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Umeå (IPA: ˘ʉməoː – listen^ⓘ) is a city in upper Norrland in northern Sweden. It is situated in the province of Västerbotten and has 71,000 inhabitants in the city proper [1] . It is the seat of Umeå Municipality that includes immediate surroundings (2,331.4 sq km, including Holmsund but not Vännäs) and 110,000 inhabitants.

People

Template:Infobox Kommun2

Umeå Municipality and the Greater Umeå Region has 142,305 inhabitants

Umeå in total: 110,750

Districts:

Umeå 80,000
Holmsund 10,000
Hörnefors 6,500
Sävar 5,500
Röbäck 4,500

Surrounding municipalities:

Nordmaling in total 7 536
Vännäs in total 8,504
Bjurholm in total 2 579
Vindeln in total 5,800
Robertsfors in total 7,136

Total in the Umeå Region: 142,305

Umeå is one of Sweden's fastest growing cities. The average age of the 110 000 people who live in Umeå is 37. Efforts are also made to develop Umeå even more - the goal is to pass the 150 000 figure before 2050. The city is a centre of research, art and culture. It aims for being elected the European Cultural Capital for 2014.

Umeå has been expanding for several decades. Growth was speeded up in 1965, the same year that the university was established. In the last 30 years, housing in Umeå has doubled and this rate of growth continues. 700 to 800 new apartments are at present constructed each year.

Economy

Key research fields of the University are life sciences (especially medical and cell and the molecular biology of plants), human technology interaction, social welfare, ecology and gender perspectives.

The Umeå University works collaboratively with companies such as ABB, Volvo, Skanska, Ericsson, and Ohrlings Pricewaterhouse-Coopers.

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SLU in Umeå, with Umeå Plant Science Center, is another major site of reserarch and education.

Umeå is has a high level of education, few traffic jams (but an increasing urban sprawl and increase in car traffic), relatively short intra-urban distances, a large network of bicycle tracks, and a broad variety of leisure opportunities. The airport is located close to the city and a new railway line is being constructed.

Sister cities

In the Park of the Sister Cities (Vänortsparken) is the artwork Tellus - a map of the world, with each sister city's location. Each sister city also has a designated area in the park showing something that is typical for it.

Geography

Umeå situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Bothnia at the mouth of the Ume River, in the south of Westerbothnia. Umeå is about 600 km north of Stockholm at 63°50′N 20°15′E / 63.833°N 20.250°E / 63.833; 20.250 and about 500 km south of the Arctic Circle. It is the largest city north of the Stockholm-Uppsala region, and is sometimes referred to as the regional centre of northern Sweden. The nearby town of Holmsund serves as its port. From here serves a ferry line to the neighbouring city of Vaasa (Swedish: Vasa) in Finland.

The infrastructure is well equipped with two European highways (E4 and E12) passing Umeå. Near the city centre (4 km) lies the Umeå airport (742,591 passengers, 2004) with destinations such as Stockholm, Göteborg, Östersund and charter destinations including Canary Islands, Turkey and Bulgaria. The largest operators are SAS, Malmö Aviation , and Flynordic. It is the 7th largest airport in Sweden (after Stockholm-Arlanda, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Malmö-Sturup, Stockholm-Bromma, Stockholm-Skavsta and Luleå-Kallax), and the number of passengers is steadily increasing.

The biggest railway project of modern times in Sweden is being built from the High Coast via Örnsköldsvik to Umeå. This new railway will be 190 km long, with 140 bridges and 25 km of tunnels. The Bothnia Line (or Botniabanan) will be able to cope with speeds of up to 250 km/hour. The line will give Umeå a fast train connection with Stockholm, about six hours, Sundsvall (2.5 to 3 hours) and the rest of Europe.

History

The first mention of Umeå is in the 14th century. The northern parts of Sweden, including Umeå, were largely unexplored at that time, but Umeå did form a parish with a wooden church. Umeå functioned as an outpost to the Norrland wilderness. Partly this was due to its location on the coast.

