Umeå

Umeå (UK: /ˈməɔː/ OO-mə-aw,[2] US: /ˈm/ OO-may-oh,[3] Swedish: [ˈʉ̌ːmɛɔ] , locally [ˈʉ̌ːmɛ] ; South Westrobothnian: [²ʉːm];[lower-alpha 1] Finnish: Uumaja; Ume Sami: Ubmeje; Southern Sami: Upmeje; Northern Sami: Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County.

Umeå
From top: View over downtown showing Ume River, The Museum of Visual Arts, "Skin 4" at Umeå Arts Campus, Umeå City Church, the Heart Smiley, Umeå Town Hall
From top: View over downtown showing Ume River, The Museum of Visual Arts, "Skin 4" at Umeå Arts Campus, Umeå City Church, the Heart Smiley, Umeå Town Hall
Nicknames: 
  • Björkarnas Stad (town of birches)
  • Lill-Stockholm (little Stockholm)
Umeå is located in Västerbotten
Umeå
Umeå
Umeå is located in Sweden
Umeå
Umeå
Coordinates: 63°49′30″N 20°15′50″E
Country Sweden
CountyVästerbottens län
MunicipalityUmeå Municipality
Charter17th Century
Area
  Urban
31.8 km2 (12.3 sq mi)
Elevation
12 m (39 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2020)[1]
  City130,224
  Rank13
  Density2,818/km2 (7,300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
900 01 - 908 50
Area code(+46) 90
Websitewww.umea.se

Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest locality in Norrland and the thirteenth largest in Sweden, with a wider municipal population of 130,224 inhabitants in 2020.[1][4] When Umeå University was established in 1965, growth accelerated, and the amount of housing has doubled in 30 years from 1980 to 2010.[5] As of 2018, Umeå was gaining around 1000 inhabitants per year and the municipality plans for having 200 000 inhabitants by 2050.[6] The projection of municipality size in 2050 has, however, been questioned as an overestimation in an independent study.[7]

Umeå is a university town and centre of education, technical and medical research in northern Sweden. The two universities located in the city, Umeå University and one of the 3 main branches of SLU, host around 40,000 enrolled students,[8][9] which corresponds to around 30% of the total population.[lower-alpha 2] CRISPR gene editing was developed by researchers at Umeå University, being awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.[10] Umeå was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Riga in Latvia.[11]

Consulates from ten countries can be found in Umeå (2021): Denmark (from 1848), Finland (from 1921), France (from 1989), Iceland (from 2002), Italy (from 2012), Latvia (1939–1940; again from 2014), Lithuania (from 2012), Norway (from 1963), and the Republic of Seychelles (from 2001).

Umeå has been the home of Rally Sweden since 2022.[12]

History

People have lived in the Umeå river valley for at least three thousand years. The oldest rock carvings near Umeå, ten kilometers west of the city at Norrforsen, are from about 3,000 BCE.[13] In some places, there are remains of settlements and cultivation from the Bronze Age to the 11th century.[14][15] During that period the climate was mild, and barley and wheat were grown in the area, while moose and beaver were hunted further inland.[16]

The first written mention of Umeå is from the 14th century. The northern parts of Sweden, including the counties of Västerbotten and Norrbotten, were mostly settled by nomadic Sami people before this time but not necessarily forming any permanent settlement in the city's exact location. The name is believed to be derived from the Old Norse word Úma which means roaring. The name of the town would therefore mean "The Roaring River".[17][18]

The coast came to be permanently settled by Germanic peoples moving upwards on the Bothnian Bay by boat, hence the Germanic names of towns and villages on the Westrobothnian coast. Southern Westrobothnia (Umeå and Skellefteå) has been a permanent Germanic settlement since at least the 14th century, but probably since the Viking ages or earlier.

