Linköping () is a city in southern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of

Linköping Municipality Linköping Municipality (''Linköpings kommun'') is a municipality in Östergötland County in southern Sweden. With more than 165,000 inhabitants, it is the fifth largest municipality in Sweden. The municipality is bordered in the west by Motala ...

and the capital of

Östergötland County Östergötland County ( sv, Östergötlands län) is a county or ''län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to t ...

. Linköping is also the

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

of the

Diocese of Linköping The Diocese of Linköping ( sv, Linköpings stift) is a diocese within the Church of Sweden administering the Östergötland County, the north eastern part of Jönköping County and the northern part of Kalmar County. It comprises nine deane ...

(

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

) and is well known for its cathedral. Linköping is the center of an old cultural region and celebrated its 700th anniversary in 1987. Dominating the city's skyline from afar is the steeple of the cathedral, Domkyrka. Nowadays, Linköping is known for its

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

and its high-technology industry. Linköping wants to create a sustainable development of the city and therefore plans to become a

carbon-neutral Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the " ...

community by 2025. Located on the Östergötland Plain, Linköping is closely linked to

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linkö ...

, roughly to the east, near the sea.

History

The city is possibly named after the '' Lionga ting'' assembly which according to

Medieval Scandinavian laws Medieval Scandinavian law, also called North Germanic law, was a subset of Germanic law practiced by North Germanic peoples. It was originally memorized by lawspeakers, but after the end of the Viking Age they were committed to writing, mostly by ...

was the most important thing in Östergötland. Exact location of the Lionga ting is not known, but it was along the Eriksgata. The term " -köping" means there was a market there. Historically, Linköping is famed for being an early

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

, 1082, second in Sweden (within its pre-1658 boundaries) only to Skara. The diocese is first mentioned in 1104 in the so-called " List of Florence" (''Lionga. Kaupinga''). The monastery of

Vreta Kloster Vreta Abbey ( sv, Vreta kloster), in operation from the beginning of the 12th century to 1582, was the first nunnery in Sweden, initially Benedictine and later Cistercian, and one of the oldest in Scandinavia. It was located in the present-da ...

near Roxen north of Linköping was established in 1128, and the oldest parts of the cathedral are also from the 12th century (although it has been changed many times since then, the eye-catching tower with copper roofing being a 19th-century product). On several occasions attempts to achieve a separate Swedish archdiocese were based in Linköping, although, when they finally were successful in 1164,

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the ca ...

was chosen instead. The coronation of Valdemar Birgersson took place in the cathedral in 1251. In the reign of Gustavus Vasa several important diets were held in the town. Religious centers tend to become educational centers, and Linköping was no exception. A cathedral school can be traced from 1266. In 1627 the current Linköping cathedral school was established, making it the third oldest gymnasium in Sweden. Also, Linköping was the site for the final settlement of the dispute between king Sigismund III Vasa and his uncle Duke Charles, the latter prevailing in the

battle of Stångebro The Battle of Stångebro, or the Battle of Linköping, took place at Linköping, Sweden, on 25 September 1598 (O.S.) and effectively ended the personal union between Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, that had existed since 1592. ...

(today a sports field near central Linköping) on 25 September 1598. This ultimately led to the rise to the throne of Charles (''de facto'' at the 1600 Riksdag of the Estates meeting in Linköping and formally four years later) and the end of the short-lived Swedish-Polish personal union, as well as the execution of five of Charles's political opponents on the main square of Linköping on 20 March 1600. Linköping was a small town until 1937, when the Saab aircraft industry was formed, starting a period of rapid expansion. Linköping University was established in the 1960s. Today the city is a center of high-technology and software industry.

