Boden Municipality

Coordinates: 65°50′N 21°43′E / 65.833°N 21.717°E / 65.833; 21.717
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boden Municipality
Bodens kommun
Rödberget fort, part of Boden Fortress
Rödberget fort, part of Boden Fortress
Coat of arms of Boden Municipality
Coordinates: 65°50′N 21°43′E / 65.833°N 21.717°E / 65.833; 21.717
CountrySweden
CountyNorrbotten County
SeatBoden
Area
 • Total4,285.13 km2 (1,654.50 sq mi)
 • Land4,007.86 km2 (1,547.44 sq mi)
 • Water277.27 km2 (107.05 sq mi)
 Area as of 1 January 2014.
Population
 (31 December 2023)[2]
 • Total27,943
 • Density6.5/km2 (17/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeSE
ProvinceNorrbotten
Municipal code2582
Websitewww.boden.se

Boden Municipality (Swedish: Bodens kommun) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Boden.

In 1919 the evolving garrison town of Boden was detached from Överluleå and instituted as a city municipality of its own. In 1967 the rest of Överluleå was merged into the city together with a part of Råneå. In 1971 Edefors (which in 1892 also had been detached from Överluleå) was added and the present municipality was formed.

History[edit]

According to recent finds, the oldest human settlements are believed to be from around 5,000 BC. From this early time nothing is known (except some scarce finds). First accounted-for sources are from the 16th century, when Boden is referred to as Bodebyn or Bodarna, which may refer to the sheds (bod means "shed"). In 1543 there were seven farmers in the community (each farmer at that time might have several workers and a family). It was also mentioned that native Sami people were living in the proximity.

Geography[edit]

The closest larger city is Luleå, which is located some 35 kilometres (22 miles) southeast on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. Luleå is the largest city in Norrbotten County and hosts the main campus of Luleå University of Technology.

The main northern railway line, Stambanan genom övre Norrland, ends in Boden. By rail, Boden is connected to Luleå, and, on the same line, Uppsala, Stockholm, and finally Bräcke in the south.

Southern Boden seen from Rödbergsfortet, part of Boden Fortress

Localities[edit]

There were six localities in the municipality as of 2018:[3]

Locality Population
Boden 16,816
Sävast 3,177
Trångforsen och Heden 1,860
Vittjärv 521
Harads 511
Unbyn 459

Demographics[edit]

This is a demographic table based on Boden Municipality's electoral districts in the 2022 Swedish general election sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics.[4]

In total there were 28,135 residents, including 22,002 Swedish citizens of voting age.[4] 54.7% voted for the left coalition and 44.2% for the right coalition. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.

Language[edit]

In Boden Municipality, as in all of Sweden, there is no "official" language, but Swedish is by far the mostly used one. Some people are also, due to the proximity to the Finnish border, proficient in Finnish, and a few speak Sami. Nowadays, due to immigration, a lot of languages from around the world can also be heard.

International relations[edit]

Twin towns — Sister cities[edit]

Boden Municipality is twinned with:

All of these are northerly located, only Oulu being on a more southern latitude than Boden.

Notable natives[edit]

Politics[edit]

Following 2018 elections the municipal council is dominated by the Social Democrats despite their losing two seats compared to the previous elections. Two regional parties, Aktiv samling – Bodenalternativet and Health Care Party of Norrbotten, performed well, gaining 10 seats between them in the 49-member council.[6] The head of executive is Social Democrat Claes Nordmark.

Party Votes % Seats ±
Social Democrats 6,555 34.17 17 −2
Moderate Party 3,075 16.03 8 −5
Aktiv samling – Bodenalternativet 2,338 12.19 6 +6
Sweden Democrats 1,806 9.41 5 −1
Health Care Party 1,557 8.12 4 +2
Left Party 1,227 6.40 3 −1
Centre Party 1,028 5.36 3 +2
Liberals 567 2.96 2 +1
Green Party 407 2.12 1 −1
Others 626 3.26
Invalid/blank votes 255
Total 19,441 86.13 49 -

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 2014-01-01. Archived from the original (Microsoft Excel) on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  2. ^ "Folkmängd och befolkningsförändringar - Kvartal 4, 2023" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  3. ^ "Folkmängd per tätort efter region och vart 5:e år" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 2019-07-28.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ a b c "Valresultat 2022 för Boden i riksdagsvalet" (in Swedish). SVT. 11 September 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Ystävyyskaupungit (Twin Cities)". Oulun kaupunki (City of Oulu) (in Finnish). Retrieved 2013-07-27.
  6. ^ "Val till kommunfullmäktige i Boden" (in Swedish). Valmyndigheten. 2018-09-17.

External links[edit]