Gävle ['jɛ:vlə] is a
cityUrban area is a common English translation of the Swedish term tätort. The official term in English, used by Statistics Sweden, is, however, locality. There are 1,940 localities in Sweden . They could be compared with census-designated places in the United States.A tätort in Sweden has a minimum of...
, the seat of
Gävle MunicipalityGävle Municipality is a municipality in east central Sweden where the City Gävle is the municipal seat.Geographically the municipality is situated north of the mouth of the river Dalälven and is the southernmost municipality of the historical land of Norrland.The present municipality was created...
and the capital of
Gävleborg CountyGävleborg County is a county or län on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders to the counties of Uppsala, Västmanland, Dalarna, Jämtland and Västernorrland...
in
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
. It has 68,700 inhabitants in 2005. It is the oldest city in the historical
NorrlandNorrland is one of the three lands of Sweden , the northern part, consisting of nine provinces. The term Norrland is not used for any administrative purpose, but it is common in everyday language, e.g...
(Sweden's Northern lands), as it received its
charterA charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
in 1446 by
Christopher of BavariaChristopher of Bavaria, known by his Danish and Norwegian title as Christoffer af/av Bayern and by his Swedish title as Kristofer av Bayern, was union king of Denmark , Sweden and Norway .-Biography:He was probably born at Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, the son of Duke John of Pfalz-Neumarkt and...
.
History
It is believed that the name
Gävle stems from the word
gavel, meaning river banks in old
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
, by the river Gavleån. The oldest settlement was called Gavle-ägarna in Swedish, which means
Gavel-owners. This name was eventually shortened to
Gavle, then
Gefle, and finally
Gävle.
For a long time Gävle consisted solely of small, low,
turfSod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of this material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...
or
shingleRoof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are normally flat rectangular shapes that are laid in rows without the side edges overlapping, a single layer is used to ensure a water-resistant result...
roofed, wooden buildings. Boat-houses lined the banks of Gavleån, Lillån, and Islandsån. Until the 1700s the town was built, as was the practice then, around the three most important buildings; the church, the regional
palaceA palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome...
, and the town hall.
Over the last 300 years Gävle has been ablaze on three different occasions. After the fire of 1776 the town was transformed to straight streets and rectangular city blocks. The number of stone and brick houses also started to increase.
The biggest town fire occurred 1869 when out of a population of around 10,000 approximately 8,000 inhabitants lost their homes, and about 350
farmA farm is an area of land, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibers and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single individual, family, community, corporation...
s were destroyed. Almost the whole town north of Gavleån was burnt down. All the buildings south of Gavleån were saved. An area of the old town between the museum and the library has been preserved to this day as a reserve - Gamla Gefle.
After the catastrophe of the fire Gävle developed its characteristic grid plan with large
esplanadeAn esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. This allows people to promenade along the sea front, usually for recreational purposes, whatever the state of the tide, without having to walk on the beach...
s and green areas. It is now a green town with wide
avenuesTraditionally, an avenue is a straight road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side, which is used, as its French source venir indicates, to emphasize the "coming to," or arrival at a landscape or architectural feature...
. Stopping the spread of future town fires was the main idea behind this development.
An extensive redevelopment of the central town area was started during the 1950s. Around 1970 Gävle became a large
urbanAn urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
district when it was united with the nearby municipalities of
ValboValbo is a locality situated in Gävle Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 6,911 inhabitants in 2005. It is situated south-west of Gävle itself and could be considered a suburb of the city....
, Hamrånge,
HedesundaHedesunda is a locality and a parish situated in Gävle Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 1,048 inhabitants in 2005. It is a former municipality....
, and
HilleHille is a municipality in the Minden-Lübbecke district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Hille is situated approx. 10 km east of Lübbecke and 15 km north-west of Minden.-Neighbouring municipalities:* Minden* Espelkamp* Petershagen...
. New
suburbSuburbs are defined in various different ways around the world. They can be the residential areas of a large city, or separate residential communities within commuting distance of a city. Some suburbs have a degree of political autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city...
s like Stigslund,
SätraSätra is a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. It has its own Metro station.-See also:*Sätra metro station...
, Andersberg, and Bomhus have grown up around the central town.
