Älvsbyn Municipality

Infobox_Kommun2
name=Älvsbyn
fullname=Älvsbyns kommun
isocode=
capital=Älvsbyn
governor=
county=Norrbotten County
province=Norrbotten
arearank=52nd
area=1,713
areapercent=x.x
population_as_of=2005
populationrank=236
population=8,775
populationpercent=x.x
populationdensity=5




location=65_41_N_21_01_E
locationReadable=65° 41′ N 21° 1′ E

Älvsbyn Municipality ("Älvsbyns kommun") is a municipality in Norrbotten County, northern Sweden. Its seat is in Älvsbyn with about 5,000 inhabitants, located at 50 meters above sea level.

The present municipality has the same size as the original one, created at the time the municipalities of Sweden were formed in 1863. 1948-1968 a part of it constituted a market town ("köping") and a municipality of its own, but the entities were reunited in 1969.

Localities

* Korsträsk (pop. 400)
* Vidsel (620)
* Vistheden (250)

Älvsbyn Municipality has 8689 inhabitants. For many years, the number was dropping, but lately, the municipality has been accepting refugees and immigrants. In the first quarter of 2006, 25 people died, and 65 people moved away from Älvsbyn. At the same time, 13 were born, about 50 foreginers settled here. Roughly a dozen moved south, and another dozen moved back home from neighboring municipalities. [http://www.scb.se/statistik/BE/BE0101/2006K01/Be0101tab17kv106.xls Population statistics for first quarter of 2006, scb.se]

Geography

The municipality stretches along the Pite River for about 60 kilometers in a naturesque surrounding.

Industry

Two main industries in the town of Älvsbyn are "AB Älvsbyhus", which builds houses, and "Polarbageriet AB", which is nationally famous for their breads.

Polarbageriet has a production of about 1.5 million breads per day. They do not make loaves, but rather flat slices of a whitish bread. Their main distribution is within Sweden, but a small export goes to Finland, Denmark, UK, Germany and France, where it is popular to use for homemade pizza.

Älvsbyhus has its base in Älvsbyn, and one of its factories there too. It is Scandinavia's biggest producer of prefabricated houses in wood. Their average production is around two houses per day, although much of the production is located at other factories closer to the market.

RFN is a government military testing facility, not just for domestic use. It is one of very few places where live missiles can be tested over land, and attracts military testers from other countries as well.

There is also some tourism, with a popular place to visit in the nature reserve Storforsen, just west of the town Vidsel.

References

External links

* [http://www.alvsbyn.se Älvsbyn] - Official site