Climate

Linköping has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

(''Dfb''), though with maritime influences, retaining the large differences between seasons but being comparatively mild when measured against other areas of the world on similar latitudes. Linköping tends to be slightly cooler in summer than nearby areas in the Mälar valley, but still was the weather station in Sweden among the officially listed for monthly statistics, that until 2018 had come the closest to a subtropical month, with July 1914 having a mean temperature of , with the subtropical border being at for the warmest month. A number of other Swedish cities surpassed this threshold in July 2018, however. Normally summer highs average in the low 20s and winter temperatures commonly hover just above the freezing point during the day, then falls below it at night.

Demography

In 2000, 10.9 per cent of the population in Linköping municipality had a foreign background. Since then, the share has gradually increased and in 2019 its share amounted to 23.1 percent. Top 5 largest immigrant communities are: 1. Iraq – 3850 2. Somalia - 2345 3. Eritrea - 1129 4. Iran - 988 5. Bosnia and Herzegovina - 667

Culture

Linköping offers a wealth of leisure activities to people of all ages. Residents and visitors are able to enjoy art, theatre, history, concerts, markets, festivals and sporting events. Special sights of interests are: the locks of Berg on the

Göta Canal The Göta Canal ( sv, Göta kanal) is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal is long, of which were dug or blasted, with a width varying between and a maximum depth of about .Uno Svedin, Britt Hägerhäll Anians ...

, the locks of the Kinda Canal, ''Gamla'' Linköping, Valla ''skogen'' and Valla ''fritidsområde'' (Old Linköping, Valla Wood, and the Valla recreational area), ''Flygvapen'' museum (the Air Force Museum), Linköping's ''domkyrka'' (the Cathedral), ''Slotts- och domkyrkomuseet'' (the Castle and Cathedral Museum) and ''Östergötlands Länsmuseum'' (the Östergötland County Museum). ''Konsthallen Passagen'' is an art gallery located in the main square. Tornby, to the north of the city centre, is a vast shopping area with huge retail outlets and immense parking lots. The city and its environs offer all sorts of green landscapes to see and experience. Two examples are a park named after the group responsible for it, ''Trädgårdsföreningen'' (The Garden Society), and the Tinnerö area with its oak woodland. Local bodies of water include the lakes Roxen, Rängen and Järnlunden, the River Stångån/Kinda Canal and the Göta Canal with the Berg locks. These areas can be accessed by foot, bicycle, or boat. Linköping is the home of the Linköping Symphony Orchestra. The city is one of the sites of the ''Östergötland Music Days'' each summer, and the host of the ''Student Orchestra Festival'' in May every other year. One of the most notable choirs in Linköping is the Linköping University Male Voice Choir. Linköping is also the home of theatrical heavy metal band

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

and rock band the Pusjkins ( sv). The area around the main square was re-planned in the 1960s, and many old houses were destroyed. Some, however, were moved to '' Gamla Linköping'' (Old Linköping), in the city's western part, neighbouring the university's main campus. It is a living museum environment and a popular site with both residents and tourists. NärCon, the largest anime and gaming convention in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sw ...

, is held in Linköping.

Sport

Teams from Linköping are prominent in floorball,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

( Linköpings VC) and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

( Linköpings HC (see above), or "Cluben" as some fans refer to it). The hockey team allied itself with Linköping's women's football team and created

Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...

, which plays in the highest division. The team won the Swedish Cup in 2006 and 2014. The world's largest floorball clu
Linköping Innebandy
resides in the indoor sports arena in the city centre. The city continues to lack a first-class men's team in football with several teams competing in the lower leagues. Cloetta Center, Linköping, juli 2005

Other sports clubs include: * BK Derby * Derby/Linköping BK * BK Kenty * LiU AIF FK * Hjulsbro IK * IK Östria Lambohov * Karle IF * Linköpings ASS * Malmslätts AIK * Linköpings SF * Linköpings Budoklubb *Ekängen IF

Orienteering

Linköping hosted the

1968 World Orienteering Championships The 2nd World Orienteering Championships were held in Linköping, Sweden, 28–29 September 1968. The championships had four events; individual contests for men and women, and relays for men and women. The men's individual course Course may ...

