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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
Nickname: Björkarnas Stad (town of birches)
UmeåShow map of VästerbottenUmeåShow map of Sweden
Coordinates: 63°49′30″N 20°15′50″E / 63.82500°N 20.26389°E / 63.82500; 20.26389
Country	Sweden
County	Västerbottens län
Municipality	Umeå Municipality
Charter	17th Century
Area
• Urban	31.8 km (12.3 sq mi)
Elevation	12 m (39 ft)
Population
• City	130,224
• Rank	13
• Density	2,818/km (7,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	900 01 - 908 50
Area code	(+46) 90
Website	www.umea.se

Umeå (UK: /ˈuːməɔː/ OO-mə-aw, US: /ˈuːmeɪoʊ/ OO-may-oh, Swedish: [ˈʉ̌ːmɛɔ] , locally [ˈʉ̌ːmɛ] ; 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.

Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest locality in Norrland and the thirteenth largest in Sweden, with a wider municipal population of 132,235 inhabitants in the beginning of 2023. When Umeå University was established in 1965, growth accelerated, and the amount of housing has doubled in 30 years from 1980 to 2010. As of 2018, Umeå was gaining around 1,000 inhabitants per year and the municipality plans for having 200,000 inhabitants by 2050. The projection of municipality size in 2050 has, however, been questioned as an overestimation in an independent study.

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, which corresponds to around 30% of the total population. CRISPR gene editing was developed by researchers, headed by Emmanuelle Charpentier at Umeå University, being awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Umeå was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Riga in Latvia. Umeå is certified by the EarthCheck Sustainable Destinations program.

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.

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. In some places, there are remains of settlements and cultivation from the Bronze Age to the 11th century. During that period the climate was mild, and barley and wheat were grown in the area, while moose and beaver were hunted further inland.

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".

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.

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.

In 1622, a city was again founded by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. In 1638, it had about 40 houses. 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.

In 1874 the town improved the plans for its structure after it became a government requirement. Umeå had already started making these changes 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 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". The name of the Umeå ice-hockey team, Björklöven, means "The Birch Leaves".

Geography

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.

Demography

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.

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

Transportation

The road infrastructure includes two European highways (E4 and E12) which pass the city. The local bus system is centred at Vasaplan in the city centre, and has multiple routes travelling throughout the city. 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.

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+1⁄2 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 in Vaasa, Finland.

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.

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, BK Ume-Trixa, 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.

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, 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.

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:

• GE Healthcare, which produces chromatography systems such as FPLC, HPLC and DNA sequencer equipment.
• Handelsbanken, HQ in the northern region of Sweden.
• Komatsu Forest, European HQ.
• Siemens Financial Services, Scandinavian HQ.
• Volvo Trucks.
• Nasdaq Technology AB
• Ålö AB [sv], production facilities for tractor front-end loaders.

Notable people

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See also

• Blue Highway, an international tourist route from Norway to Russia via Sweden and Finland
• Umea Region

Notes

1. SLU provides statistics only for the whole university, not distinguished by the location in which the study programme is held, 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, which is more than 29% of the total population of Umeå.

