Gällivare is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality

Gällivare Municipality

Gällivare Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Gällivare.The municipality is the third largest in Sweden, but it has not been amalgamated with other entities....

 in Norrbotten County

Norrbotten County

Norrbotten County is the northernmost county or län of Sweden. It borders Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf of Bothnia to the southeast. It also borders the counties of Nordland and Troms in Norway to the northwest, and Lapland Province in Finland to the northeast.The name...

, 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 8,480 inhabitants in 2005. The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns Malmberget

Malmberget

Malmberget is a locality and mining town situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 6,017 inhabitants in 2005. It is situated 5 kilometres from the municipal seat Gällivare....

 and Koskullskulle

Koskullskulle

Koskullskulle is a locality situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 899 inhabitants in 2005.It was founded in 1898 when iron ore was discovered. The village got its name from Georg Adolf Koskull who was governor of Norrbotten County 1816-1821.The iron ore mine situated...

 it forms a conurbation

Conurbation

A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area...

 with some 15,000 inhabitants.

Gällivare is situated at the northern end of the Inlandsbanan

Inlandsbanan

-External links:* - Official site* - Information for railpass travellers...

 railway line, just about 100 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Gällivare is located in a major iron ore mining region.
Adjacent to Gällivare (about five kilometres) is Malmberget

Malmberget

Malmberget is a locality and mining town situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 6,017 inhabitants in 2005. It is situated 5 kilometres from the municipal seat Gällivare....

, known as a site for iron ore extraction from deep mine

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

s by LKAB

LKAB

LKAB is a Swedish mining company. The company mines iron ore at Kiruna and at Malmberget in northern Sweden. The company was established in 1890, and has been 100% state-owned since the 1950s...

.

Outside Gällivare lies the ski

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

 resort

Resort

A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....

 Dundret, which is equipped with six ski lift

Ski lift

The term ski lift generally refers to any transport device that carries skiers up a hill. A ski lift may fall into one of the following three main classes:-Lift systems and networks:...

s and ten groomed slopes along with a conference center and hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

. The ski season stretches from the end of October all the way into early May.

Gällivare is the central place for the Firstborn Laestadian

The Firstborn Laestadianism

Firstborn Laestadians are a subgroup within Laestadianism. The "Firstborn" are known for their traditionalism and their conservative pietistic ideals, and they seek to avoid "worldly pleasures". The name "Firstborn" relates to the Bible, Hebr. 12:23, which mentions "the church of the firstborn" ....

 movement.

It was the host town for the 2008 VIVA World Cup

2008 VIVA World Cup

The 2008 VIVA World Cup was the second VIVA World Cup, an international tournament for football, that took place in July 2008. The winners were Padania, who took home the Nelson Mandela Trophy. The tournament was organised by the Nouvelle Fédération-Board....

.

Gällivare is twinned with Barga

Barga

Barga is a medieval town and comune of the province of Lucca in Tuscany, central Italy. It is home to around 10,000 people and is the chief town of the "Media Valle" of the Serchio.-Geography:...

 in Tuscany

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

High incidence of congenital insensitivity to pain

Some inhabitants of Gällivare have a remarkably high incidence of congenital insensitivity to pain

Congenital insensitivity to pain

Congenital insensitivity to pain , also known as congenital analgesia, is one or more rare conditions where a person cannot feel physical pain...

, an extremely rare disease which inhibits the sensation of pain, heat and cold. There have been nearly 40 reported cases in Gällivare.