Sundsvall

Sundsvall
Top: Panorama view of downtown Sundsvall, Stenstaden and South Stadsberget, 2nd left: Mid Sweden University (Mittuniversitetet), 2nd right: Court of Appeal for Lower Norrland in Bunsouska Pond, 3rd left: North Gate Arena and Gustav Adolf Church, 3rd right: Sundsvall Theater, Bottom: Kulturmagasinet, Sundsvall Museum and Library
Top: Panorama view of downtown Sundsvall, Stenstaden and South Stadsberget, 2nd left: Mid Sweden University (Mittuniversitetet), 2nd right: Court of Appeal for Lower Norrland in Bunsouska Pond, 3rd left: North Gate Arena and Gustav Adolf Church, 3rd right: Sundsvall Theater, Bottom: Kulturmagasinet, Sundsvall Museum and Library
Sundsvall is located in Västernorrland
Sundsvall
Sundsvall
Sundsvall is located in Sweden
Sundsvall
Sundsvall
Coordinates: 62°24′N 17°19′E / 62.400°N 17.317°E / 62.400; 17.317
CountrySweden
ProvinceMedelpad
CountyVästernorrland County
MunicipalitySundsvall Municipality
Area
 • City27.46 km2 (10.60 sq mi)
Population
(31 December 2020)
 • City58,807
 • Density1,847/km2 (4,780/sq mi)
 • Urban99,825
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)

Sundsvall (Swedish: [ˈsɵ̂nː(d)sval] ) is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town in Sundsvall is known as Stenstan, meaning stone city referencing the beautiful stone buildings from late the eighteen hundreds.

History

Sundsvall c. 1700, in Suecia antiqua et hodierna

The town was chartered in 1621, and a first urban plan for Sundsvall was probably created by Olof Bure in 1642, less likely in 1623. It has a port by the Gulf of Bothnia, and is located 395 km north of Stockholm. The city has burned down and been rebuilt four times. The first time, in 1721, it was set on fire by the Russian army during the Russian Pillage of 1719-1721.

The city was burnt on 25 June 1888.

According to one historian,[who?] Swedish industrialism started in Sundsvall when the Tunadal sawmill bought a steam-engine driven saw in 1849. In the early 20th century Sundsvall was an even greater centre of forestry industry in Sweden than it is today. The first large Swedish strike was the "Sundsvall strike" in 1879. The industrial heritage makes social democrat and socialist sympathies more prevalent in the Sundsvall region than in Sweden as a whole.

In 1888 on 25 June, strong wind and dry conditions contributed to two city fires in Sweden on the same day. On this day both Umeå and Sundsvall caught fire. The Sundsvall fire was the largest in Sweden's history. It is presumed that the fire was caused by a spark from a steamship. After the fire, and unlike Umeå, the decision was to rebuild using stone. Sundsvall's centre was later nicknamed Stenstaden (the stone city). One advantage of the new construction was that within three years the town was arguing that it should be allowed reduced insurance as new rules had been brought in that applied to wooden towns. One disadvantage was that after the fire only the better off could afford to live in the centre.

Today Sundsvall is not only dominated by the pulp and paper industry, and the aluminium production but there are also banks, insurance companies, telecommunications administration and a number of large public data-processing centres such as the national social insurance board. The main campus of the Mid Sweden University (Mittuniversitetet) is also located in the city. The university, established in 1993, is a collaboration between Östersund, Sundsvall and Härnösand.

Storgatan, the famous main street in Sundsvall in the heart of Stenstaden ("The stone city")

Demography

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1621 35—    
1721 500+1328.6%
1810 1,485+197.0%
1850 2,837+91.0%
1885 10,275+262.2%
1910 16,854+64.0%
1930 18,007+6.8%
1940 18,852+4.7%
1950 25,706+36.4%
1960 29,419+14.4%
1965 58,704+99.5%
1970 64,920+10.6%
1974 92,483+42.5%
2004 93,707+1.3%
2005 94,044+0.4%
Source: Census data

Culture

During 1987–2013, there was a summer music festival called Gatufesten. Starting in 2014 there's a new one called Hamnyran. There are two theatres and various musical venues. There is also a small guitar festival and a larger heavy metal festival every autumn called Nordfest. Sundsvall is also home to the unique festival Musikschlaget, which is a song contest for groups around Sweden with disabilities.