Umeå in its first form was a parish with a wooden church and trade post located in the section of town now known as Backen (or Kyrkbacken). Its location near the coast and on a river was probably one of the reasons that people chose to settle there.[19]

For the next couple of centuries, Umeå was a place consisting of scattered parishes, where merchandise originating with the Sami people was traded, and was the last inhabited place before the northern wilderness took over. However, no real city was built at the location selected by the king, and it lost its town privileges in the 1590s.[19]

In 1622, a city was again founded by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.[20] In 1638, it had about 40 houses.[19] It suffered from Russian attacks in 1714 and in 1720 when it was burnt to the ground during the Russian Pillage of 1719–21. At the close of the Finnish War in 1809 the Russian army under Barclay de Tolly took Umeå and held it from June to August.[21]

In 1874 the town improved the plans for its structure after it became a government requirement. Umeå had already started making these changes[22] when on 25 June 1888, a fire devastated the eastern parts of Umeå and at least 2,300 of the 3,000 inhabitants became homeless. In the restoration following the fire, almost 3,000 silver birch[23] trees were planted along wide avenues to prevent future fires from spreading. For this reason Umeå is sometimes known as "Björkarnas Stad", the "City of Birches".[24] The name of the Umeå ice-hockey team, Björklöven, means "The Birch Leaves".

Geography

View of the Ume River by its estuary Umeå

Umeå is situated on the inlet of the Gulf of Bothnia at the mouth of the Ume River, in the south of Västerbotten. Umeå is about 600 km (373 mi) north of Stockholm and about 400 km (249 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. It is the largest city north of the Stockholm-Uppsala region, and is sometimes referred to as the regional centre of northern Sweden.

The nearby community of Holmsund serves as its port. From here a ferry line connects it with the neighbouring city of Vaasa (Swedish: Vasa) in Finland. The near connections to Finland affects the population of the city – several Sweden Finns live in Umeå.

Residential areas and localities

Climate

Umeå has a subarctic climate (Dfc), bordering on a humid continental climate (Dfb) with short and fairly warm summers. Winters are lengthy and freezing but usually milder than in areas at the same latitude with a more continental climate.

Average January temperature is about −7 °C (19 °F), July is 16 °C (61 °F). Considering its proximity to a major water body and its latitude, summers are warmer than would be expected. The record high of 32.2 °C (90.0 °F) was recorded on 23 July 2014, during a very warm summer in Sweden. The record low of −38.2 °C (−36.8 °F) was recorded on 15 February 1978.

Climate data for Umeå airport, 1991-2020 normals & extremes since 1991 (Precipitation from Röbäcksdalen)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 8.7
(47.7)
8.7
(47.7)
14.5
(58.1)
20.6
(69.1)
27.8
(82.0)
30.1
(86.2)
32.2
(90.0)
28.9
(84.0)
23.1
(73.6)
18.8
(65.8)
13.1
(55.6)
9.5
(49.1)
32.2
(90.0)
Mean maximum °C (°F) 4.6
(40.3)
5.0
(41.0)
9.0
(48.2)
14.4
(57.9)
21.1
(70.0)
24.6
(76.3)
26.8
(80.2)
24.5
(76.1)
19.8
(67.6)
13.4
(56.1)
7.9
(46.2)
5.7
(42.3)
27.8
(82.0)
Average high °C (°F) −2.6
(27.3)
−2.5
(27.5)
1.5
(34.7)
6.7
(44.1)
13.0
(55.4)
17.9
(64.2)
20.8
(69.4)
19.3
(66.7)
14.4
(57.9)
7.2
(45.0)
1.9
(35.4)
−0.8
(30.6)
8.1
(46.5)
Daily mean °C (°F) −6.2
(20.8)
−6.5
(20.3)
−2.8
(27.0)
2.2
(36.0)
7.8
(46.0)
12.9
(55.2)
16.0
(60.8)
14.5
(58.1)
9.7
(49.5)
3.7
(38.7)
−0.8
(30.6)
−4.1
(24.6)
3.9
(39.0)
Average low °C (°F) −10.4
(13.3)
−11.0
(12.2)
−7.5
(18.5)
−2.5
(27.5)
2.1
(35.8)
7.2
(45.0)
10.7
(51.3)
9.5
(49.1)
5.1
(41.2)
0.0
(32.0)
−4.1
(24.6)
−7.9
(17.8)
−0.7
(30.7)
Mean minimum °C (°F) −23.7
(−10.7)
−23.9
(−11.0)
−19.8
(−3.6)
−10.1
(13.8)
−4.1
(24.6)
0.6
(33.1)
4.1
(39.4)
2.0
(35.6)
−2.7
(27.1)
−10.1
(13.8)
−15.3
(4.5)
−19.9
(−3.8)
−26.7
(−16.1)
Record low °C (°F) −35.1
(−31.2)
−32.6
(−26.7)
−28.9
(−20.0)
−19.2
(−2.6)
−7.0
(19.4)
−3.6
(25.5)
1.1
(34.0)
−1.2
(29.8)
−8.5
(16.7)
−20.2
(−4.4)
−23.5
(−10.3)
−29.9
(−21.8)
−35.1
(−31.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 46.4
(1.83)
35.5
(1.40)
33.8
(1.33)
31.8
(1.25)
42.0
(1.65)
48.7
(1.92)
68.7
(2.70)
75.7
(2.98)
56.3
(2.22)
69.0
(2.72)
66.8
(2.63)
59.9
(2.36)
634.6
(24.99)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 35 81 156 213 270 287 276 221 153 95 43 23 1,853
Source 1: SMHI Open Data [25]
Source 2: SMHI 1991-2020 normals [26]