Politics and government

General elections were held in Sweden on 14 September 2014 to elect the Riksdag, all 21

county councils A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

and 290 municipal assemblies. The local Social Democrats (S; Social Demokraterna),

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

(MP; Miljöpartiet) and the Liberal People's Party (L; Liberalerna, formerly FP; Folk Partiet) formed a

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

majority named "coalition for Linköping" with 40 out of 79 mandates, while the minority opposition in Linköping consist each separate by: the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic ...

(M; Moderaterna), Centre Party (C; Center Partiet),

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(Kristdemokraterna), Left Party (V; Vänsterpartiet) and the Sweden Democrats (SD; Sverige Demokraterna). The Swedish Air Force Museum is located near the town.

Economy

One of the biggest employers in Linköping is Saab which among other products manufactures the SAAB Gripen fighter jet and where the SAAB 340 twin-engine commuter turboprop was produced. The city also has a strong presence in information technology with the headquarters of

IFS AB IFS AB (Industrial and Financial Systems) is a multinational enterprise software company headquartered in Linköping, Sweden. The company develops and delivers enterprise software for customers worldwide who manufacture and distribute goods, m ...

Sectra AB Sectra AB is a Swedish company founded in 1978 active within medical technology and encrypted communication systems. Notable products include the communication system RAKEL which is used by Swedish organisations and institutions that provide v ...

and Cambio Healthcare Systems AB, as well as the presence of

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...

Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in inform ...

Infor Infor is a multinational company headquartered in New York City that provides industry specific, enterprise software licensed for use on premises or as a service. , Infor's software had 58 million users, and 90,000 corporate customers in 2 ...

, and many others. Toyota Industries Sweden AB has a presence in Linköping, as one of its subsidiaries, BT Industries, is located in nearby Mjölby.

Transport

The city is situated south of lake

Roxen Roxen () is a medium-sized lake in south-central Sweden, east of Lake Vättern, part of the waterpath Motala ström and the Göta Canal. South of Lake Roxen is the city Linköping. Roxen, especially the western parts, is very good for birdwatch ...

(which is part of the historically important water paths

Motala ström Motala ström is the river system that drains lake Vättern, the second largest lake in Sweden, into the Baltic Sea in Norrköping. It is named from the city Motala where it begins. In the early 19th century, the Göta Canal The Göta Can ...

and the

) where the E4, Sweden's highway backbone, crosses the river

Stångån Stångån is a small river in southern Sweden, 185 km long and with a drainage basin of 2440 km2. It flows from the highlands of eastern Småland in the south to lake Roxen in the north. At the outlet near Linköping, the average discha ...

(and Kinda kanal). It is situated on the main southern railway line connecting

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

with

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popul ...

and Danish capital

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

. Linköping/Saab Airport offers daily connections to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

In 2019, the city started experimenting with two autonomous buses that run along a 2 km route around the

university campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-li ...

Education

The city is home to Linköping University and its associated hospital Linköping University Hospital. The Katedralskolan ( en, Cathedral School) is the third oldest gymnasium in the country.

Notable residents

* Dead Soul * Tobias Forge *

Martin Axenrot Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot (born 5 March 1979 in Linköping, Sweden) is a Swedish death metal drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive death metal band Opeth from 2006 to 2021. Since 2004, he is the drummer for Bloodbath. Known ...

* Charlotta Berger *

Jöns Jacob Berzelius Baron Jöns Jacob Berzelius (; by himself and his contemporaries named only Jacob Berzelius, 20 August 1779 – 7 August 1848) was a Swedish chemist. Berzelius is considered, along with Robert Boyle, John Dalton, and Antoine Lavoisier, to be o ...

Hans Brask *Hans Brask (1464–1538) was a Swedish Bishop of Linköping. Biography Brask was born in Linköping in 1464 to a bourgeois family. He studied philosophy and law at German universities, e.g. Rostock, and around 1500 he received a doctoral degre ...

