Borås

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Borås
Borås railway station

Coat of arms
Borås is located in Sweden
Borås
Coordinates: 57°43′N 12°56′E / 57.717°N 12.933°E / 57.717; 12.933Coordinates: 57°43′N 12°56′E / 57.717°N 12.933°E / 57.717; 12.933
Country Sweden
Province Västergötland
County Västra Götaland County
Municipality Borås Municipality
Area[1]
 • Total 31.40 km2 (12.1 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)[1]
 • Total 66,273
 • Density 2,111/km2 (5,467.5/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Borås circa 1700, in Suecia antiqua et hodierna.
A view from Krokshall square onto Caroli church with Viskan in front.

Borås (Swedish pronunciation: [bʊˈroːs]) is a locality and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010.[1]

Contents

[edit] Geography

Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them the railway between Gothenburg and Kalmar, and is often considered[citation needed] the Swedish city gaining the most from the nationwide railway system laid between 1870-1910.

[edit] History

The city of Borås received its privileges in 1621 by King Gustav II Adolf. The reason was to give local pedlars a legal place for vending their merchandise. The city developed soon after it was founded. After a century it had increased to over 2,000 inhabitants.

Borås has been ravaged by fires four times: in 1681, 1727, 1822 and 1827. The Caroli church is the oldest of Borås's buildings, and has withstood all fires.

[edit] Industry

The city arms depicts two sheep-shearing scissors, a tribute to the vast number of smiths in the town in early history. It currently holds the Swedish record in the number of established mail-order firms.

The company Swedac is based in the city, as well as Ericsson, which has a large manufacturing plant where Mini-Link microwave radios are manufactured.

Outside the city in the industrial park of Viared, there are many companies specializing in logistics. Industries in Borås have close collaboration with the University College of Borås as well as the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, the largest technical research institute of Sweden, both located in Borås. Besides being the home of the official Swedish Kilogram-weight and the atomic clock that sets the national time, SP conducts various testing and research to promote consumer safety.

[edit] Sports

The most successful sports team is the football team IF Elfsborg, Swedish champions in 2006. Elfsborg was founded in 1904, but received its current name in 1906. The team's home arena is since 2005 Borås Arena (formerly Ryavallen Stadium) in Borås, with a capacity of 16000. Elfsborg play in yellow and black.

Other teams are Borås Hockey Club, M7 (a basketball team that worked together with Magic Johnson for a short while) and Borås Rhinos which is an American football team.

The table tennis club Mariedals IK currently has three players in the Swedish youth team. Hampus Soderlund, Mattias Oversjo and Jimmy Ojakangas.

Other sports that can be practiced in Borås are track and field, handball, table tennis, tennis, skiing, orienteering, archery, sport shooting, swimming, golf, equestrian, bowling, cheerleading and various martial arts. Borås Judoclub has tried to create a national center for judo. Members from the club that has participated in the olympics include Per Kjellin and Lars Adolfsson (who competed twice).

Boråshallen is the largest indoor sports hall in Borås, where the Mariedal cup is held annually in October or November. It started in 1978 in its current form.

Borås hosted the water polo events of the XIII FINA World Masters Championships 2010 from July 28 to August 6.[2]

Other sports clubs located in Borås include:

[edit] Culture

Every summer, a number of free outdoor concerts are held on the town square on Thursday evenings.

The city has lately been recognized as a city of outdoor sculptures, such as Catafalque by Sean Henry, Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd's knotted non-violence pistol and a huge bronze version of Pinocchio called Walking to Borås by the American pop artist Jim Dine.

During the holiday All Saints there is an annual gaming convention called Borås Spelkonvent where people, mostly youths, meet to play various board-games, Warhammer 40k and Magic the Gathering amongst other games.

[edit] Districts

Municipal subdistrict Göta

Municipal subdistrict Sjöbo

Municipal subdistrict Brämhult

Municipal subdistrict Norrby

Municipal subdistrict Centrum (city)

Municipal subdistrict Sandhult

[edit] Gallery

  • City park

  • Municipal court

  • Winter panorama

  • Water tower

  • The old Pensionat Lyckebo

[edit] Notable natives

[edit] Schools

See also University of Borås

[edit] High schools

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2005 och 2010" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. http://www.scb.se/Statistik/MI/MI0810/2010A01/Tatorternami0810tab1_4.xls. Retrieved 10 January 2012. 
  2. ^ - XIII FINA World Masters Championships 2010 website
  3. ^ "Player's portraits 2008". svenskfotboll.se. http://www.svenskfotboll.se/t9.aspx?id=1&p=714039. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
  4. ^ "Detroit’s Mr. Do-It-All". Interlink Magazines, LLC. http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2009/08/detroits-mr-do-it-all/. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Borås
Murkrona.svg Borås is one of 133 places with the historical city status in Sweden.
Localities:
Municipalities
Coat of arms of Västra Götaland County
Municipal seats
as of 2005, according to Statistics Sweden [1]
1. Stockholm 1,252,000
2. Gothenburg 510,500
3. Malmö 258,000
4. Uppsala 144,839
5. Västerås 107,000
6. Örebro 98,200
7. Linköping 97,400
8. Helsingborg 91,500
9. Jönköping 84,400
10. Norrköping 83,600
11. Lund 76,200
12. Umeå 75,600
13. Gävle 68,700
14. Borås 63,400
15. Södertälje 60,300
16. Eskilstuna 60,200
17. Täby 58,600
18. Karlstad 58,500
19. Halmstad 55,700
20. Växjö 55,600
21. Sundsvall 49,300
22. Luleå 45,500
23. Trollhättan 44,500
24. Östersund 43,800
25. Borlänge 39,400
26. Falun 36,400
27. Upplands Väsby 36,000
28. Tumba 35,300
29. Kalmar 35,200
30. Skövde 33,100
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