Örnsköldsvik facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Örnsköldsvik
|
|
|---|---|
Clockwise from top: Hägglunds Arena, the guest harbor, the old city hall, the port gantries, and the Ting1 apartments
|
|
| Nickname(s):
Ö-vik
|
|
 Örnsköldsvik
Location in Västernorrland
Örnsköldsvik
Location in Sweden
|
|
| Country | Sweden |
| Province | Ångermanland |
| County | Västernorrland County |
| Municipality | Örnsköldsvik Municipality |
| Area | |
| • City | 33.09 km2 (12.78 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 6,420.97 km2 (2,479.15 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Population
(31 December 2017)
|
|
| • City | 32,953 |
| • Density | 8.8/km2 (23/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 56,139 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code |
89x xx
|
| Area code(s) | (+46) 660 |
| Climate | Dfc |
Örnsköldsvik, often called Ö-vik, is a town in Sweden. It's located in Västernorrland County and is the main town of Örnsköldsvik Municipality. In 2017, about 32,953 people lived here.
The town has a natural harbor and many small islands in the Gulf of Bothnia. It's also near the northern part of the High Coast area. Örnsköldsvik is known for sending out products like paper and big machines to other places. It's also a leader in environmental efforts, even testing cars that run on ethanol.
Contents
History of Örnsköldsvik
People have lived in the Örnsköldsvik area for a very long time. We know this from traces of human activity dating back to the Nordic Bronze Age. There's even a rebuilt Roman Iron Age village called Gene fornby nearby. It's a popular place for tourists to visit.
Örnsköldsvik itself is a fairly new city. It started as a köping, which is a Swedish market town, in 1842. It officially became a city in 1894. The city got its name from Per Abraham Örnsköld. He was the governor of Västernorrland County from 1762 to 1769. The name "Örnsköldsvik" means "Örnsköld's Bay." The last name Örnsköld means "Eagle Shield."
The town was also special because it hosted the first-ever 1976 Winter Paralympics in 1976.
Örnsköldsvik Municipality
The town of Örnsköldsvik is the center of Örnsköldsvik Municipality. A municipality is like a local government area. This municipality is much larger than just the town itself. It has over 56,000 people living in it. The municipality covers huge forest areas and includes many smaller communities outside the main town.
Economy and Industry
For a long time, trade and heavy industry were very important to Örnsköldsvik's economy. In the villages around the city, two big companies started. One was Mo och Domsjö (MoDo), which made pulp, paper, and did logging. This company is now called Holmen. The other was Hägglund & Söner (Hägglunds), which made heavy machines.
Today, companies that came from these two original ones are still very important. For example, Metsä Board, a Finnish company, runs a large pulp mill in Husum. This mill used to belong to MoDo and is one of the biggest in Europe. Another former MoDo mill, Domsjö Fabriker, makes special cellulose in Örnsköldsvik.
Hägglunds has split into several companies. One of them is BAE Systems Hägglunds, which is part of a larger company called BAE Systems. Other important companies in Örnsköldsvik include Svensk Etanolkemi, which makes ethanol products. Also, Fjällräven, a famous company that makes outdoor clothing and equipment, is based here.
Education
Umeå University has a campus in Örnsköldsvik. This means students can study university courses right in town.
Did you know there's an asteroid named after the city? It's called 6795 Örnsköldsvik. Swedish astronomers found it in 1993.
Transportation
The main road that goes through Örnsköldsvik is the European route E4. This road connects the city to many other places.
Örnsköldsvik Airport has daily flights to and from Stockholm Arlanda Airport. These flights are run by Sveaflyg. The airport building was recently made bigger to handle some international flights. The runway was also extended so larger planes can land there.
Railway travel is possible thanks to the Bothnia Line, which opened in 2010. This new railway line added 190 kilometers of high-speed track to Sweden's railway network. Trains can go up to 250 kilometers per hour on this track, making it the fastest in the country. The line connects Örnsköldsvik to Umeå in the north and other lines to the south.
