Gällivare (; fi, Jällivaara; se, Jiellevárri or ; smj, Jiellevárre or ; fit, Jellivaara) is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or ''län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

of Lapland,

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 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns Malmberget and Koskullskulle it forms a

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

with some 15,000 inhabitants. This conurbation is the second northernmost significant urban area of Sweden after

Kiruna (; se, Giron ; fi, Kiiruna ) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The city was ...

. Gällivare is situated at the northern end of the Inlandsbanan railway line, about 100 kilometres north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...

. Gällivare is located in a major

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

mining region. Adjacent to Gällivare (about five kilometres) is Malmberget, known as a site for

extraction from deep mines by LKAB. Outside Gällivare lies the ski

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

Dundret, which is equipped with six

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aerial ...

s and ten groomed slopes along with a conference center and

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

. The ski season stretches from the end of October all the way into early May. The town has been host for several World Cup skiing events, both alpine and cross-country. Gällivare is the center of the Firstborn Laestadian movement. It was the host town for the 2008 VIVA World Cup and also the filming spot for Avicii's single " Addicted to You". Sweden's second-largest fast food chain,

Max Hamburgers Max Burgers Aktiebolag (Max Burgers Incorporated), earlier ''Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB'', is a Swedish fast food corporation. History The chain was founded by Curt Bergfors (27 February 1949 - 8 May 2022) and Britta Fredriksson in Gälliv ...

, was founded in Gällivare, though the headquarters have since relocated to

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; 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 (2018) and is the seat of Lu ...

Climate

As expected given its high latitude, Gällivare has a rather cold climate. Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

it is a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, g ...

(Dfc). Winters are very severe by Scandinavian standards, but are somewhat moderated by marine air from the North Atlantic. As a result, certain cities on the North American

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...

such as

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

and

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city ...

, along with East Asian cities even further south, have colder January averages than Gällivare. The winter temperature varies greatly due to the city's location between the open ocean and a large, snow-covered land mass, and can be one day to the next. Gällivare experiences

midnight sun The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, ...

for a significant period of summer, though sees some glimpses of daylight even during the winter solstice due to its notable distance from the Arctic Circle. As a result of prolonged warming from early morning by the midnight sun and Gällivare's inland position, temperatures can occasionally get hot in the summer. The all-time high stands at .

High incidence of congenital insensitivity to pain

Some inhabitants near Gällivare, mainly in the village of Tjautjas (also Tjautjasjaure or Čavččas) 20 km outside Gällivare, have a remarkably high incidence of

congenital insensitivity to pain Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), also known as congenital analgesia, is one or more extraordinarily rare conditions in which a person cannot feel (and has never felt) physical pain. The conditions described here are separate from the HSAN ...

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

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Gällivare: *

Gällivare Malmbergets FF Gällivare Malmbergets FF is a Swedish football club in Gällivare. Background Since its foundation in 2005, Gällivare Malmbergets FF has participated in the middle divisions of the Swedish football league system. The club currently plays in D ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallivare Lapland (Sweden) Municipal seats of Norrbotten County Open-pit mines Populated places in Arctic Sweden Populated places in Gällivare Municipality Swedish municipal seats fi:Jällivaaran kunta