For the next couple of centuries Umeå was a place consisting of scattered parishes, where merchandise originating with the Sami people was traded, and was the last inhabited place before the northern wilderness took over. This made it an important centre, and King John III of Sweden granted it a charter in 1588, requiring the consolidation of the parishes into a single city. However, no real city was built at the location selected by the king, and Umeå's city rights were lost in the 1590s.

In 1621 a new city charter was granted, and this time a town was actually built. In 1638 it had about 40 houses. The Russian army under Barclay de Tolly took Umeå at the close of the Finnish War in 1809.

On 25 June 1888 a fire devastated the eastern parts of Umeå and at least 2,300 of the 3,000 inhabitants became homeless. In the restoration following the fire, silver birchtrees where planted along wide avenues to prevent future fires from spreading. For this reason Umeå is sometimes known as the 'City of Silver Birches' and the Umeå ice-hockey team play under the nickname 'The Birch Leaves'.

Modern Umeå

Umeå is a young (the average age of its 110,750 inhabitants is 36 years) and dynamic city with a industrial sector consisting of major industries (Volvo) as well as many smaller firms representing information technology, biotechnology, and other industrial products. Umeå is a centre for cultural activities, with annual film, jazz and chamber music festivals, and is home of the world's northernmost opera house (NorrlandsOperan). Umeå is a multi-cultural city with over a 100 different nationalites, and the northernmost Mosque of Sweden is being planned to be built in 2006.

Umeå is a city with two universities:

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU, Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet) (branch; the main campus in Ultuna, Uppsala).

Umeå University has about 27,000 students and 3,900 staff, with seven Campus schools:

USBE Umea school of Business and Economics
School of industrial Design
Umeå School of Fine Arts
Umeå Institute of technology
Umeå School Enviromental studies
Umeå School of Sports Pedagogies
University School of Restaurant and Culinary Arts

The establishment of the university in the mid 1960s led to a population expansion from about 50,000 inhabitants to today's 110,750. The expansion continues, with about 1000 new inhabitants every year, and has made Umeå a modern, somewhat intellectual city in contrast to the traditional basis on heavy industry for cities along the coast of northern Sweden (Norrland).

Umeå also has a large University hospital (Norrlands Universitetssjukhus) serving the entire region of northern Sweden.

Famous people

External links

Umeå - Official site
[1] - Umeå Region (official site)
[2] - Umeå University
[3] - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
[4]- the Bothnian Railway link
[5] - Umeå Airport
[6] - Official site of Umeå School of Business and Economics

[7] - (VK) Newspaper of Westrobothnia (liberal)
[8] - (VF) The 'Peoples' Paper' of Westrobothnia (labour)

@@ Line 90: / Line 90: @@
 For the next couple of centuries Umeå was a place consisting of scattered [[parish]]es, where merchandise originating with the [[Sami people]] was traded, and was the last inhabited place before the northern wilderness took over. This made it an important centre, and King [[John III of Sweden]] granted it a [[charter]] in 1588, requiring the consolidation of the parishes into a single city. However, no real city was built at the location selected by the king, and Umeå's city rights were lost in the 1590s.
-In 1621 a new city charter was granted, and this time a town was actually built. In 1638 it had about 40 houses. It suffered from Russian ravaging: in May 1720 it was burnt down, and at the close of the [[Finnish War]] in [[1809]] the Russian army under [[Barclay de Tolly]] took Umeå.
+In 1621 a new city charter was granted, and this time a town was actually built. In 1638 it had about 40 houses. The Russian army under [[Barclay de Tolly]] took Umeå at the close of the [[Finnish War]] in [[1809]].
 On [[25 June]] [[1888]] a fire devastated the eastern parts of Umeå and at least 2,300 of the 3,000 inhabitants became homeless. In the restoration following the fire, [[silver birch]]trees where planted along wide avenues to prevent future fires from spreading. For this reason Umeå is sometimes known as the 'City of Silver Birches' and the Umeå ice-hockey team play under the nickname 'The Birch Leaves'.