Transport

Its airport is Sundsvall-Timrå Airport, also called Midlanda.

Sport

Bandy field

Former

Notable people

Gallery

Sundsvall viewed from above Sundsvall City Centre Gustav Adolfskyrkan

Climate

Sundsvall has a climate which is on the border between subarctic (Dfc) and cold humid continental (Dfb), leaning towards the latter in recent years. Temperatures are made significantly milder and regulated by the influence from the Gulf Stream. The weather station is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north and somewhat further inland near Timrå, which renders that Sundsvall's urban centre is likely milder in terms of low temperatures by some degree.

Climate data for Sundsvall Airport (2002–2021); extremes since 1943; sunshine 1961–1990
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 11.0
(51.8)
13.8
(56.8)
15.2
(59.4)
21.9
(71.4)
27.4
(81.3)
35.0
(95.0)
33.0
(91.4)
31.3
(88.3)
27.2
(81.0)
21.5
(70.7)
14.0
(57.2)
10.5
(50.9)
35.0
(95.0)
Mean maximum °C (°F) 5.3
(41.5)
6.8
(44.2)
11.5
(52.7)
16.8
(62.2)
22.2
(72.0)
25.7
(78.3)
27.8
(82.0)
26.0
(78.8)
21.1
(70.0)
14.5
(58.1)
8.8
(47.8)
6.7
(44.1)
28.8
(83.8)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −2.5
(27.5)
−1.2
(29.8)
3.3
(37.9)
8.6
(47.5)
14.0
(57.2)
18.8
(65.8)
21.7
(71.1)
20.0
(68.0)
15.3
(59.5)
8.3
(46.9)
2.6
(36.7)
−0.6
(30.9)
9.0
(48.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) −6.5
(20.3)
−5.6
(21.9)
−1.4
(29.5)
3.5
(38.3)
8.6
(47.5)
13.5
(56.3)
16.7
(62.1)
15.6
(60.1)
10.8
(51.4)
4.6
(40.3)
−0.4
(31.3)
−4.1
(24.6)
4.6
(40.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −10.4
(13.3)
−10.0
(14.0)
−6.1
(21.0)
−1.7
(28.9)
3.2
(37.8)
8.2
(46.8)
11.7
(53.1)
10.6
(51.1)
6.2
(43.2)
0.8
(33.4)
−3.4
(25.9)
−7.6
(18.3)
0.1
(32.2)
Mean minimum °C (°F) −22.5
(−8.5)
−21.5
(−6.7)
−17.4
(0.7)
−7.4
(18.7)
−3.0
(26.6)
2.3
(36.1)
6.1
(43.0)
4.5
(40.1)
−0.1
(31.8)
−6.4
(20.5)
−11.5
(11.3)
−16.8
(1.8)
−24.9
(−12.8)
Record low °C (°F) −35.5
(−31.9)
−34.8
(−30.6)
−34.2
(−29.6)
−20.0
(−4.0)
−8.2
(17.2)
−2.0
(28.4)
1.9
(35.4)
−0.6
(30.9)
−7.7
(18.1)
−15.2
(4.6)
−22.1
(−7.8)
−36.6
(−33.9)
−36.6
(−33.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 56.1
(2.21)
31.7
(1.25)
30.5
(1.20)
27.6
(1.09)
43.3
(1.70)
46.9
(1.85)
58.8
(2.31)
72.5
(2.85)
59.6
(2.35)
63.6
(2.50)
51.0
(2.01)
59.1
(2.33)
600.7
(23.65)
Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) 38
(15)
45
(18)
43
(17)
23
(9.1)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
9
(3.5)
22
(8.7)
52
(20)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 43 81 135 185 259 287 267 215 142 98 57 34 1,803
Source 1: SMHI Open Data for Sundsvall-Timrå flygplats, temperature
Source 2: SMHI Open Data for Stordala-Midlanda D, precipitation

This page was last updated at 2024-03-21 18:47 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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