Luleå

Luleå, a seaport of Sweden, capital of the district (län) of Norrbotten, on the peninsula of Sandö, at the mouth of the Lule river and the north-west corner of the Gulf of Bothnia. Pop. (1900) 9484. It is connected at Boden (22 m. N.) with the main line of railway from Stockholm to Gellivara and Narvik on Ofoten Fjord in Norway. By this line Luleå is 723 m. N.N.E. of Stockholm. It is the shipping place for the iron ore mined at Gellivara, 127 m. N. by W., and there are smelting works at Karlsvik in the vicinity. Timber is also exported, being floated in large quantities down the Lule. As a rule the port is closed by ice from November to the end of May. The town was almost entirely burnt down in 1887, and its buildings are new—the church (1888-1893), the Norrbotten Museum and a technical school being the most important. Luleå as founded by Gustavus Adolphus was 7 m. higher up the river, but was moved to the present site in 1649.