Climate data for Umeå Airport (2002–2018 averages & extremes for the city since 1882)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 12.0
(53.6)
9.0
(48.2)
14.5
(58.1)
21.5
(70.7)
27.8
(82.0)
33.5
(92.3)
32.2
(90.0)
30.2
(86.4)
25.5
(77.9)
18.8
(65.8)
13.4
(56.1)
9.5
(49.1)
33.5
(92.3)
Mean maximum °C (°F) 4.1
(39.4)
4.9
(40.8)
9.4
(48.9)
14.9
(58.8)
22.4
(72.3)
24.8
(76.6)
27.0
(80.6)
25.2
(77.4)
20.0
(68.0)
13.6
(56.5)
8.4
(47.1)
5.5
(41.9)
28.0
(82.4)
Average high °C (°F) −3.2
(26.2)
−2.6
(27.3)
1.8
(35.2)
7.2
(45.0)
13.6
(56.5)
18.0
(64.4)
21.4
(70.5)
19.8
(67.6)
14.9
(58.8)
7.4
(45.3)
2.3
(36.1)
−0.6
(30.9)
8.3
(47.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) −7.2
(19.0)
−6.9
(19.6)
−3.0
(26.6)
2.4
(36.3)
8.1
(46.6)
12.5
(54.5)
16.2
(61.2)
14.8
(58.6)
10.1
(50.2)
3.6
(38.5)
−0.9
(30.4)
−4.4
(24.1)
3.8
(38.8)
Average low °C (°F) −11.1
(12.0)
−11.1
(12.0)
−7.7
(18.1)
−2.4
(27.7)
2.5
(36.5)
7.0
(44.6)
10.9
(51.6)
9.7
(49.5)
5.2
(41.4)
−0.2
(31.6)
−4.0
(24.8)
−8.1
(17.4)
−0.8
(30.6)
Mean minimum °C (°F) −24.9
(−12.8)
−24.3
(−11.7)
−20.4
(−4.7)
−10.0
(14.0)
−4.3
(24.3)
−0.2
(31.6)
3.8
(38.8)
1.5
(34.7)
−2.8
(27.0)
−10.5
(13.1)
−14.9
(5.2)
−19.8
(−3.6)
−27.5
(−17.5)
Record low °C (°F) −38.0
(−36.4)
−38.2
(−36.8)
−32.4
(−26.3)
−25.5
(−13.9)
−9.0
(15.8)
−4.5
(23.9)
−1.0
(30.2)
−2.5
(27.5)
−7.5
(18.5)
−20.2
(−4.4)
−29.0
(−20.2)
−34.0
(−29.2)
−38.2
(−36.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 37.3
(1.47)
29.8
(1.17)
27.7
(1.09)
28.7
(1.13)
45.0
(1.77)
63.5
(2.50)
76.2
(3.00)
71.1
(2.80)
38.9
(1.53)
51.9
(2.04)
52.3
(2.06)
44.4
(1.75)
566.8
(22.31)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 30.8 73.8 166.9 212.2 271.3 285.2 287.9 223.9 157.1 103.4 47.9 26.0 1,886.4
Source: [27][28]

Demography

Population of Umeå
YearPop.
1960 32,492
1965 39,889
1970 47,692
1975 49,715
1980 52,719
1990 60,305
YearPop.
1995 68,494
2000 70,959
2005 75,645
2010 79,594
2015 83,249
Source: SCB

The population of Umeå has grown consistently since the 1960s, when the university was built. In part because of the university, the town has attracted many residents from outside of Sweden, as well as students from other regions of Sweden.