Gävle goat
The history of the
Gävle goatThe Gävle Goat is a giant version of a traditional Swedish Yule Goat figure made of straw that is located at Slottstorget in central Gävle...
began in 1966. Stig Gavlén came up with the idea of making a giant version of the traditional Swedish
Christmas goatThe Yule Goat is one of the oldest Scandinavian and Northern European Yule and Christmas symbols and traditions. Yule Goat originally denoted the goat that was slaughtered around Yule, but it may also indicate a goat figure made out of straw. It is also used about the custom of going door-to-door...
of
strawStraw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalk of a cereal plant, after the grain or seed has been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat...
and placing it on Slottstorget Square in central Gävle. On 1 December the 13-metre tall, 7-metre long, 3 tonne
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
was erected on the square. At midnight on
New Year's EveNew Year's Eve or Old Year's Night is on , the final day of the Gregorian year, and the day before New Year's Day.New Year's Eve is a separate observance from the observance of New Year's Day...
, the
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
went up in flames. The goat has since had a history of being burnt almost every year, 2005 being the 22nd time. it was burnt. Burning the goat is an illegal act and not welcomed by most citizens of Gävle, but undoubtedly this is what has made the
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
famous. In 2006 the
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
was covered in a flame resistant coating to prevent
arsonArson is the crime of deliberately and maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires caused by lightning for example. The study of the causes is the subject of fire investigation...
, enabling the
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
to remain standing throughout that winter.
Geography
Gävle is situated by the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
near the mouth of the river Dalälven. At 60 degrees north and 17 degrees east, Gävle has the same
latitudeLatitude, usually denoted by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the imaginary horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps that run either north or south of the equator...
as
HelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it the most populous municipality in Finland by a wide margin...
and the same
longitudeLongitude , identified by the Greek letter lambda , is the geographic coordinate most commonly used in cartography and global navigation for east-west measurement...
as
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
and
Cape TownCape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa, and the largest in land area, forming part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. It is the provincial capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative capital of South Africa, where the National Parliament and many...
.
Gävle has a similar
climateClimate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time...
to the rest of central
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
with an average temperature of −5 °C (21 °F) in January and +17 °C (63 °F) in July.
Yearly rainfall is around 600 mm (24 in).
Economy
TradeTrade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce or transaction. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Later one side of the barter were the metals, precious...
from the port of Gävle increased markedly during the 1400s when
copperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...
and
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
began to be exported from the port. In order to ensure that all trade was via
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
, sailing to foreign ports from Gävle and a few other ports was forbidden.
During the 1500s, Gävle was one of the most important port and merchant towns with many shipping companies and
shipyardShipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s.
In 1787 Gävle was awarded "free and unrestricted sailing rights" to and from foreign ports. This led to an increase in
tradeTrade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce or transaction. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Later one side of the barter were the metals, precious...
, which in turn lead to an increase in buildings, industrial developments, trade and shipping.
Today there are few shipping companies or
shipyardShipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s left, but an important
port||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and/or transferring cargo. It is usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. The best ports have deep water in channels or berths, and protection from the wind and waves...
remains. It has over 1000 ships calling per annum and is among the top ten common ports in Sweden.
Major companies
- Korsnäs (company) (forest industry)
- Stora Cell Industri (forest industry)
- Kraft General Foods Scandinavia
Kraft Foods, Inc. is the largest food and beverage company headquartered in the United States and the second largest in the world ....
(GevaliaGevalia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kraft Foods, is the largest coffee roastery in Scandinavia. In North America, the company sells premium coffee and teas directly to consumers via home delivery. Customers order from a customer service center and a website that was relaunched in August 2009...
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
and spices)
- Leaf AB (sweets
is a Japanese idol group. Put together through auditions, the group debuted in 2003 on the avex trax label. Although the group met minor success, they disbanded after three years with the release of a final single in June 2006.- History :...
and confectioneryConfectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well. The word candy or sweets is also used for the extensive variety of candies that comprise confectionery...
, carrying brands such as Läkerol and Ahlgrens)
- Gävle Galvan (galvanization
Galvanization or galvanisation refers to any of several electrochemical processes named after the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani.-Electricity:...
