Country Sweden Seat Arvidsjaur ISO 3166 code SE Area 5,708 km² | County Norrbotten County Time zone CET (UTC+1) Municipal code 2505 Province Lapland | |
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Arvidsjaur Municipality (Swedish: Arvidsjaurs kommun, Northern Sami: Árviesjávrrie gielda) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is Arvidsjaur.
Contents
Map of Arvidsjaur, Sweden
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:
The municipal seat in bold
Politics
Result of the 2010 election
Moderate Party 13,35%
Centre party 7,23%
Liberal People's Party 4,13%
Christian Democrats 2,00%
Swedish Social Democratic Party 54,02%
Left Party 11,13%
Green Party 2,61%
Sweden Democrats 4,67%
Other Parties 1,07%