As of 2015, 10.4% of the population in the municipality of Umeå were foreign-born. The largest national origin group is from Finland, followed by Iraq, Iran and Somalia.[29]

In April 2017 the Jewish association in Umeå closed after receiving multiple threats from neo-Nazis, allegedly associated with the Nordic Resistance Movement.[30][31]

Transportation

The central bus stop Vasaplan in Umeå.

The road infrastructure includes two European highways (E4 and E12) which pass the city.[32] The local bus system is centred at Vasaplan in the city centre, and has multiple routes travelling throughout the city.[33] About 4 kilometres (2 miles) from the city centre is Umeå Airport. It is the 7th largest airport in Sweden by number of passengers, with 844,932 passengers in 2010.[34][35]

The Bothnia Line (Botniabanan) connects to Umeå from the south, it runs along the High Coast via Örnsköldsvik to Umeå. This railway was opened on 28 August 2010. The new railway line is 190 km (118 mi) long, containing 140 bridges and 25 kilometres (16 miles) of tunnels. It provides Umeå with a fast train connection to Stockholm (6+12 hours). A new railway station, Umeå East Station, was built in connection to Norrland's University Hospital and Umeå University.

The Wasaline ferry takes four hours to arrive at Vaasa, Finland.[36]

Umeå is located along the Blue Highway, which is an international tourist route from Mo i Rana, Norway to Pudozh, Russia via Finland.

Culture

The Opera of northern Sweden, the Norrland Opera, is based in the city, as is the English-language non-profit Umeå Theatre Company and the Museum of Contemporary Art and Visual Culture. The annual Umeå Jazz Festival is one of the larger Scandinavian festivals for modern jazz.

Well-known metal bands from Umeå include Cult of Luna, Gotham City, Hollow, Meshuggah, Mexicoma, Nocturnal Rites and Persuader. During the 1990s, the influence of Umeå hardcore punk bands such as Final Exit, Step Forward, Refused, Abhinanda, Shield and Doughnuts and the local labels Desperate Fight Records and Busted Heads Records led to the growth of Umeå's hardcore scene. Independent record label Ny Våg is headquartered in Umeå, and have released records of Umeå artists such as AC4, Masshysteri and Invasionen.

In 2009 the town was designated European Capital of Culture for 2014, along with Riga.[37][11]

Umeå is the centre of television in northern Sweden; SVT Nord and TV4's northern region office are both based in the city. The main newspapers of the county of Västerbotten, Västerbottens-Kuriren and Västerbottens Folkblad are also based in Umeå.

The background and setting for the video game Unravel are based on landscapes around Umeå.

Sports

The city of Umeå currently hosts four major sports clubs. The women's football club is Umeå IK. The men's hockey team IF Björklöven was very successful in the 1980s but has been less successful in recent years. Björklöven are currently playing in the Swedish second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan while Umeå IK plays in the top Swedish women's football league Damallsvenskan. IBK Dalen and IKSU are among the major floorball teams in Sweden; both teams has been in the Swedish Championships finals two years in a row (as of 2013). Other sports clubs include IFK Umeå, Mariehem SK, Umeå FC, and Umedalens IF.

In 2018 and 2020, Umeå was named Sweden's best sports city by SVT Sport.

In 2011, a baseball and softball team, Umeå Baseboll & Softbol|klubb, was founded. The team has 2 former national team players as coaches and currently plays in Norra Regionserien.[38]

Umea is also the host city of the FIA World Rally Championship's Rally Sweden. In 2021 it was announced that Rally Sweden would relocate to the northern Swedish city of Umeå after being held in the province of Värmland since its foundation. The primary reason for its relocation was that Umeå is considered a more snow safe region

Education and research

Umeå University has about 37,000 students and 4,200 staff. The establishment of the university in the mid-1960s led to a population expansion from about 50,000 inhabitants to today's 121,032. The expansion continues, with about 1100 new inhabitants every year,[39] and has made Umeå a modern, somewhat intellectual city to add to the traditional basis of heavy industry for cities along the coast of northern Sweden (Norrland). In 1951 the university's library was recognised as important for northern Sweden. The library is given a copy of every new book printed in Sweden.[40]

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences or Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet is a university in Sweden. Although its head office is located in Uppsala (Ultuna), the university has several campuses in different parts of Sweden, including Umeå. Unlike other government-run universities in Sweden, it is funded through the budget for the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation.