* Elsa Brändström * Fredrik Bringnäs *

Magnus Bäckstedt Magnus Bäckstedt (born 30 January 1975)L'Équipe, France, 12 April 2004. is a Swedish former professional road bicycle racer. His most notable achievement in cycling is winning Paris–Roubaix in 2004. Early life Born in Linköping, Östergöt ...

* Oscar Cesare *

Tage Danielsson Tage Danielsson (; 5 February 1928 – 13 October 1985) was a Swedish author, actor, comedian, poet and film director. He is best known for his collaboration with Hans Alfredson in the comedy duo Hasse & Tage. Career After graduation from ...

Cecilia Frode Pia Ingela Cecilia Frode is a Swedish actress born on 14 August 1970 in Linköping. Career Frode graduated from the theatre school in Malmö in 1994. She also won a Guldbagge Award for Best Supporting Actress in the Swedish comedy film Klassf ...

* Thomas Funck * Glam Sam And His Combo (Mats Samuelsson) * Marie Göranzon *

Rutger Gunnarsson Johan Rutger Gunnarsson (12 February 1946 – 30 April 2015) was a Swedish musician, bass guitarist, guitarist, arranger and producer. He was closely associated with the pop group ABBA. Career Gunnarsson grew up in Ledberg parish. His career began ...

* Gunnar Hoffsten *

Louise Hoffsten Louise Hoffsten, born September 6, 1965 in Linköping, Sweden, is a Swedish songwriter, musician and singer spanning several genres, notably rock, blues, folk and pop. Her father, Gunnar Hoffsten, was also a musician and played the trumpet in a ...

* Patrik Jensen * Kettil Karlsson (Vasa) * Paul Lindvall *

Anders Ljungstedt Anders Ljungstedt (; 23 March 1759 – 10 November 1835) was a Swedish merchant and historian. Early career Ljungstedt was born to a poor family in Linköping and attended Uppsala University for a time, but was forced to withdraw for lack of fu ...

* Martin Lönnebo * Olaus Magnus *

Mercedes Masöhn Mercedes Mason (formerly Masöhn; born 1982/1983) is a Swedish-born American actress and former model. She is known for playing the role of Zondra in the television series ''Chuck'', and as Isabel Zambada in the procedural drama '' The Finder''.C ...

Ludwig Göransson Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson (; ; born 1 September 1984) is a Swedish composer, conductor and record producer. He has scored films such as ''Fruitvale Station'', the ''Rocky'' franchise entries ''Creed'' and ''Creed II'', ''Venom'', and '' Ten ...

* Erik Sagström * Magnus Andersson * Pierre Thorsson * André Oscar Wallenberg * Lars Winnerbäck * Bruno K. Öijer * Jenni Asserholt * Magnus Johansson * Jonna Lee (of iamamiwhoami) * Theoz *

Sofie Louise Johansson Che Puan Sofie Louise Johansson Petra ( Jawi: ; born 6 June 1986) is the consort of Tengku Muhammad Fa-iz Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail Petra, the Crown Prince of Malaysian State of Kelantan. Personal life Johansson was born and rai ...

City districts

Source in Swedish: * Innerstaden * Ramshäll * Vimanshäll * Djurgården * Ekholmen * Ekkällan * Johannelund *

Berga Berga () is the capital of the ''comarca'' (county) of Berguedà, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is bordered by the municipalities of Cercs, Olvan, Avià, Capolat and Castellar del Riu. History Berga derives its name ...

* Garnisonen * Gottfridsberg * Hackefors * Hejdegården * Hjulsbro * Jägarvallen * Kallerstad * Lambohov * Mjärdevi * Ryd * Skäggetorp * Tallboda * Tannefors * Tornby * Ullstämma * Västra Valla * Östra Valla * Vasastaden * Vidingsjö

References

External links

*
www.visitlinkoping.se – The official visitors guide to Linköping
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Linkoping County seats in Sweden Municipal seats of Östergötland County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Östergötland County Populated places in Linköping Municipality Market towns in Sweden Cities in Östergötland County