References

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5. "More about Umeå". Umeå Municipality. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
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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. WillTCD (16 March 2022). "Swedish European Capital of Culture joins the EarthCheck Sustainable Destinations program". EarthCheck. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
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17. Jan Färingö (11 April 2017). "Fynd från bronsåldern hittat i Umeå". Sveriges Television.
18. Lars-Erik Edlund (2001). "Kåddis, Hjåggböle och Hej". Svenska Turistföreningens årsbok. p. 31.
19. "Umeås historia – forntid". Umeå kommun. 30 January 2023.
20. Lars-Erik Edlund, "Kåddis, Hjåggböle och Hej" i Svenska Turistföreningens årsbok 2001, s.31
21. Mats Wahlberg: Svenskt ortnamnslexikon, Språk- och folkminnesinstitutet. Uppsala 2003. p. 143.
22. ^ (in Swedish) 1300-1652 Umeå kommun - Umeå official website. Retrieved 26 August 2008
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26. "Living in Umeå". www.umu.se.
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28. "Ladda ner meteorologiska observationer | SMHI".
29. "Dataserier med normalvärden för perioden 1991-2020 | SMHI".
30. "SMHI Open Data for Umeå Flygplats" (in Swedish). Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.
31. "Statistik från Väder och Vatten - SMHI - SMHI". smhi.se.
32. "Utrikes födda (Foreign born)". Umeå kommun. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
33. "Neo-Nazi threats force Jewish group in Sweden to close". BBC News. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
34. "Judisk förening lägger ner efter nazisthot". Dagens Nyheter. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
35. Sweden Tourism. Map of Sweden. Accessed 14 April 2010.
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39. "Wasaline – The ferry connection between Vaasa and Umeå". wasaline.com.
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41. "Umeå Baseboll och Softbollklubb – Baseboll och Softboll – IdrottOnline Klubb – Umeå Baseboll och SoftbollPress site". Archived from the original on 17 September 2012.
42. "Facts about Umeå – Umeå2014". 7 May 2024.
43. "Umeå's history". umea.se.
44. Archived 2018-11-15 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Website of Umeå municipality
• Umeå Capital of Culture 2014
• Umeå Region
• Umeå Tourist Office

