Arvidsjaur Municipality

Arvidsjaur Municipality Arvidsjaurs kommun
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms
Country	Sweden
County	Norrbotten County
Seat	Arvidsjaur
Area[1]
- Total	6,169.66 km2 (2,382.1 sq mi)
- Land	5,699.06 km2 (2,200.4 sq mi)
- Water	470.6 km2 (181.7 sq mi)
	Area as of January 1, 2010.
Population (June 30, 2010)[2]
- Total	6,599
- Density	1.1/km2 (2.8/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code
ISO 3166 code	SE
Province	Lapland
Municipal code	2505
Website	www.arvidsjaur.se

Reindeers outside a disco.

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

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:^[3]

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

The municipal seat in bold

References

1. ^ "Statistiska centralbyrån den 1 januari 2010" (in Swedish) (Microsoft Excel). Statistics Sweden. http://www.scb.se/Statistik/MI/MI0802/2010A01/mi0802tab3_2010.xls. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
2. ^ "SCB, Befolkningsstatistik 30 juni 2010" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. http://www.scb.se/Pages/TableAndChart____244147.aspx. Retrieved 2010-08-19. 
3. ^ Statistics Sweden as of December 31, 2005

External links

• Arvidsjaur Municipality - Official site
• Arvidsjaur.eu - Independent and objective information portal

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