Piteå facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Piteå
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One of the two town squares
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 Piteå
Location in Norrbotten
Piteå
Location in Sweden
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| Country | Sweden |
| Province | Norrbotten |
| County | Norrbotten County |
| Municipality | Piteå Municipality |
| Area | |
| • Total | 24.74 km2 (9.55 sq mi) |
| Population
(2018)
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| • Total | 23,350 |
| • Density | 926/km2 (2,400/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Piteå is a town in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is the main town of Piteå Municipality. Piteå is Sweden's 58th largest city, with about 23,326 people living there.
Contents
Geography
Piteå is located where the Pite River meets the Bay of Bothnia. The main part of the town is on a small island called Häggholmen. This island is almost connected to the mainland because the land in northern Sweden is slowly rising. This process is called post-glacial rebound. The land here rises by about 9 millimeters (0.35 inches) each year!
Piteå's location by the coast, with many islands and small bays, makes it a popular place for visitors. People come here in both summer and winter. There's a fun beach area called Pite Havsbad. It has a long sandy beach, a spa, a restaurant, and even a golf course. You can also go fishing and enjoy other outdoor activities. In winter, people love to ski and even try winter bathing (swimming in cold water!). In the 1950s, Pite Havsbad was known as "Norrbotten's Riviera" because its water was said to be the warmest in Sweden for three summers in a row.
Climate
Piteå has a climate that is mostly subarctic climate. This means it has long, cold winters and short, cool summers. It's also a bit like a humid continental climate, which has bigger differences between summer and winter temperatures.
The warmest months in Piteå are June, July, and August. Temperatures during these months can range from 17 to 30 degrees Celsius (63 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit). The coldest months are December, January, and February. During these months, temperatures can drop to between -22 and -10 degrees Celsius (-8 and 14 degrees Fahrenheit).
History
Piteå became a city on May 12, 1621. This meant it was given special rights to govern itself and hold markets. The name Piteå comes from the Pite River, which is one of the four big rivers in a region called Norrland. The first town was a bit north of where it is now, in a place called Öjebyn.
In July 1666, a big fire burned down the entire town. Over the next few years, Piteå was rebuilt on Häggholmen, the small island that is now the center of the city. But in 1721, Russian soldiers attacked and burned down the new town too! The only building left standing was the church, which you can still see today.
The town square, where the town hall is, still looks much like it did in the 1600s. It's special because its corners are "closed," meaning buildings surround it completely. There's only one other square like it in Sweden, in the city of Uppsala.
Piteå's population has grown a lot since the 1800s. Between 1870 and 1920, only about 2,500 people lived there. The population grew faster after 1911 when a railway line to Piteå opened. New factories and the busy harbor also helped the town grow. Piteå has always been important for its forestry industry, with many papermills and sawmills.
Culture
Piteå is famous for a local food called pitepalt. It's a dish made of potato dumplings filled with chopped pork. The area is also known for its special way of speaking, called Pitemål. However, mostly older people in the villages around Piteå still speak it.
Piteå has a unique fast food drive-thru that snowmobile riders often use! It used to be a McDonald's from 2002 to 2007. Many McDonald's restaurants in the Norrbotten area closed then because of competition from another burger chain called Max Hamburgers. Now, the drive-thru is part of the Frasses hamburger chain. This special drive-thru has even been shown on TV shows like "Most Unique McDonald's" on The Travel Channel.
Piteå has a "sister city" far away in the Caribbean: Gustavia. This city is the capital of Saint Barthélemy, an island that used to belong to Sweden but is now part of France.
The School of Music, which is part of Luleå University of Technology, is located in Piteå.
Cleantech
Piteå is becoming an important place for "cleantech" – technology that helps the environment. This includes making new products from things left over from making cellulose (like from wood). For example, Chemrec has a special machine that turns "black liquor" (a byproduct from paper making) into fuel. They also have the world's first factory that makes BioDME, a type of clean fuel.
Another company, SunPine, has created a way to make renewable diesel fuel using crude tall oil, which also comes from wood. The Energy Technology Centre (ETC) in Piteå is a research center that works on new ways to make clean fuels, focusing on burning, gasifying, and refining natural materials.
Sport
The Piteå IF football (soccer) team for men plays in the fourth highest Swedish division. The Piteå IF ladies team is playing in the highest league in Sweden, called Damallsvenskan, for the first time!
Ice hockey is a very popular sport in Piteå. Even though the local team, Piteå HC, plays in the third-highest league in Sweden, many great players have come from this club. Some famous players who went on to play in the NHL and for the national team include Tomas Holmström, Mikael Renberg, Mattias Öhlund, and Stefan Persson. The Munksund-Skuthamns SK ladies' hockey team is also playing in the highest league, Riksserien, for the first time. Rebecka Stenberg was the first woman from Piteå to play for the Swedish national team.
In cross-country skiing, Piteå has a very successful club called Piteå Elit. Famous skiers like Lina Andersson, Magdalena Pajala, and Charlotte Kalla are part of this club.
In competitive swimming, Piteå has a successful team called Piteå Sim. They are well-known throughout the Norrland region. A famous swimmer from the club is 13-year-old Heidi Nilsson. In 2018, she won first place in the Junior, Senior, and Ladies categories at the Piteå Kanalsimmet, a swimming event that happens every year.
Other sports clubs in Piteå include Storfors AIK, MSSK, and the paintball team 'Team X-rated'.
People from Piteå
- Christopher Jacob Boström
- Nils Edén
- Tomas Holmström — former NHL player with the Detroit Red Wings
- Lars Lindgren — retired former NHL player
- Nils Lundqvist — defenseman with the Dallas Stars
- Liza Marklund
- Peter Mattei — Swedish baritone opera singer
- Mattias Öhlund — former NHL player with the Vancouver Canucks
- Mikael Renberg — retired former NHL player
- Anna Magnusson — Swedish biathlete
- Daniel Solander — Explorer
International relations
Twin towns – Sister cities
Piteå is twinned with:
Kandalaksha, Russia
Grindavík, Iceland
Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy, France
See also
In Spanish: Piteå para niños