)
- Gävle Stål (pre-fabricated steel
Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
constructions)
- Gävle Varv (pressure tanks)
- Cale Industri (parking meter
A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by municipalities as a tool for enforcing their integrated on-street parking policy, usually related to their traffic and...
s)
- Ericsson
Ericsson , one of the largest Swedish companies, is a leading provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
(radio base stationsRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
for mobile telephone networks)
Education
The
University College of GävleThe Gävle University College is a högskola located in Gävle, Sweden. It uses the name "University of Gävle" in English, although it is not a university by Swedish law...
currently enrolls 12,500 students. It offers courses of study at six departments: Business Administration,
EducationEducation in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual...
and
PsychologyPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
,
Caring SciencesNursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from birth to the end of life....
and
SociologySociology is the scientific or systematic study of human societies. It is a branch of social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and activity, often with the goal of applying such...
,
HumanitiesThe humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences....
and
Social SciencesThe social sciences are the fields of scientific knowledge and academic scholarship that study social groups and, more generally, human society. The social sciences initially were constituted of five fields: Jurisprudence and Amendment of the Law; Education; Health; Economy and Trade; Art...
,
MathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
,
NaturalIn Science, the term natural science refers to a naturalistic approach to the study of the universe, which is understood as obeying rules or laws of natural origin...
and
Computer SciencesComputer Sciences can refer to:*The general field of computer science*Computer Sciences Corporation, the Fortune 500 Information Technology company...
and
TechnologyTechnology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment...
, and
Built EnvironmentThe phrase built environment refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter to neighborhoods to the large-scale civic surroundings....
.
Some courses are given in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
taught both to visiting students from foreign partner institutions and to Swedish students.
Miscellaneous topics
Gävle is mostly known for the
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
called
GevaliaGevalia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kraft Foods, is the largest coffee roastery in Scandinavia. In North America, the company sells premium coffee and teas directly to consumers via home delivery. Customers order from a customer service center and a website that was relaunched in August 2009...
, exported under the brand-name
Maxwell HouseMaxwell House is a brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Foods. It is named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. For many years until the late 1980s it was the largest-selling coffee in the U.S. and is currently second behind Folgers, which is...
, produced by
Kraft General Foods ScandinaviaKraft Foods, Inc. is the largest food and beverage company headquartered in the United States and the second largest in the world ....
(
GevaliaGevalia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kraft Foods, is the largest coffee roastery in Scandinavia. In North America, the company sells premium coffee and teas directly to consumers via home delivery. Customers order from a customer service center and a website that was relaunched in August 2009...
is the
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
name for Gävle), its
Gävle goatThe Gävle Goat is a giant version of a traditional Swedish Yule Goat figure made of straw that is located at Slottstorget in central Gävle...
, the Läkerol
throat lozengeA throat lozenge or cough drop is a small, medicated candy intended to be dissolved slowly in the mouth to lubricate and soothe irritated tissues of the throat , possibly from the common cold or influenza. Cough tablets have taken the name lozenge, based on their original shape.Lozenges may contain...
s and car-shaped sweets
Ahlgrens BilarAhlgrens is a former Swedish confectionery company. It was originally founded by Fredrik Ahlgren in the town of Gävle in 1885 as a store for paint and wallpaper, a business which was later extended to the production and sale of various types of chemicals, perfumes and other products...
, its
ice hockeyIce Hockey is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team's goal. It is a fast-paced and physical sport...
team
Brynäs IFBrynäs IF is a professional Swedish ice hockey team from Gävle. The club plays in the highest Swedish league , and has done so since 1960.-History:...
.
Due to large forest and pulp industries, many people perceive Gävle to often smell bad.
Notable residents
- Andreas Rudman
Andreas Rudman was a pioneer Swedish-American Lutheran minister. He was pastor of Gloria Dei Church and was appointed Suffragan bishop of the Lutheran Church in America.-Background:...
(1668 - 1708) Pioneer Swedish AmericanSwedish Americans are Americans of Swedish descent, most often related to the large groups of immigrants from Sweden in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Most Swedish Americans are Lutherans affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America , or Methodists.-...
Lutheran minister
- Nils Norén (chef)
- Alexandra Dahlström
Alexandra Dahlström is a Swedish actress.-Career:Dahlström gained international attention in 1998, after starring as "Elin" in the film Show Me Love. For this, she won the Guldbagge Award for Best Actress, together with Rebecka Liljeberg...
(actress)
- Christian Edstrom
Björn Christian Edstrom is a professional co-driver from New York, New York, United States. Christian is currently a Subaru Rally Team USA member, co-driving for Travis Pastrana in car number 199 -- a 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.-2006 Season:2006 marked Edstrom's first year with Subaru, and his...