The university hospital serves the entire region of northern Sweden.

Economy

Key research fields of the University are life sciences (especially medical and cell and the molecular biology of plants), human-technology interaction, social welfare, ecology and gender perspectives.

The Umeå University works collaboratively with companies such as ABB, Volvo, Skanska, Ericsson, and Öhrlings PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Umeå, with Umeå Plant Science Centre, is another major site of research and education.

Notable companies based in Umeå include:

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. The ² indicates a tone similar to the Ancient Greek circumflex accent (Swedish: tvåtoppsaccent).
  2. SLU provides statistics only for the whole university, not distinguished by the location in which the study programme is held,[8] which might be unclear for many courses provided. Therefore the number is not exact. However, only the at the Umeå University there are 37,985 students,[9] which is more than 29% of the total population of Umeå.

References

  1. "Statistiska tätorter 2018, befolkning och landareal per tätort och kommun". Statistics Sweden (Statistiska Centralbyrån) (in Swedish). 24 March 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  2. "Umeå". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022.
  3. "Umeå". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  4. "Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 31 mars 2020 och befolkningsförändringar 1 januari - 31 mars 2020. Totalt". Statistiska Centralbyrån (Statistics Sweden) (In Swedish) (in Swedish). 31 March 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  5. "More about Umeå". Umeå Municipality. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  6. "Comprehensive Plan for Umeå Municipality – Guide to the parts of the plan, its themes and relevance" (PDF).
  7. "Umeå 200 000 invånare" (PDF).
  8. "Facts and figures". SLU.SE.
  9. "Key figures". www.umu.se.
  10. "Discovery at Umeå University awarded 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry".
  11. "European Capitals of Culture - Creative Europe - European Commission". Creative Europe. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  12. "Rally Sweden moves north to Umea".
  13. "Umeå, Norrfors". Europreart.net. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  14. Jan Färingö (11 April 2017). "Fynd från bronsåldern hittat i Umeå". Sveriges Television.
  15. Lars-Erik Edlund (2001). "Kåddis, Hjåggböle och Hej". Svenska Turistföreningens årsbok. p. 31.
  16. "Umeås historia – forntid". Umeå kommun. 30 January 2023.
  17. Lars-Erik Edlund, "Kåddis, Hjåggböle och Hej" i Svenska Turistföreningens årsbok 2001, s.31
  18. Mats Wahlberg: Svenskt ortnamnslexikon, Språk- och folkminnesinstitutet. Uppsala 2003. p. 143.
  19. (in Swedish) 1300-1652 Umeå kommun - Umeå official website. Retrieved 26 August 2008
  20. "living in Umeå - International Office". Umu.se. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  21. (in Swedish) 1714-1809 - Umeå kommun - Umeå official website. Retrieved 26 August 2008
  22. Hall, Thomas (2003). Planning Europe's Capital Cities. p. contents. ISBN 1135829020.
  23. "Living in Umeå". www.umu.se.
  24. "Data" (PDF). umearegionen.se.
  25. "Ladda ner meteorologiska observationer | SMHI".
  26. "Dataserier med normalvärden för perioden 1991-2020 | SMHI".
  27. "SMHI Open Data for Umeå Flygplats" (in Swedish). Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.
  28. "Statistik från Väder och Vatten - SMHI - SMHI". smhi.se.
  29. "Utrikes födda (Foreign born)". Umeå kommun. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  30. "Neo-Nazi threats force Jewish group in Sweden to close". BBC News. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  31. "Judisk förening lägger ner efter nazisthot". Dagens Nyheter. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  32. Sweden Tourism. Map of Sweden. Accessed 14 April 2010.
  33. Umeå University. Bus Transportation. Accessed 24 September 2014.
  34. "Fakta om flygplatsen" (in Swedish). Swedavia. Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  35. "Pressinformation" (in Swedish). Swedavia. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  36. "Wasaline – The ferry connection between Vaasa and Umeå". wasaline.com.
  37. "Umeå2014". umea2014.se. Archived from the original on 24 February 2008.
  38. "Umeå Baseboll och Softbollklubb – Baseboll och Softboll – IdrottOnline Klubb – Umeå Baseboll och SoftbollPress site". Archived from the original on 17 September 2012.
  39. "Facts about Umeå – Umeå2014".
  40. "Umeå's history". umea.se.
  41. Archived 2018-11-15 at the Wayback Machine


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