilometres) isMalmberget, known as a site foriron ore extraction from deepmines byLKAB. In additionAitik, one of Europe's largest open pit copper mines, is operated just twenty kilometers away byBoliden AB.
Outside Gällivare lies theskiresortDundret, which is equipped with sixski lifts and ten groomed slopes along with a conference center andhotel. The ski season stretches from the end of October all the way into early May. The town has been host for several World Cup skiing events, both alpine and cross-country. Around the town roughly 130km (13 Swedish miles) ofnordic skiing tracks are maintained and freely accessible.
Gällivare is the center of theFirstborn Laestadian movement.
It was the host town for the2008 VIVA World Cup and also the filming spot forAvicii's single "Addicted to You". Sweden's second-largest fast food chain,Max Hamburgers, was founded in Gällivare, though the headquarters have since relocated toLuleå.
Gällivare's history as a settlement date back to the1690s, when iron ore was discovered in the mountainIlluvare, which came to be known asGällivare malmberg. The find was located in what is nowMalmberget, where test mining began in1735.[3] At that time, the population in the area was largely composed ofSámi belonging to theKaitum Sámi community. Since1605, they had had their church inJokkmokk, but in the early 18th century, the Swedish parliament received rumors that they had not yet been fully Christianized.
In1738, the parliament therefore decided that a new church should be established closer to the Kaitum Sámi, with each household in Sweden contributing one öre silver coin. In1742, missionaries Pehr Högström and Petrus Holmbom traveled around Kaitum and, together with the Sámi, decided that Easter should be celebrated near Gällivare malmberg. There, they also placed the church that was built two years later from the collected coins,Ettöreskyrkan (Gällivare Old Church).[4]
In connection with the church, Gällivare developed as a settlement in tandem with the commercial extraction of ore in Malmberget, which began in the1740s.[3] The major boost came with the construction of theMalmbanan railway in the late 19th century, which greatly facilitated ore transportation. In1910, a hospital was also established in Gällivare.[5]
As expected given its high latitude, Gällivare has a rather cold climate. Under theKöppen climate classification it is asubarctic climate (Dfc). Winters are very severe by Scandinavian standards, but are somewhat moderated by marine air from the North Atlantic. As a result, certain cities on the North AmericanGreat Plains such asWinnipeg andGrand Forks, along with East Asian cities even further south, have colder January averages than Gällivare. The winter temperature varies greatly due to the city's location between the open ocean and a large, snow-covered land mass, and can be −30 °C (−22 °F) one day to 0 °C (32 °F) the next.
Gällivare experiencesmidnight sun for a significant period of summer, though sees some glimpses of daylight even during the winter solstice due to its notable distance from the Arctic Circle. As a result of prolonged warming from early morning by the midnight sun and Gällivare's inland position, temperatures can occasionally get hot in the summer. The all-time high stands at 34.5 °C (94.1 °F).
| Climate data for Gällivare (averages 2002–2018; extremes since 1901) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 7.6 (45.7) | 7.5 (45.5) | 12.5 (54.5) | 19.0 (66.2) | 28.2 (82.8) | 30.6 (87.1) | 34.5 (94.1) | 31.4 (88.5) | 24.1 (75.4) | 16.7 (62.1) | 10.7 (51.3) | 8.0 (46.4) | 34.5 (94.1) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 1.8 (35.2) | 3.3 (37.9) | 5.9 (42.6) | 11.9 (53.4) | 21.2 (70.2) | 24.5 (76.1) | 25.7 (78.3) | 24.5 (76.1) | 19.2 (66.6) | 11.2 (52.2) | 4.6 (40.3) | 3.4 (38.1) | 27.1 (80.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −8.2 (17.2) | −6.6 (20.1) | −1.3 (29.7) | 4.5 (40.1) | 11.1 (52.0) | 16.2 (61.2) | 20.1 (68.2) | 17.3 (63.1) | 11.6 (52.9) | 3.4 (38.1) | −2.7 (27.1) | −5.5 (22.1) | 5.0 (41.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −13.1 (8.4) | −11.9 (10.6) | −6.9 (19.6) | −0.5 (31.1) | 5.9 (42.6) | 11.0 (51.8) | 14.7 (58.5) | 12.2 (54.0) | 7.2 (45.0) | 0.1 (32.2) | −6.9 (19.6) | −10.2 (13.6) | 0.1 (32.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −18.0 (−0.4) | −17.1 (1.2) | −12.5 (9.5) | −5.4 (22.3) | 0.7 (33.3) | 5.7 (42.3) | 9.2 (48.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 2.7 (36.9) | −3.3 (26.1) | −11.0 (12.2) | −14.9 (5.2) | −4.7 (23.5) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | −31.8 (−25.2) | −31.4 (−24.5) | −26.5 (−15.7) | −17.8 (0.0) | −6.5 (20.3) | −1.2 (29.8) | 2.7 (36.9) | −0.3 (31.5) | −4.2 (24.4) | −14.6 (5.7) | −24.1 (−11.4) | −28.5 (−19.3) | −34.9 (−30.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −43.3 (−45.9) | −40.0 (−40.0) | −36.5 (−33.7) | −33.5 (−28.3) | −20.0 (−4.0) | −6.0 (21.2) | 0.0 (32.0) | −4.0 (24.8) | −10.3 (13.5) | −24.0 (−11.2) | −33.5 (−28.3) | −39.1 (−38.4) | −43.3 (−45.9) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 40.8 (1.61) | 32.6 (1.28) | 21.9 (0.86) | 26.9 (1.06) | 50.3 (1.98) | 65.7 (2.59) | 97.8 (3.85) | 76.0 (2.99) | 69.2 (2.72) | 42.8 (1.69) | 49.9 (1.96) | 48.4 (1.91) | 622.3 (24.5) |
| Source 1: SMHI Open Data[6] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: SMHI climate data 2002–2018[7] | |||||||||||||
Some inhabitants near Gällivare, mainly in the village ofTjautjas (also Tjautjasjaure or Čavččas) 20 km outside Gällivare, have a remarkably high incidence ofcongenital insensitivity to pain, an extremely rare disease which inhibits the sensation of pain, heat and cold. There have been nearly 40 reported cases in the area.[8]
The following sports clubs are located in Gällivare:
Municipalities and seats ofNorrbotten County | ||
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