Malmberget
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| Malmberget | |
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  Malmberget
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | Sweden |
| Municipality | Gällivare Municipality |
| County | Norrbotten County |
| Province | Lappland |
| Area [1] | |
| - Total | 7.45 km² (2.9 sq mi) |
| Population (2005-12-31)[1] | |
| - Total | 6,017 |
| - Density | 808/km² (2,092.7/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
Malmberget ("The Ore Mountain") is a mining town in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, northern Sweden (Lappland). It has 5,600 inhabitants. It is situated 5 km from the municipal seat Gällivare.
Malmberget is known as a major site for extraction of iron ore from deep mines by the company LKAB. Right down the center of Malmberget, the deep mine has reached daylight and thus created a huge hole called Gropen ("The Pit"). Gropen grew southwards as the deep mining continued, and divided the town while making the old town centre uninhabitable forcing many instutitions (the two existing cinemas e.g.) to move to the eastern part of Malmberget or, even more commonly, to the neighbouring town of Gällivare.
Today Gropen is being filled up by stone which is dug up as a byproduct in the underground mines. Gropen will eventually be filled, but the uninhabitable area is continually growing as underground mining undermines the area and seismic events caused by the mining regularly shakes the remaining parts of Malmberget. The future of Malmberget is today uncertain, but prospects made by LKAB indicates that even more of Malmberget may have to move in the future. The moving of several large residential houses, owned by the mining company as well as private villas, has been a major topic locally for the past few years.
In the old centre of Malmberget there is a small music-house called "Gropen", named after the big cratre, which is a centre for local bands.
Malmbergets largest sport association is named Malmbergets Allmänna IdrottsFörening (MAIF). MAIF's colors are green and white. With an athletic tradition spanning more than a hundred years, they have been the mother clubs of semi-famous Swedes such as late weightlifter Benny Henell.
During World War II, iron ore extraction from Malmberget was transported by rail east to the shore. (See Swedish iron ore during World War II).
[edit] References
- ^ a b Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2000 och 2005 (xls) (Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
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