| Official Name: | Luleå |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Pushpin Map: | Sweden Norrbotten#Sweden |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Coordinates: | 65.5844°N 22.1539°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Sweden |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name1: | Norrbotten |
| Subdivision Name2: | Norrbotten County |
| Subdivision Name3: | Luleå Municipality |
| Established Title3: | Charter |
| Established Date3: | 17th century |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 29.09 |
| Elevation M: | 6 |
| Population As Of: | 31 December 2018 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Metro: | 77832 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 971 00 – 978 20 |
| Area Code: | (+46) 920 |
| Timezone: | CET |
| Utc Offset: | +1 |
| Timezone Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
Luleå ([3] pronounced as /sv/, locally pronounced as /sv/; smj|Luleju; fi|Luulaja) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core as of 2018 and is the seat of Luleå Municipality with a total population of about 79,000 as of 2023.[4] Luleå is Sweden's 25th largest city and Norrbotten County's largest city. Luleå is considered as the world's largest brackish water archipelago with 1,312 islands, several rivers and vast forestland.[5]
Luleå has the seventh biggest harbor in Sweden for shipping goods.[6] It has a large steel industry and is a center for extensive research. It is also home to the Swedish Air Force Wing Norrbotten Wing (F 21) based in Luleå Airport. Luleå University of Technology is one of Sweden's three technology universities with around 15,000 students and is the northernmost university in Sweden.
The town's Royal charter was granted in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The original town was situated where Gammelstad (Old Town) is situated today. The town had to be moved in 1649 to the current site,[7] due to the post-glacial rebound that had made the bay too shallow for ships to enter.
In 1805, Luleå only had 947 inhabitants, but in 1865 Luleå succeeded Piteå as the county town in Norrbotten county and now had around 1400 residents. In the 1860s the industries also started taking root in the city.
The town was plagued by fires in 1653, 1657 and 1887, and the fire in 1887 was a devastating fire that destroyed most of the town, sparing only a few buildings. The Neo-Gothic Cathedral (originally the Oscar Fredrik church), dedicated in 1893, standing at 67 meters (220 ft), is the tallest building in town.
Luleå's commerce and industry are a mix of industry, research, education, trade, and services.
Major employers in the city are the SSAB steelworks and Luleå University of Technology. A Swedish Air Force wing, F 21 (or Norrbotten Air Force Wing), is stationed near Luleå at the neighbouring Luleå Airport. Other major employers include Ferruform (a subsidiary of Scania AB) and Gestamp HardTech (acquired from SSAB 2005-01-01).
The information technology industry in Luleå has about 2000 employees (2008).
Luleå is the home of several major innovations and technological milestones.[8]
Luleå has a subarctic climate (Dfc) with short, mild to warm summers and long, cold, snowy winters.
Luleå's climate is influenced both by the North Atlantic and the proximity to the Gulf of Bothnia and it has milder climate than most of cities on the same latitude and even some that are further south in Canada, Alaska, Northeast China and Siberia. During the summer in June and July the temperature in Luleå can some days rise to around . Summers are very bright, with marginal twilight being the only exception during the summer solstice.
From September to March, northern lights can be seen if the sky is clear.[13]
| Colspan=14 | Average sea temperatures and daily daylight hours in Luleå | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | |||
| Average sea temperature °C (°F) | style="background:#9090FF;color:#000000;" | -0.3 | style="background:#8484FF;color:#000000;" | -0.7 | style="background:#7E7EFF;color:#000000;" | -0.2 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 10.8 | 16.3 | 15.7 | 11.8 | 7.6 | 5.0 | 2.8 | 5.9 |
| Colspan=14 style="background:#f8f9fa;font-weight:normal;font-size:95%;" | Source: Weather Atlas[14] |
Newspapers include:
Luleå became a transport hub in the region for ore, steel and freight, with trans-shipping between road, ship and rail.[15]
Public transport in Luleå is operated by Luleå Lokaltrafik and consists of five main bus lines, an additional five bus lines, and direct connection bus traffic and night bus service. From Luleå Bus station, Länstrafiken i Norrbotten operates several regional bus lines within Norrbotten County.
