Jönköping
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| Jönköping | |
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  Jönköping
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | Sweden |
| Municipality | Jönköping Municipality |
| County | Jönköping County |
| Province | Småland |
| Area [1] | |
| - Total | 44.33 km² (17.1 sq mi) |
| Population (2005-12-31)[1] | |
| - Total | 84,423 |
| - Density | 1,905/km² (4,933.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Jönköping [ˈjœnçøːpiŋ] is a city in Småland in southern Sweden with 84,423 inhabitants (2005). It is the 9th most populous city of Sweden.
The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipality which has a population of 122,194 (2006), and also the seat of Jönköping County which has a population of 331,539 (2006).
Jönköping is the seat of a district court and a court of appeal as well as the Swedish National Courts Administration.
Geographically the town is situated by the southern end of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern. With a sandy beach running through Jönköping is considered a very beautiful city. The original town Jönköping has grown together with Huskvarna and Norrahammar forming a contiguous urban area, since 1971 wholly in the same municipality.
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[edit] History
Jönköping is an old trading center (Köping), since it was located on a crossroad for the roads following along the rivers Nissan and Lagan, and the road between the provinces Östergötland and Västergötland. This was rather natural due to the geographical position of the city at the southern end of lake Vättern, which divided the two counties. On May 18, 1284, Jönköping received rights as a City in Sweden as one of the first communities in the country, by King Magnus Ladulås, who at that time largely ruled the nation from Vättern's largest island Visingsö. In the name of the city "Jön-" is derived from a creek, "Junebäcken", which was situated in the nowadays western part of the city, Talavid. This was the location of the first known settlement in the area. The second part of the name "-köping", as mentioned above, is an old word for a trading center or market place.
However, the geographical position of the city also left it vulnerable to foreign attacks, mainly from the Danes, coming from the south with the river roads; at that time, the provinces of what is today southern Sweden — Scania, Halland and Blekinge — belonged to Denmark. Consequently, the city was plundered and burned several times, until a fortification was built in the 16th and 17th century.
Jönköping is known for its matchstick industry 1845-1970. Still today it is an important Swedish logistical center, with many companies' central warehouses situated there (like IKEA, Electrolux and Husqvarna).
[edit] Present
Jönköping is today one of the more popular cities for higher education at the University College of Jönköping. A considerable amount of foreign exchange students study in Jönköping each year as well. The urban area of Jönköping today includes the eastern industrial town of Huskvarna, with which it has grown together.
A major fair and exhibition center, Elmia is also located in Jönköping, with fairs including Elmia Wood, the world’s largest forestry fair. Elmia’s fairs are also the biggest of their kind in Europe for subcontractors, trucks, caravans and railways. Since 2002, Elmia has also been the site of the world's largest LAN party, DreamHack.
[edit] Notable natives
- Lillian Asplund, survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking
- Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of the Swedish colony of New Sweden
- John Bauer, illustrator, painter
- Amy Diamond, singer
- Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA
- Dag Hammarskjöld, United Nations Secretary-General
- Mona Johannesson, model
- Lisette, model
- Fredrik Neij, Founder of The Pirate Bay BitTorrent-tracker.
- Nina Persson, The Cardigans
- Viktor Rydberg, author
- Emil Svanängen, of indie pop band Loney, Dear
- Carl Peter Thunberg, botanist
- I'm from Barcelona, a 29-piece indie pop band
- The Motorhomes, a rockband
[edit] Education
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- Jönköping International Business School (Internationella Handelshögskolan)
- Jönköping School of Education and Communication (Högskolan för lärarutbildning och kommunikation)
- Jönköping School of Engineering (Jönköpings tekniska högskola)
- Jönköping School of Health Sciences (Hälsohögskolan)
- Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola
- The Institute for Postgraduate Dental Education
[edit] Sport
- HV71, ice hockeyteam in Elitserien of ice hockey
- JIK, floorballteam in Swedish Super League
- Jönköpings Södra IF, football(soccer)team in Superettan (Second league of Sweden)
- Husqvarna FF, football(soccer)team in Division 1 (Third league of Sweden)
- Jönköpings simsällskap (Jonkopings swimmingsociety), have Swedish champions in both swimming and diving. There are also three other water disciplines in the club, lifeguarding, triathlon and synchronized swimming.
[edit] See also
- Jönköping Municipality
- Swedish National Board of Agriculture
- International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships (2002, held in Jönköping)
[edit] References
- ^ a b Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2000 och 2005 (xls) (Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
[edit] External links
- Jönköping Municipality - Official site
- Jönköping 2006
- article Jönköping from Nordisk familjebok, (Swedish)
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Jönköping is one of 134 towns with the historical City status in Sweden. |
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