Örnsköldsvik also has a harbor. Here, cargo ships load and unload things like lumber and other goods. In the past, there was a ferry that went directly to Vaasa, Finland. This ferry stopped running when Sweden joined the European Union. Now, the harbor doesn't have many passenger ships.
The city is also well-connected by bus lines. A bus route that goes along the coast, from Haparanda in the north to Stockholm, stops regularly in Örnsköldsvik. There's also a bus route that goes across the country to Östersund.
Recreation and Sports
The area around Örnsköldsvik is very hilly, which makes hiking and exploring the beautiful High Coast scenery popular. In winter, people love to go skiing and play ice hockey. You can find places for cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, and ski jumping right in the downtown area.
Örnsköldsvik is famous in international sports for hosting the first Winter Paralympic Games in 1976. The city also hosted the European Curling Championships in 2008.
Since Örnsköldsvik is on the coast, there are beaches nearby and places to camp. There's also an indoor water park called Paradisbadet. It has one of the longest water slides in Europe!
The most popular sport in town is ice hockey. The local team, Modo Hockey, is back in the SHL, which is the top league in Sweden. They were promoted after winning the Hockeyallsvenskan playoffs. The IF Friska Viljor team has been very successful in ski jumping. Their ski jumping hill, Paradiskullen, is a landmark you can see from the city center.
The local football teams are also popular, even if they haven't won as many big titles. For men, Friska Viljor FC and Anundsjö IF are well-known. For women, Själevads IK is a strong team. Some local floorball teams have also done well.
A new golf course, Veckefjärdens Golf Club, is located south of the city center. It's owned by the famous local ice hockey player Peter Forsberg. The islands along the coast are also big tourist spots, and you can reach them by ferry.
Famous People from Örnsköldsvik
Örnsköldsvik is known for being the hometown of many world-famous ice hockey players. Some of them include Stefan Öhman, Nils Johansson, Per Svartvadet, Peter Forsberg, Markus Näslund, Niklas Sundström, Andreas Salomonsson, Magnus Wernblom, Mattias Timander, Victor Hedman, Tobias Enström, Victor Olofsson, and the twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin. The Sedin twins were top players for the Vancouver Canucks along with Markus Näslund. Victor Hedman plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Many stars from earlier generations of hockey, like Anders Hedberg, Thomas Gradin, and Anders Kallur, also came from Örnsköldsvik or played for the Modo Hockey club.
Other notable people from Örnsköldsvik include:
- Peter Artedi, a naturalist known as the "father of ichthyology" (the study of fish).
- Mikael Bohman, a professional ice hockey goaltender.
- Åsa Domeij, a politician and agronomist (someone who studies soil and crops).
- Niklas Edin, a skip (team captain) of the Swedish curling team. He has won many Olympic medals (gold, silver, bronze) and six world championships.
- Magdalena Forsberg, a famous cross-country skier and biathlete.
- Staffan Götestam, an actor and musician.
- Tomas Haake and Mårten Hagström, who are the drummer and rhythm guitarist for the band Meshuggah.
- Thomas Hammarberg, a diplomat and human rights activist.
- Hans Hedberg, a sculptor famous for his ceramic fruit art.
- Solveig Hellquist, a politician.
- Malin Hållberg-Leuf, a former competitive figure skater and Swedish national champion.
- Sofia Jakobsson, a professional football player.
- Fredrik Lindström, a Swedish biathlete.
- Kristina Lundberg, an ice hockey player who won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
- Malin Moström, a former captain of the Swedish women's national football team.
- Märta Norberg, a cross-country skier from the 1940s and 1950s.
- Åke Nordin, the inventor and founder of Fjällräven.
- Emma Nordin, an ice hockey player.
- Maud Olofsson, a former politician who led the Swedish Centre Party.
- Miah Persson, a soprano singer known internationally.
- Eilert Pilarm, an Elvis impersonator.
- Frida Östberg, a retired football midfielder who played for several teams and the Swedish women's national football team.
Images for kids
-
M/S Silver Shadow visiting Örnsköldsvik, with Hägglunds Arena in the background.
-
The town square Stora Torget in central Örnsköldsvik.
See also
In Spanish: Örnsköldsvik para niños
