Sandviken

Sandviken is a locality and the seat of Sandviken Municipality in Gävleborg County, Sweden with 22,965 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated about 25 km west of Gävle and lies approximately 190 km north of Stockholm. The rail journey to Stockholm takes about 2 hours and to Arlanda, Sweden´s main international airport, no more than 1.5 hours.

Sandviken is the home town of the major high-technology Swedish engineering concern Sandvik and the main office of the company was located in Sandviken until January 2012 when it was moved to Stockholm. The company's international activities, combined with the fact that there are more than 80 different nationalities in the municipality, give Sandviken an international air.

Sandviken is also home to a number of cultural activities: Kulturskolan (extramural music, dance and drama training), Sandviken Big Band, Sandviken Symphonic Orchestra and a large number of musicians in the region. Sandvikens Art Gallery shows throughout the year various interesting exhibitions. Amongst the many popular tourist attractions in the municipality, the following must be singled out for special mention: the attractive old, carefully restored industrial villages in Gysinge and Högbo Bruk with their forges and smithies, handicraft, manor houses and possibilities they offer for outdoor recreation. During the winter months the downhill skiing facilities and the Snowpark at Kungsberget attract a large number of visitors from near and far.

Note: As Sandviken means the sandy bay there are numerous other places of that name throughout Scandinavia.