Luleå/Kallax Airport (IATA: LLA, ICAO: ESPA), located 7 km (5 mi) south of the city centre, is the fifth largest airport in Sweden, with about 1.2 million yearly passengers.[16] It is the largest airport in Norrland. The domestic route to Stockholm Arlanda Airport is the third busiest domestic route in Sweden with over 1 million passengers per year. There are about 15 daily flights to and from Stockholm.[17] Luleå Lokaltrafik operates connections to and from Luleå/Kallax Airport via lines 4 and 104.
In total, there are seven scheduled destinations and about 15 additional charter destinations. The Stockholm Arlanda Airport route is operated by Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle and serves the vast majority of passengers at the airport with about 16 daily connections each way. Scandinavian Airlines also operates a direct connection to Göteborg Landvetter Airport.
Nextjet operates connections to and from Göteborg Landvetter Airport via Höga Kusten Airport, and their Tromsø Airport – Oulu Airport route lands at Luleå/Kallax Airport on some departures. Jonair offers connections to Pajala Airport.
Luleå has rail lines coming from both north and south.[18] Vy Tåg operates a night train services northbound for Kiruna and Narvik, and southbound for Stockholm. Norrtåg operates train services from Luleå to Umeå, Kiruna and Haparanda.
In terms of bulk shipments, the Port of Luleå is one of the country's biggest ports.[19]
The world's first indoor mall[20] was opened in Luleå in 1955 (architect: Ralph Erskine) and was named Shopping. There are two other malls in Luleå: Strand and Smedjan. The main shopping streets in Luleå are Storgatan and Kungsgatan. A few kilometres outside Luleå there is a shopping centre called Storheden.
Luleå has a variety of cultural institutions, among them Norrbottensteatern; Norrbottens Museum; and, led by Tim Hagans. In January 2007 the Cultural House (Kulturens Hus) was opened. A library, concerts, and art exhibitions are all hosted here.
Luleå is also home to hardcore punk band Raised Fist, melodic death metal band The Duskfall, power metal band Machinae Supremacy and death 'n' roll band Helltrain.
One of the largest winter festivals in Luleå is the indoor Minus 30-festivalen, held at Kulturens hus (the House of Culture) annually on a Saturday in mid-March.
Luleå Hamnfestival (Luleå harbor festival) is a big summer event in the center of Luleå, mostly centered around the north harbor. The festival has been a recurring event each summer since 2013. Held in July, it is a free event not targeting a specific group. The festival is the new version of Luleåkalaset which was held each summer from 2002 to 2012, which itself replaced sjöslaget, the summer festival from 1988 to 2002.
Musikens makt (The power of music) is a smaller, free music festival that is held each summer in August at Gültzauudden since 2010.
Ice music is a new art form where professional musicians play on instruments made out of ice. The concerts are performed in a huge igloo and the instruments pulsate in all the colors of the rainbow.
Luleå is the base for the Norrbotten Band of the Home Guard Music which consists of voluntary musicians from Norrbotten County's Home Guard.
Luleå has many teams competing in a variety of sports.
Four teams in Luleå compete in the highest Swedish leagues: Luleå Basket (female basketball team, previously called Northland Basket); BC Luleå (male basketball team, previously named Plannja Basket and LF Basket Norrland); and Luleå Hockey/MSSK (Munksund-Skuthamns Sportklubb) (female ice hockey team) and Luleå Hockey (male ice hockey team).
Luleå Basket has won two Swedish championships (2014 and 2015), while BC Luleå has won eight Swedish championships (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2017). Luleå Hockey/MSSK female team won their first Swedish Championship in 2016 while the male Luleå Hockey team has won one Swedish Championship in 1996, the European Trophy in 2012 and the Champions Hockey League in 2015.
The Swedish Championship in Yukigassen is held in Luleå annually.