Jönköping (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈjœnɕøːpiŋ]) is a city in Småland in southern Sweden with 84,423 inhabitants in 2005.[1] It is the 9th most populous city of Sweden.
The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipality which has a population of 122,194 (2006), and also the seat of Jönköping County which has a population of 331,539 (2006).
Jönköping is the seat of a district court and a court of appeal as well as the Swedish National Courts Administration. It is also the seat of the Swedish Board of Agriculture
Geographically the town is situated by the southern end of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern. With a sandy beach running through Jönköping, it is considered a very beautiful city. The original town Jönköping has grown together with Huskvarna and Norrahammar forming a contiguous urban area, since 1971 wholly in the same municipality.
History
Jönköping is an old trading center (Köping), since it was located on a crossroad for the roads following along the rivers Nissan and Lagan, and the road between the provinces Östergötland and Västergötland. This was rather natural due to the geographical position of the city at the southern end of lake Vättern, which divided the two counties. On 18 May 1284, Jönköping received rights as a City in Sweden as one of the first communities in the country, by King Magnus Ladulås, who at that time largely ruled the nation from Vättern's largest island Visingsö. In the name of the city "Jön-" is derived from a creek, "Junebäcken", which was situated in the nowadays western part of the city, Talavid. This was the location of the first known settlement in the area. The second part of the name "-köping", as mentioned above, is an old word for a trading center or market place.
However, the geographical position of the city also left it vulnerable to foreign attacks, mainly from the Danes, coming from the south with the river roads; at that time, the provinces of what is today southern Sweden — Scania, Halland and Blekinge — belonged to Denmark. Consequently, the city was plundered and burned several times, until a fortification was built in the 16th and 17th century.
The Sofia church in Jönköping,
Neo-Gothic style, 1888
Jönköping is known for its matchstick industry 1845-1970. Still today it is an important Swedish logistical center, with many companies' central warehouses situated there (like IKEA, Electrolux and Husqvarna).
Present
The urban area of Jönköping today includes the eastern industrial town of Huskvarna, with which it has grown together.
A major fair and exhibition center, Elmia is also located in Jönköping, with fairs including Elmia Wood, the world’s largest forestry fair. Elmia’s fairs are also the biggest of their kind in Europe for subcontractors, trucks, caravans and railways. Since 2002, Elmia has also been the site of the world's largest LAN party, DreamHack.
Notable natives
- Lillian Asplund, survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking
- John Bauer, illustrator, painter
- Amy Diamond, singer
- Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA
- Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, olympian
- Dag Hammarskjöld, United Nations Secretary-General
- Mona Johannesson, model
- Sven-Olof Karlsson, former CEO of Jonkoping County Council, advocate of the Esther Project, leader of one of the top five models of health care sysytem transformation ranked best in the world, dynamic public speaker.
- Fredrik Neij, Founder of The Pirate Bay BitTorrent-tracker.
- Nina Persson, The Cardigans
- Sofia Paldanius, kayaker, olympian
- Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of the Swedish colony of New Sweden
- Viktor Rydberg, author
- Emil Svanängen, of indie pop band Loney, Dear
- Swante M. Swenson, Founder of the SMS Ranches in Texas.
- Carl Peter Thunberg, botanist
Local Musicians
- Her Bright Skies (previously called Herbrightskies), a post-hardcore band that was named as 'The Pride of Jönköping' after releasing their first EP 'Beside Quiet Waters'
- I'm From Barcelona, a 29-piece indie pop band
- The Motorhomes, a rockband
Education
-
Panorama of central Jönköping
Sport
See also
References
External links
|
50 most populous urban areas in the Nordic countries |
|
 Denmark ·  Finland ·  Iceland ·  Norway ·  Sweden |
|
| 1. |
Stockholm |
1,252,000 |
| 2. |
Copenhagen |
1,167,569 |
| 3. |
Helsinki |
1,027,635 |
| 4. |
Oslo |
876,391 |
| 5. |
Gothenburg |
510,500 |
| 6. |
Malmö |
258,000 |
| 7. |
Turku |
248,598 |
| 8. |
Århus |
228,700 |
| 9. |
Bergen |
227,752 |
| 10. |
Tampere |
209,748 |
|
| 11. |
Reykjavík |
195,000 |
| 12. |
Stavanger |
189,828 |
| 13. |
Trondheim |
160,072 |
| 14. |
Odense |
152,100 |
| 15. |
Uppsala |
144,839 |
| 16. |
Oulu |
137,370 |
| 17. |
Jyväskylä |
128,114 |
| 18. |
Aalborg |
122,461 |
| 19. |
Västerås |
107,000 |
| 20. |
Fredrikstad |
101,698 |
|
| 21. |
Lahti |
100,444 |
| 22. |
Örebro |
98,200 |
| 23. |
Linköping |
97,400 |
| 24. |
Drammen |
96,563 |
| 25. |
Kuopio |
91,845 |
| 26. |
Helsingborg |
91,500 |
| 27. |
Kouvola |
88,396 |
| 28. |
Skien |
86,923 |
| 29. |
Jönköping |
84,400 |
| 30. |
Norrköping |
83,600 |
|
| 31. |
Pori |
75,562 |
| 32. |
Lund |
76,200 |
| 33. |
Umeå |
75,600 |
| 34. |
Joensuu |
72,167 |
| 35. |
Esbjerg |
71,900 |
| 36. |
Lappeenranta |
70,210 |
| 37. |
Gävle |
68,700 |
| 38. |
Kristiansand |
67,547 |
| 39. |
Hämeenlinna |
66,257 |
| 40. |
Borås |
63,400 |
|
| 41. |
Södertälje |
60,300 |
| 42. |
Eskilstuna |
60,200 |
| 43. |
Randers |
59,842 |
| 44. |
Rovaniemi |
59,274 |
| 45. |
Vaasa |
58,607 |
| 46. |
Täby |
58,593 |
| 47. |
Karlstad |
58,500 |
| 48. |
Seinäjoki |
56,578 |
| 49. |
Kolding |
56,249 |
| 50. |
Halmstad |
55,688 |
|
|
|
