 Major Cities in Lappland, Norrbotten and VästerbottenKirunaThe new town of Kiruna was the brainchild of one man, the mining prospector and entrepreneur Hjalmar Lundbohm. The original town, the Laplander village of Jukkasjärvi, is situated about 10 kilometres from Kiruna. The city, which name means snow grouse from the laplanders "girun", is the most important city in Lappland. There are about 26 000 people living in the city and the main outcome is the LKAB mines. Besides mining, Kiruna is the site of the space-related industry and reSearch (in Swedish) in Esrange, Sweden's only space port. The city is also the center of the Laplanders history and culture.Hotels in Kiruna LuleåLuleå, the provincial capital of Norrbotten and the church seat is located on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia at the outflow of the Lule River. It is the largest city in Norrbotten with a population of 67 000 inhabitants. The city was founded in 1621 by king Gustav II Adolf. Luleå was a trading town where furs, leather, timber and tar changed hands for implements, flour and silver.The modern day Luleå is Norrbotten's most important industry, trade and maritime city. The city has a technical university and a metallurgic reSearch (in Swedish) center. Industry is dominated by the mining company SSAB and smaller computer service companies. Hotels in Luleå UmeåUmeå the "city of birches", is the largest city in Västerbotten and was founded in 1622. It is a university town and the provincial capital. The city has over 100 000 inhabitants. Umeå has a long, both modern and preserved, cultural tradition. Here you can re-live past Västerbotten life with a visit to Gammlia during the day and in the evening enjoy a modern opera/theater production at the famous Norrlands Opera .Hotels in Umeå Other towns are:Gällivare/Malmberget, Lappland's first major locality when the exploitation of the rich ore fields began.Jokkmokk (Swedish only) is one of the oldest known market and trading places in Lappland. Lycksele and Vilhelmina in southern Lappland are also interesting cultural towns. Haparanda, "the gateway to the east," is situated close to the border between Finland and Sweden with one of Sweden's most beautiful archipelagos. Piteå is located on the coast where the outflow of the Pite River is and the city is important for the paper and pulp industry. Hotels in Piteå Skellefteå Västerbottens industry city with power plants and manufacturing and Robertsfors, named after the Scotsman Robert Finlay who started the town's industrialization in 1756. Hotels in Skellefteå Other districts and municipalities with homepages of their own: Boden (Hotels in Boden) Dorotea (Swedish only) Kalix (Swedish only) Robertsfors (Swedish only) Tärnaby - Hemavan Vilhelmina Vindeln Vännäs Åmsele (Swedish only)  Useful information Quiz game Contents About... E-mail |