Arvidsjaur Municipality

From MedBib.com - Medicine & Nature

Jump to: navigation, search
Arvidsjaurs kommun
Arvidsjaur vapen.svg
Coat of arms
County Norrbotten County
Province Lapland
Seat Arvidsjaur
Arvidsjaur Municipality in Norrbotten County.png
Population
 • Total
260th of 290
6,665 inhabitants[1]
Area
 • Total area
 • Land area
 • Water area
17th of 290
6,169.66 km² (2,382.12 sq mi)[2]
5,699.06 km² (2,200.42 sq mi)[2]
470.60 km² (181.70 sq mi)[2]
Density
 • Total
280th of 290
1.17 inh/km² (3.03 inh/sq mi)
Municipal code 2505[3]
Website www.arvidsjaur.se
Density is calculated using land area only
Reindeers outside a disco.

Arvidsjaur Municipality (Swedish: Arvidsjaurs kommun) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Arvidsjaur.

Contents

History

Arvidsjaur Municipality was for a long time only inhabited by the Sami people. They were back then a hunting people, living off the abundance of fish and wildlife in the area. Archaeological discoveries suggest that people have been moving through the area for several thousands of years. The name Arvidsjaur itself comes from a Sami word which means "generous water" and was originally the name of the adjacent lake.

In the 14th and 15th century some farmers settled in the area. They acquired furs and skins from the hunters, and traded them off to southern regions, allegedly in vast numbers.

The Christianization of Arvidsjaur Municipality was slow, as it was in Norrland as a whole, because of the low population, the harsh climate and the long distances. It was also commonly believed that Norrland was inhabited by magicians.

Not until 1577 did the first settler, Per Käck, settle in Arvidsjaur. The settlers built the first chapel at the marketplace at the time, in 1560. The first church was inaugurated in 1604.

The Swedish minister and missionary Petrus Læstadius (1802-1841; brother of Lars Levi Læstadius, founder of the largest Christian revival movement in Norrland) collected old stories and myths in the area in the 19th century, which create the basis for our knowledge from that time.

Geography

Arvidsjaur Municipality is located about 110 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, in the center of the northernmost land, Norrland. It is also part of the geographic area Lapland, which consists of the northern parts of Sweden, Norway and Finland. Sami people are an indigenous minority group who mainly live on breeding reindeers. Arvidsjaur Municipality still contains several Sami villages, and as a tribute to the Sami people a reindeer is the basis for the municipal coat of arms.

Localities

There are three localities (or urban areas) in Arvidsjaur Municipality:[4]

# Locality Population
1 Arvidsjaur 4,644
2 Glommersträsk 306
3 Moskosel 299

The municipal seat in bold

References

  1. ^ Statistics Sweden as of December 31, 2008
  2. ^ a b c Statistics Sweden as of January 1, 2009
  3. ^ Statistics Sweden as of January 1, 2009
  4. ^ Statistics Sweden as of December 31, 2005

External links

Coordinates: 65°35′N 19°07′E / 65.583°N 19.117°E / 65.583; 19.117

Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages