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Kiruna is the northenmost city of
Sweden, situated in Lappland province, with roughly 18000 inhabitants.
Being located 145 kilometres
north of the Arctic Circle, Kiruna has perpetual daylight, the midnight
sun, approximately from 30 May to 15 July. The polar night is a few
weeks shorter, lasting December 13 - January 5.
The church
in Kiruna from 1912 is also notable, one of Sweden's largest wooden
buildings. The church exterior is built in an Neo Gothic style, while
the altar is in Art Nouveau. It has separately been voted Sweden's best
looking church and the foremost Swedish pre-1950 construction.
Iron ore extraction is a key
industry of the area, and the town is very dependent on the mining
company LKAB.
The ESTRACK
Kiruna Station of ESA, the European Space Agency, is
located in the municipality. So is Esrange, the European
Space and Sounding Rocket Range, as well as an EISCAT
station.
A
hotel built of ice and snow
The
Ice Hotel
near the village of Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna, was the world's first ice
hotel. The entire hotel is made completely out of ice blocks taken from
the Torne River - even the glasses in the bar are made of ice. The hotel
has more than 80 rooms and suites, a bar, reception area and church.
The hotel only exists between December and April.
Each room is unique and the architecture of the hotel is changed each
year, as it is rebuilt from scratch.
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