Arjeplog Municipality

Arjeplog Municipality Arjeplogs kommun
Municipality
Coat of arms
Country	Sweden
County	Norrbotten County
Seat	Arjeplog
Area[1]
• Total	14,494.09 km^2 (5,596.20 sq mi)
• Land	12,556.77 km^2 (4,848.20 sq mi)
• Water	1,937.32 km^2 (748.00 sq mi)
	Area as of January 1, 2014.
Population (March 31, 2015)[2]
• Total	2,909
• Density	0.20/km^2 (0.52/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	SE
Province	Lapland
Municipal code	2506
Website	www.arjeplog.se

Arjeplog church.

Arjeplog Municipality (Swedish: Arjeplogs kommun, Northern Sami: Arjepluovvi gielda) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Arjeplog.

The area which now is Arjeplog Municipality used to be a single parish (Swedish: socken), which was made into a municipality when the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863. It has not been amalgamated with any other entity.

History

People lived in the area of today's municipality as early as 10,000 years ago, following the end of the last ice age. For a long time it was only populated by a fishing and hunting people, the Sami people, who have their own language and breed reindeer in northern Sweden, and today have special rights as a Swedish minority group.

The population in today's municipality was only a few hundred people in the 17th and 18th century, most of them Sami, and the rest of Sweden did not know much of them. Not until 1640 did Queen Christina of Sweden order a church to be built in order to Christianize the Sami people in Arjeplog. The church was inaugurated in 1642. At first the deceased were buried under the earthen floor in the church, but eventually the stench became unbearable and the procedure had to end.

Silver

The interest in Arjeplog had been sparked when silver was found in the area in the 1620s, and a mining industry was established there 1635-1659. It has been estimated that the amount of silver mined was 36 kilograms per year.

In August 1659, the Danes and Norwegians – who were in the Denmark–Norway union – attacked and burned down the mining village. The mining industry was then stalled for 120 years.

It was once again taken up in 1719, probably as a means of supporting the war of King Charles XII of Sweden. The mining was upheld until 1810, when the low profits, harsh climate and the long distances led to its closure. There are still remains from that time in the village Adolfström.

There are also several names in the area such as Silvervägen ("Silver Road") and Silversundet ("Silver Strait") reminding of its silver history. When a Sami museum was built in the town of Arjeplog in 1965, it was appropriately named Silvermuseet ("The Silver Museum"). It is filled with Sami photos and artifacts.

Geography

Arjeplog Municipality is Sweden's fourth largest municipality, but the fourth least populated. It is located by the shores of Lake Hornavan, Sweden's deepest lake and one of its largest. The municipality is popular because of the scenery of Lake Hornavan, but also of its other untouched nature.

Arjeplog Municipality consists of a terrain dominated by the Scandinavian Mountains and many water areas. It boasts an unparalleled 8,000 lakes and streams, with three main rivers, namely Pite River, Skellefte River and Lais River. Skellefte River attaches south from Lake Hornavan and extends southeast to Skellefteå and the Gulf of Bothnia on the east coast.

About 80 kilometres north of the town Arjeplog one finds the national parks Padjelanta and Sarek, both being situated in the western parts of Jokkmokk Municipality.

Arjeplog Municipality also has 13 nature reserves, mostly mountain moorland, where endangered plants grow. Mountain Galtispouda, with a height of 800 metres, is both a popular place of outlook, a nature reserve, and in the winter a popular place for skiing.

Localities

There is only one locality (or urban area) in Arjeplog Municipality:^[3]

#	Locality	Population
1	Arjeplog	1,947

Sister city

Arjeplog Municipality has one sister city:

• Umba, Russia

Politics

Result of the 2010 election

Moderate Party 14,50%

Centre Party 5,78%

Liberal People's Party 5,93%

Christian Democrats 4,87%

Swedish Social Democratic Party 46,73%

Left Party 11,66%

Green Party 4,56%

Sweden Democrats 4,92%

Other Parties 1,06%

See also

• Nasa silver mine
• Hornavanskolan

References

1. "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (Microsoft Excel) (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
2. "Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 31 mars 2015" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
3. Statistics Sweden as of December 31, 2005

External links

• Arjeplog Municipality - Official site (Swedish)
• Arjeplog map
• The Silver Museum

Coordinates: 66°02′N 17°57′E / 66.033°N 17.950°E