Gothenburg

From Freepedia

For other uses, see Gothenburg (disambiguation).
Image:Göteborg från Liseberg.jpg

Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg ▶(?)) is a city and a municipality on the western coast of Sweden, in the County of Västra Götaland. With 478,055 inhabitants in the city and 816,931 in the metropolitan area it is the second largest city in Sweden after Stockholm and the seat of residence for the county. Gothenburg is in the historical province of Västergötland.

Göteborgs stad (Kommun)
Image:Göteborg in Sweden.png
Map outlining municipalities of Sweden 		Coat of arms
Image:City of Gothenburg.png
Municipal facts
Seat Gothenburg:
57° 42´ N, 11° 55´ E
County Västra Götaland County
Province Västergötland
Area
     Rank
451 km²
183rd of 290
Population
     Rank
(2003)
 478,055
2nd of 290
Density 1060.0/km²

Contents

History

In the early 17th century Sweden controlled only one point on the western coastline. An attempt in 1607 to found a city by the name of Gothenburg on the nearby island of Hisingen had failed due to the Kalmar War, but the second attempt in 1621, by King Gustavus Adolphus (known commonly as Gustaf II Adolf), was successful. Following the successive wars, by 1658 all the Danish eastern provinces were ceded to Sweden, by the Treaty of Roskilde.

In Dutch, Scots and German - languages with a long history of being spoken in the trade and maritime-oriented city - the name Gothenburg (with varying pronunciations) was traditionally used for the city, while the French form of the city name is Gothembourg. These traditional forms are now widely replaced with the use of the Swedish form Göteborg.

Transportation

Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport is located 20 km east of Göteborg. There is bus services from Landvetter terminating at the Nils-Ericson Terminal in thirty minutes (cost 70 SEK).

Ryanair flies to Gothenburg City Airport from London Stansted, Glasgow Prestwick and Frankfurt-Hahn - more routes are planned. This airport is remarkable in that it's the only airport Ryanair uses that is located closer to the city centre than the main airport. A bus (cost 50 SEK) meets each Ryanair flight, and takes you to the Nils Ericson Terminal in just 20 minutes.

From Centralstationen or Nils Ericson Terminalen you can catch trains (operated by SJ) to all different parts of Sweden. There are services to Copenhagen via the Öresund bridge. Swebus Express and Säfflebussen will take you to desinations such as Oslo, Stockholm, Jönköping, Karlstad or Copenhagen. Eurolines connects the city to most countries in Europe.

Stena Line operates ships to/from Denmark (Fredrikshavn) and Germany (Kiel). DFDS Seaways operates ships to/from Norway (Kristiansand) and the United Kingdom (Newcastle).

Politics

The legislative body of Gothenburg is the City Council with 81 members elected by proportional representation for a four-year term. The council appoints an executive 13-member Board of Commissioners, headed by the mayor.

The current mayor of Gothenburg is Göran Johansson, from the Social Democratic Party

The municipality is subdivided into 21 boroughs, which carry responsibility for primary school, social, leisure and cultural services within their respective areas. A point of some controversy is the fact that the borough councils do not reflect the local majority, but follow the majority at City Hall for the entire municipality. In the election of 1998 three boroughs -- Askim, Torslanda and Älvsborg -- held local referenda on forming their own municipalities, but their petitions were rejected by the Government of Sweden.

Image:Carl Milles Poseidon 01.jpg

Geography

Main article: Geography of Gothenburg

Situated on the western coast by Kattegat, an arm of the North Sea, at the outlet of the river Göta älv and the Göta Canal. The Gothenburg Metropolitan Area (Stor-Göteborg) extends to the municipalities of Ale, Härryda, Kungälv, Lerum, Mölndal, Partille, Stenungsund, Tjörn, Öckerö in Västra Götaland County and Kungsbacka in Halland County.

Economy

By its naturally advantageous location, Gothenburg houses the largest and most important harbor installation in Scandinavia. Trade and shipping have always been important businesses and already in the 18th century it was the home to the Swedish East India Company. Industry developed into an important business, and examples include SKF, Volvo and Ericsson.

Universities

Main article: Universities in Sweden

Sites of interest

Image:Göteborg spårvagn.jpg

Gothenburg has a wide selection of cultural establishments, including theatres and museums. A new opera house was inaugurated in 1994. Museums include art, design and handicrafts, sea history, natural history, science, East India, etc. and the Museum of World Culture [1] inaugurated in 2004. The Göteborg Botanical Garden [2] is considered to be one of the outstanding botanical gardens in Europe. The amusement park Liseberg located in the city, is the largest in Scandinavia, and among the most popular attractions in Sweden.

Sports

Held events:

Annual events:

Planned events:

Arenas: Scandinavium, Ullevi

Notable natives

Miscellaneous topics

Gothenburg is since 1998 in a friendship partnership with the South African City of Port Elizabeth. A partnership fostering development of common fields of interest such as solid waste management, public libraries, sport and tourism.

Off the coast of Gothenburg is the Southern Gothenburg Archipelago, a group of completely car-free islands.

On the evening of October 29 1998, a fire developed in the premises of the Macedonian Association discotheque in Gothenburg. On the evening of the fire it was estimated that the number of people in the disco reached 400. In this incident 63 people died[3] [4].

Gothenburg is also noted for being the centre of the melodic death metal movement, a typically Swedish musical style, being home to such internationally known bands as At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity, The Haunted, In Flames, and Arch Enemy. It is also the pop music capital of Sweden, with an active indie scene.


See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has more media related to:


Municipalities in Västra Götaland County
Ale | Alingsås | Bengtsfors | Bollebygd | Borås | Dals-Ed | Essunga | Falköping | Färgelanda | Grästorp | Gullspång | Götene | Gothenburg | Herrljunga | Hjo | Härryda | Karlsborg | Kungälv | Lerum | Lidköping | Lilla Edet | Lysekil | Mariestad | Mark | Mellerud | Munkedal | Mölndal | Orust | Partille | Skara | Skövde | Sotenäs | Stenungsund | Strömstad | Svenljunga | Tanum | Tibro | Tidaholm | Tjörn | Tranemo | Trollhättan | Töreboda | Uddevalla | Ulricehamn | Vara | Vårgårda | Vänersborg | Åmål | Öckerö
Counties of Sweden | Sweden
Image:Mural crown on Swedish city arms.png Gothenburg is one of 134 towns with the historical City status in Sweden.
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