Skellefteå is a city and the seat of Skellefteå Municipality in Västerbotten County, Sweden, with 32,775 inhabitants in 2010. The municipality had approximately 72,000 inhabitants at the end of 2013.

The city is a historically industrial city with mining being a large industry, especially for gold – hence the nickname “Gold Town”. Politically it is a Social Democratic stronghold. The city is a well-known ice hockey town, with its main team Skellefteå AIK playing in the Swedish top division: the SHL, which they have won on several occasions.

The city was incorporated in 1845 and grew to its current population size mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, growing only slowly since. It is the second largest city in Västerbotten after Umeå and is located roughly halfway between it and Luleå. The Skellefte River passes through the city and it is located around 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the Bothnian Bay open sea. Skellefteå is served by Skellefteå Airport, abbreviated as SKF locally known as Falmark because of the village nearby, also around 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the city centre to the south.

Today

In the 20th century, Skellefteå evolved to an industrial and mining city and many wooden houses were demolished to make room for brick buildings. Skellefteå is now trying to become a leading city in education with the construction of Floraskolan, a school that mostly focuses on entrepreneurial learning

It will become the home of a massive battery plant made by Northvolt by circa 2023.

The largest private employer in Skellefteå is the mining company Boliden AB, with about 1,200 employees. The mine’s copper ore contains particles of gold, silver and platinum. Skellefteå is still referred to as the “Goldtown”.

During the 1990s, the computer industry flourished, subsidiaries of Ericsson and Tieto Enator becoming important employers.

Industry

• Boliden AB, a big mining and smelting company
• Skellefteå Kraft, largest power company in Skellefteå
• Northvolt, lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing company

Sports

• Skellefteå AIK, an ice hockey team in the highest Swedish league, Swedish Hockey League(SHL). 1978, 2013 and 2014 Swedish Champions.
• Morön BK, football club playing in Division 2 Norrland
• Skellefteå FF, football club playing in Division 2 Norrland
• Sunnanå SK, women’s football (soccer)
• The Skellefteå Kraft Grandmaster Chess Cup 1999, one of the strongest all Swedish chess tournaments was won by IGM (International Grandmaster (chess)) Ulf Andersson. The event took place from March 26 – April 4, 1999. An international chess tournament, the final of the two-year World Cup series was held in Skellefteå from August 12 to September 3, 1989. The final sixteen grandmasters participating included three former World Chess Champions Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov and Mikhail Tal. The activities organized around the World Cup final included two performances in Skellefteå of Chess (musical), with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of the pop group ABBA.

History

The name Skellefteå is recorded to having been spelled as Skelepht in 1327. On Carta marina the name is spelt Skellitta. The origin of the name remains unknown, but is assumed to be of Sami origin.

From the 14th century on, attempts were made to Christianize Skellefteå. A parish was formed and a church built. However, – for the most part – the entire large Northern Swedish territory of Norrland was not Christianized until several hundred years after the rest of Sweden, and many northern areas such as Skellefteå remained unexplored well past the Middle Ages.

Not before the very end of the 17th century did the indigenous Sami people of Northern Sweden begin turning to Christianity, much due to the efforts by the Northern Swedish superintendent Mathias Steuchius, who worked hard to accomplish this. Several Sami priests were killed for this reason.

Eventually, the reason for the sudden awakened interest towards Skellefteälven and the surrounding areas were the great northern fishing grounds of salmon. The increased demand for fish was sparked by a stricter enforcement of the annual month-long fasting by the Catholic Church, whereby meat was substituted by fish.

The actual city of Skellefteå is one of the youngest cities of Norrland. It was founded in 1845 by the vicar Nils Nordlander.