Degerfors is a locality

Urban areas in Sweden

Urban area is a common English translation of the Swedish term tätort. The official term in English, used by Statistics Sweden, is, however, locality. There are 1,940 localities in Sweden . They could be compared with census-designated places in the United States.A tätort in Sweden has a minimum of...

 and the seat of Degerfors Municipality

Degerfors Municipality

Degerfors Municipality is a municipality in Örebro County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Degerfors....

, Örebro County

Örebro County

Örebro County is a county or län in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland.- Province :...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 with 7,418 inhabitants in 2005.

Overview

Degerfors has traditionally been an industrial community closely connected to the large ironworks

Ironworks

An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...

. The settlement (originally called Johannelund) grew up around this industry and got the status of a municipalsamhälle (a type of borough within a municipality) in 1912. Today it acts as seat of the larger Degerfors Municipality.

Sports

Nationally, Degerfors is best known for the soccer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 team Degerfors IF

Degerfors IF

Degerfors IF is a Swedish football club located in Degerfors. The club, formed 13 January 1907, is currently playing in the second highest Swedish league, Superettan.-Background:...

. Despite the relatively small size of the town, Degerfors has always had a strong local support, and played a total of 29 years in the highest division Allsvenskan

Allsvenskan

Allsvenskan is a Swedish professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Swedish football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan...

. In 1997 the team were relegated and are currently 2010 playing in the second highest Swedish league, Superettan

Superettan

Superettan is the second highest league in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 16 Swedish football teams. It was created in 2000. Before that, the second level league in Sweden had been Division 1....

.

Another sports club located in Degerfors is Strömtorps IK

Strömtorps IK

Strömtorps IK is a Swedish football club located in the neighbourhood of Strömtorp in Degerfors.-Background:Strömtorps Idrottsklubb is a sports club from Degerfors. The club was formed in April 1932 and football and skiing are its main sections....

.