Älvsbyn Municipality
Encyclopedia
Älvsbyn Municipality is a municipality
Municipalities of Sweden
The municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...

 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...

 in northern 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....

. Its seat
Administrative centre
An administrative centre is a term often used in several countries to refer to a county town, or other seat of regional or local government, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located....

 is located in Älvsbyn
Älvsbyn
Älvsbyn is a locality and the seat of Älvsbyn Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 5,042 inhabitants in 2005.Älvsbyn has a railway station that is served by trains running between Boden and Stockholm along the Swedish east coast. It also features a Youth Hostel with a small recreational...

.

The present municipality has the same size as the original one, created at the time the municipalities of Sweden were formed in 1863. 1948-1968 a part of it constituted a market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...

 (köping
Köping
This article deals with the Swedish denomination for a market town. For the city, see Köping, Sweden. For the municipality, see Köping Municipality....

) and a municipality of its own, but the entities were reunited in 1969.

Geography

The municipality stretches along the Pite River
Pite River
The Pite River is a river in northern Sweden, flowing through the Norrbotten County. It is one of the four major rivers in Norrland that have been left mostly untouched by water power plants, the river has a single dam at Sikfors approximately 15 km upstream from the sea.It starts in the large...

 for about 60 kilometres in a naturesque surrounding.

Localities

There are four localities
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...

 (or urban areas) in Älvsbyn Municipality:
# Locality Population
1 Älvsbyn
Älvsbyn
Älvsbyn is a locality and the seat of Älvsbyn Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 5,042 inhabitants in 2005.Älvsbyn has a railway station that is served by trains running between Boden and Stockholm along the Swedish east coast. It also features a Youth Hostel with a small recreational...

5,042
2 Vidsel
Vidsel
Vidsel is a locality situated in Älvsbyn Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 569 inhabitants in 2005. It is situated about 900 km north of Stockholm, Sweden, in the Arctic Circle; Perhaps its earliest history is as a seasonal settlement, but permanent inhabitants have lived here since...

 
569
3 Korsträsk
Korsträsk
Korsträsk is a locality situated in Älvsbyn Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 397 inhabitants in 2005....

 
397
4 Vistträsk
Vistträsk
Vistträsk is a locality situated in Älvsbyn Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 258 inhabitants in 2005....

 
258


The municipal seat in bold
Emphasis (typography)
In typography, emphasis is the exaggeration of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text—to emphasize them.- Methods and use :...


Industry

Two main industries in the town of Älvsbyn are AB Älvsbyhus, which builds houses, and Polarbageriet AB, which is nationally famous for their breads.

Polarbageriet has a production of about 1.5 million breads a day. They do not make loaves, but rather flat slices of a whitish bread. Their main distribution is within Sweden, but a small export goes to Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, where it is popular to use for homemade pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...

.

Älvsbyhus has its base in Älvsbyn, and one of its factories there too. It is Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

's biggest producer of prefabricated home
Prefabricated home
Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes, are dwellings manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled....

s in wood. Their average production is around two houses a day, although much of the production is located at other factories closer to the market.

RFN is a government military testing facility, not just for domestic use. It is one of very few places where live missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...

s can be tested over land, and attracts military testers from other countries as well.

There is also some tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

, with a popular place to visit in the nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 Storforsen
Storforsen
Storforsen, a rapid in the Pite River in Swedish Norrbottens län is located approximately 38 km northwest of Älvsbyn. With an average flow of 250 m3/s, the rapids are one of the biggest in Europe. The rapids stretch out over a distance of 5 km in which the riverbed is lowered by 82...

, just west of Vidsel
Vidsel
Vidsel is a locality situated in Älvsbyn Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 569 inhabitants in 2005. It is situated about 900 km north of Stockholm, Sweden, in the Arctic Circle; Perhaps its earliest history is as a seasonal settlement, but permanent inhabitants have lived here since...

.

Sister cities

Älvsbyn Municipality has three sister cities
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

:
  • Fauske
    Fauske
    is a town and municipality located in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fauske with approximately 6,000 inhabitants....

    , Norway
    Norway
    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

  • Haapavesi
    Haapavesi
    Haapavesi is a town and a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...

    , Finland
    Finland
    Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

  • Monchegorsk
    Monchegorsk
    Monchegorsk is a town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kola Peninsula, south of Murmansk, the administrative center of the oblast. Administratively, it is incorporated as Monchegorsk Town with Jurisdictional Territory—a unit of administrative division equal in status to that of a district...

    , Russia
    Russia
    Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...


External links

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