Södertälje
Södertälje | |
---|---|
Country | Sweden |
Province | Södermanland |
County | Stockholm County |
Municipality | Södertälje Municipality |
Founded | 1300s |
Area | |
• Total | 25.84 km2 (9.98 sq mi) |
Elevation | 23 m (75 ft) |
Population (31 December 2010)[1] | |
• Total | 64,619 |
• Density | 170/km2 (400/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Postal code | 151xx |
Area code | (+46) 08 |
Vehicle registration | 0356 |
Website | www.sodertalje.se |
Södertälje (Swedish pronunciation: [sœdəˈʈɛlːˈjə] ⓘ) is a city and the seat of Södertälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 64,619 inhabitants in 2010.[1]
The industrial city, about 30 kilometers (19 mi) southwest of Stockholm, is the home to truck maker Scania AB and the research and development arm of a top 10 pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Södertälje is an international municipality and this fact is reflected in business, cultural life and the population.
History
Prior to 600 AD, the lake Mälaren was connected to the sea. Due to land elevation, the lake was slowly cut off, and boats had to be carried over land to and from the lake.
The name Telje is mentioned in the 11th century. To resolve a name conflict with another town that was founded north of Stockholm in the 17th century, Söder (meaning south) was added to create Södertälje; Norr (North) was added to the other to create Norrtälje.
In the 18th century Södertälje had a charter. Due to the Great Northern War and a series of plague epidemics, the population of the city dipped to barely above 200.
Demographics
About 39 percent of the inhabitants have foreign backgrounds, and this proportion currently increases by 1.5 percent per year. Among groups of immigrants in Södertälje the Arameans/Assyrians are the one with the largest membership.
In the city, Arameans/Assyrians have five churches, two bishops, two soccer teams (Assyriska FF and Syrianska FC), many shops, association and the headquarters of TV Channels of Suroyo TV and Suryoyo Sat that is shown worldwide.[2]
Following the war in Iraq many Iraqi refugees came to Södertälje, almost all of them are Christian Syriacs. The city has taken more Iraqi refugees than the United States and Canada combined.[2] 1,500 Mandaeans live in Södertälje.[3]
Other immigrants are mainly from Finland, former Yugoslavia and many more.
The most spoken languages in Södertälje besides Swedish, which is the national language, are Syriac-Aramaic and Arabic. To a lesser extent, Finnish and Serbian are also relatively common second languages.
The community has attracted immigrants from the Baltic states, the Caucasus, Iraq, North Africa mostly from Morocco, Asia like Pakistan, the Philippines and Koreans, and South America for some time.
Economy
Truck manufacturer Scania AB has its main location in Södertälje. It is also one of the main sites for pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.[4] The port of Södertälje is the second in the Stockholm region. Volkswagen Group has its Swedish headquarters located in Södertälje, and Lantmännen Axa Foodservice AB is located in Järna 10 km south of Södertälje.
Sports
The city has Södertälje SK, an ice hockey team in the second highest league – Allsvenskan and plays their matches in AXA Sports Center (aka Scaniarinken). Assyriska FF and Syrianska FC are also two successful football clubs started in 1974 and 1977. They play in the same arena, Södertälje Fotbollsarena. In basketball, Södertälje BBK is one of the best in the country, and became Swedish Champions in the 2004/2005 season.
Geography
The town is situated on a bay of Lake Mälaren, which is here connected with the Baltic Sea by the Södertälje Canal, 35 miles (56 km) in length, with a minimum depth of 20 ft (6.1 m). This is on the route followed by the Göta Canal steamboats between Stockholm and Gothenburg. It was opened in 1819 and much enlarged in 1924, though a canal was begun here in the first half of the 15th century at the instigation of the patriot Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson.
Climate
Södertälje, and the rest of Stockholm region has a humid continental climate according to the Köppen climate classification and displays four distinct seasons. Due to the city's high northerly latitude, daylight varies widely from more than 18 hours around midsummer, to only around 6 hours in midwinter. Södertälje has much warmer and sunnier weather than other locations at the same latitude mainly because of the influence of Gulf Stream. The city enjoys 1,981 hours of sunshine annually.[5]
Summers have an average daytime high temperatures of 20–23 °C (68–73 °F) and lows of around 15 °C (59 °F), but there are periods of heat waves and many days with temperatures above 25 °C (77 °F)+). Winters are cold, though sometimes milder with temperatures ranging from −3 to 1 °C (27 to 34 °F), while spring and autumn mainly cool.
Annual precipitation is 539 mm (21.2 in) with light to moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snow mainly occurs from December through March, but snow covers does not remain for a long time.
Climate data for Södertälje | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 1 (33) |
1 (33) |
4 (40) |
10 (50) |
16 (61) |
20 (68) |
23 (73) |
22 (72) |
17 (62) |
10 (50) |
5 (41) |
1 (34) |
11 (51) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −2 (28) |
−3 (27) |
−2 (29) |
3 (37) |
8 (46) |
12 (53) |
15 (59) |
14 (58) |
10 (50) |
6 (42) |
2 (36) |
−1 (30) |
5 (41) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 39 (1.5) |
27 (1.1) |
26 (1.0) |
30 (1.2) |
30 (1.2) |
45 (1.8) |
72 (2.8) |
66 (2.6) |
55 (2.2) |
50 (2.0) |
53 (2.1) |
46 (1.8) |
539 (21.2) |
Source: World Weather Information Service[6] |
Public transport
Södertälje is served by the Stockholm public transport system, but has also a main line railway station for connections outside Stockholm County. The main railway station is Södertälje Syd railway station (South) and located some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southeast of the city center where most national trains stop. From Södertälje Syd, it is possible to take the Stockholm public transport to all stations in the Södertälje area.
The Stockholm County commuter train line has 6 stations in the municipal. 4 of them in the Södertälje city itself, Södertälje Centrum (centre), Södertälje Hamn (harbour), Södertälje Syd (south) and Östertälje, and 2 stations outside the city but within the municipality; Järna and Mölnbo.
Notable natives
- Björn Borg, tennis player
- Hasse Aro, host of TV show Efterlyst.
- Jan Guillou, author and journalist
- Patrik Nordin, ski mountaineer and cross-country skier
- Bengt Westerberg, former leader of the Liberal People's Party
- Richard, Louis and Per Herrey., the group that won the Eurovision Song Contest 1984
- Johan Edlund, guitarist and vocalist of Tiamat (band)
- Nicklas Bergfors, ice hockey player
- Carl Hagelin, ice hockey player
- Kennedy Bakircioglü, professional footballer
- Louay Chanko, professional footballer
See also
References
- Template:Sv icon article Södertälje from Nordisk Familjebok (1919)
Official web of Södertälje
- ^ 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. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b http://www.sodertalje.se/upload/aktuellt/dokument/Sodertalje_in_the_world.pdf
- ^ http://lt.se/nyheter/sodertalje/1.2102865-morgondopp-som-ger-gruppen-nytt-hopp
- ^ http://www.astrazeneca.se/om_oss/verksamheten-i-Sverige/
- ^ Stockholm facts
- ^ "Weather Information for Södertälje". World Weather Information Service]. Retrieved 6 January 2008.