(professional rally co-driver)
- Anders Eklund
Anders Eklund is a former boxer from Sweden. He was nicknamed Lillen , but later chose the nickname "Viking"....
(boxer)
- Joe Hill
Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, and also known as Joseph Hillström was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World . He was executed for murder after a controversial trial...
(labour activist)
- Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , best known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British musician. He is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
(musician) - his mother Ingrid Wickman was from Gävle, and he also lived here for some time during his childhood.
- Joakim Sundström
Joakim Sundström is a Swedish sound editor, sound designer and musician.Born in the Baltic city of Gävle in the north east of Sweden and brought up in Buchanan, Liberia on the West African Atlantic coast. He currently lives and works in London, England. He collaborates regularly with British...
(sound designer)
- Nicklas Bäckström
Lars Nicklas Bäckström is a Swedish professional ice hockey center, currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League .-Early life:...
(hockey player)
- Ewa Mataya Laurance
Ewa Mataya Laurance or simply Ewa Laurance is a Swedish professional pool player, most notably on the Women's Professional Billiard Association nine-ball tour, and more recently a sports commentator for ESPN.Laurance, nicknamed "the Striking Viking", has been playing pool since she...
(professional pool player)
- Jakob Markström (hockey player)
- Rolf Lassgård
Rolf Holger Lassgård in a Swedish actor. Lead actor in Susanne Bier's After the Wedding. Also played Kurt Wallander in several films of Henning Mankell novels....
(actor)
- Åke Fridell
Åke Fridell was a Swedish film actor. He was born in Gävle, Sweden and died in Stockholm.-Selected filmography:* It Rains on Our Love * A Ship to India * Främmande hamn...
(actor)
Sports
Gävle has teams competing in the highest national league in both football (
Gefle IFGefle IF is a Swedish football club located in Gävle. The club's name is the old spelling of the town Gävle. The club, formed 5 December 1882, is currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan...
) and
ice hockeyIce Hockey is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team's goal. It is a fast-paced and physical sport...
(
Brynäs IFBrynäs IF is a professional Swedish ice hockey team from Gävle. The club plays in the highest Swedish league , and has done so since 1960.-History:...
). The town is also home to a wrestling team called BK Loke.
Town twinning
Gävle's
town twinsSister cities, also known as town twinning, is an agreement between towns, cities and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties...
are:
Buffalo CityBuffalo City is a municipality situated on the east coast of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.It includes the towns of East London, Bhisho and King William's Town, as well as the large townships of Mdantsane and Zwelitsha...
,
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
ÁlftanesÁlftanes is a low-lying peninsula which extrudes from the eastern part of Reykjanes, located in Iceland's Greater Reykjavík Area. Álftanes has a population of 2,455 as of July 1, 2008 census....
,
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
Gjøvikis a town and a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Gjøvik....
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
Næstved,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
Rauma-Other:* Rauma dialect* Rauma class missile boat, a class of Finnish Fast Attack Craft* HNoMS Rauma , the second ship of the Norwegian Otra class minesweepers...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
JūrmalaJūrmala is a city in Latvia, about 25 kilometers west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River...
,
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
Galva, IllinoisGalva is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,758 at the 2000 census.-Information:Galva has an extremely high ratio of green space to residents for an American city. There is a four-square-block park in the residential center of town surrounded by Queen Anne...
, USA
KielceKielce is a city in south eastern Poland with 202,609 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Whisky
Mackmyra, a suburb of Gävle, is home to
Mackmyra WhiskyMackmyra Whisky is a Swedish whisky distillery founded in 1999 by eight classmates - alumni from Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The new distillery is situated at the Mackmyra Bruk old facilities, in buildings that are landmark declared, and therefore only a minimum of additions and...
, the only
whiskyWhisky or whiskey is a type of alcoholic beverage distilled from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and maize...
distillery in
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
.
MaltMalting is a process applied to cereal grains, in which the grains are made to germinate by soaking in water and are then quickly halted from germinating further by drying/heating with hot air. Thus, malting is a combination of two processes: the sprouting process and the kiln-drying process...
whiskyWhisky or whiskey is a type of alcoholic beverage distilled from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and maize...
has been produced there since 1999.
See also
External links