Links to related articles

v t e Localities in Umeå Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden Localities Botsmark Brännland Bullmark Ersmark Flurkmark Hissjön Holmsund Hörnefors Innertavle Obbola Överboda Röbäck Sävar Sörfors Sörmjöle Stöcke Stöcksjö Täfteå Tavelsjö Umeå (seat) Västibyn Yttersjö Villages Ansmark Baggböle Bjännsjön Brännland södra Bodbyn Klabböle v t e Municipalities and seats of Västerbotten County Municipalities Åsele Bjurholm Dorotea Lycksele Malå Nordmaling Norsjö Robertsfors Skellefteå Sorsele Storuman Umeå Vännäs Vilhelmina Vindeln Municipal seats Åsele Bjurholm Dorotea Lycksele Malå Nordmaling Norsjö Robertsfors Skellefteå Sorsele Storuman Umeå Vännäs Vilhelmina Vindeln Counties of Sweden Sweden v t e Administrative seats of Swedish counties Falun Dalarna Gävle Gävleborg Gothenburg Västra Götaland Halmstad Halland Härnösand Västernorrland Jönköping Jönköping Kalmar Kalmar Karlskrona Blekinge Karlstad Värmland Linköping Östergötland Luleå Norrbotten Malmö Skåne Nyköping Södermanland Örebro Örebro Östersund Jämtland Stockholm Stockholm Umeå Västerbotten Uppsala Uppsala Västerås Västmanland Växjö Kronoberg Visby Gotland v t e 50 most populous urban areas of Sweden     1. Stockholm 1,617,407 (2020)  2. Gothenburg 607,882 (2020)  3. Malmö 325,069 (2020)  4. Uppsala 166,698 (2020)  5. Upplands Väsby 149,701 (2020)  6. Västerås 128,660 (2020)  7. Örebro 126,604 (2020)  8. Linköping 115,682 (2020)  9. Helsingborg 113,828 (2020)  10. Jönköping 100,579 (2020)  11. Norrköping 98,088 (2020)  12. Lund 94,393 (2020)  13. Umeå 91,916 (2020)  14. Gävle 79,004 (2020)  15. Södertälje 76,320 (2020)  16. Borås 74,042 (2020)  17. Halmstad 71,422 (2020)  18. Växjö 71,282 (2020)  19. Eskilstuna 69,948 (2020)  20. Karlstad 67,122 (2020)  21. Sundsvall 58,813 (2020)  22. Östersund 52,980 (2020)  23. Trollhättan 50,502 (2020)  24. Luleå 49,123 (2020)  25. North-east Gothenburg 47,211 (2020)  26. Tumba 46,014 (2020)  27. Lidingö 44,091 (2020)  28. Borlänge 44,898 (2020)  29. Kalmar 41,852 (2020)  30. Kristianstad 41,299 (2020)  31. Skövde 39,580 (2020)  32. Karlskrona 36,904 (2020)  33. Falun 39,492 (2020)  34. Skellefteå 36,388 (2020)  35. Varberg 36,327 (demographic balance, 2020)  36. Uddevalla 35,916 (2020)  37. Åkersberga 35,747 (2020)  38. Nyköping 38,780 (2020)  39. Landskrona 33,466 (2020)  40. Örnsköldsvik 33,348 (2020)  41. Vallentuna 33,336 (2020)  42. Motala 31,340 (2020)  43. Trelleborg 30,808 (2020)  44. Ängelholm 29,490 (2020)  45. Märsta 29,815 (2020)  46. Falkenberg 28,747 (2020)  47. Lerum 28,520 (2020)  48. Alingsås 27,433 (2020)  49. Karlskoga 27,360 (2020)  50. Kungälv 26,960 (2020)  as of 2020, according to Statistics Sweden v t e 50 most populous urban areas in the Nordic countries  Denmark  Finland  Iceland  Norway  Sweden 1. Stockholm 1,605,030 2. Copenhagen 1,330,993 3. Helsinki 1,268,296 4. Oslo 1,019,513 5. Gothenburg 599,011 6. Malmö 339,313 7. Tampere 334,112 8. Aarhus 280,534 9. Bergen 259,958 10. Turku 252,468 11. Stavanger/Sandnes 237,369 12. Reykjavík 228,231 13. Oulu 208,939 14. Trondheim 186,364 15. Odense 180,302 16. Uppsala 177,074 17. Upplands Väsby och Sollentuna 149,461 18. Aalborg 140,897 19. Västerås 128,534 20. Örebro 126,009 21. Lahti 119,068 22. Jyväskylä 117,974 23. Fredrikstad/Sarpsborg 116,373 24. Linköping 115,672 25. Helsingborg 113,816 26. Kristiansand 111,633 27. Drammen 109,416 28. Jönköping 100,259 29. Norrköping 97,854 30. Lund 94,393 31. Porsgrunn/Skien 93,778 32. Umeå 90,412 33. Kuopio 88,520 34. Pori 84,026 35. Gävle 77,586 36. Södertälje 75,773 37. Borås 73,980 38. Esbjerg 72,398 39. Halmstad 71,316 40. Växjö 71,009 41. Eskilstuna 70,342 42. Joensuu 67,811 43. Karlstad 65,856 44. Vaasa 65,414 45. Randers 62,482 46. Kolding 61,121 47. Horsens 59,449 48. Sundsvall 58,807 49. Vejle 57,655 50. Lappeenranta 55,743 v t e European Capitals of Culture 1985 Athens 1986 Florence 1987 Amsterdam 1988 West Berlin 1989 Paris 1990 Glasgow 1991 Dublin 1992 Madrid 1993 Antwerp 1994 Lisbon 1995 Luxembourg City 1996 Copenhagen 1997 Thessaloniki 1998 Stockholm 1999 Weimar 2000 Reykjavík Bergen Helsinki Brussels Prague Kraków Santiago de Compostela Avignon Bologna 2001 Rotterdam Porto 2002 Bruges Salamanca 2003 Graz Plovdiv 2004 Genoa Lille 2005 Cork 2006 Patras 2007 Luxembourg City Sibiu 2008 Liverpool Stavanger 2009 Linz Vilnius 2010 Essen Istanbul Pécs 2011 Turku Tallinn 2012 Maribor Guimarães 2013 Košice Marseille 2014 Umeå Riga 2015 Mons Plzeň 2016 San Sebastián Wrocław 2017 Aarhus Paphos 2018 Valletta Leeuwarden 2019 Plovdiv Matera 2020-April 2021 Rijeka Galway 2022 Kaunas Esch-sur-Alzette Novi Sad 2023 Veszprém Timișoara Elefsina 2024 Tartu Bad Ischl Bodø 2025 Nova Gorica / Gorizia Chemnitz 2026 Oulu Trenčín 2027 Liepāja

• Umeå
• County seats in Sweden
• Municipal seats of Västerbotten County
• Swedish municipal seats
• Populated places in Umeå Municipality
• Populated places established in 1622
• Cities in Västerbotten County
• Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea