Lulea, in Lule sami, Luleju, is a city (pop. 45,467) in Norrbotten in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Lulea Municipality, the capital of Norrbotten County and an episcopal see.
The town of Lulea is situated on a peninsula where Lule Bay meets the Gulf of Bothnia; the bay stretches northwest and becomes the Lule River, allowing sea-based transportation across the county. The ground area is 2110 square kilometres.
The harbour of Lulea is of particular significance for iron ore from LKAB's mining in Kiruna and Gällivare/Malmberget. During the winter, sea traffic continues at virtually unchanged rate with the assistance of ice breakers (Lulea is the home port of the Swedish ice breaker armada).
The archipelago of Lulea consists of approximately 800 islands. By winter, several of the islands are possible to reach by car over the ice.
Lulea's commerce and industry consists of a mix of industry, research, education, trade and services. The University's educational programmes have induced new businesses as well as local offices for multinational corporate groups. Major employers in the city are the SSAB steelworks and Lulea University of Technology. A Swedish Air Force wing, F 21 (or Norrbotten Air Force Wing), is stationed near Lulea at the neighbouring Lulea Airport. Other major employers are Ferruform (a subsidiary of Scania) and Gestamp HardTech (overtaken from SSAB 2005-01-01).
Lulea has a variety of cultural institutions, among them Norrbottensteatern, Norrbottens museum and Norrbotten big band under the lead of Tim Hagans. In January 2007 the Cultural house (Kulturens hus) was opened.
In one location, library, concerts and art exhibitions are housed.
Shopping
The number of stores and malls has grown in recent years. Beyond the fact that the city is housing one of the world's first indoor malls, Shopping, there are also the malls Strand, Smedjan, Folksamhuset and the first "youth-galleria" of Sweden, Storgatan 61, located in the city center. In the town center, there are two main shopping streets, Storgatan and Kungsgatan.
Outside the city, within the industrial area of Storheden, a new shopping-area has evolved. Some of the shops located here are Coop Forum, H&M, Överskottsbolaget, Willy:s, Ica Maxi, Rusta, On Off, Lindex, Intersport, BlendShe, Jula and Expert.
The Lulea municipality is the fastest growing shopping area in Sweden.
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