Kiruna - Geography

Geography

Kiruna is located in the north of Sweden, 145 kilometres (90 mi) north of the Arctic circle. The city centre is built on the Haukavaara hill at an altitude of 530m, high above the Torne river to the north and the Kalix river to the south. Other parts of the town are Lombolo and Tuolluvaara. Near Kiruna are the mountains Kiirunavaara and Luossavaara. Kiirunavaara is an iron ore mine that is the town's primary economic resource. Luossavaara is a former mine and now used as a skiing slope.

The city is built near the lake Luossajärvi with outflow to the Luossajoki that flows in the Torne river at Laxforsen. The area around Kiruna is very sparsely populated. The northwest, west and southwest of Kiruna are dominated by the Scandinavian mountains, visible from the city centre. Swedens highest mountain, Kebnekaise, is 75 kilometres (47 mi) from the city centre and can be seen from it as well. To the west is Nikkaluokta and to the northwest are Abisko, Björkliden, Riksgränsen and the Norwegian town of Narvik, 180 kilometres (110 mi) via the road. 12 kilometres (7 mi) north of Kiruna is Kurravaara, on the edge of the Torne River. The land north of Kurravaara is roadless, uninhabited land, partly barren and partly birch forest, up to the Norwegian and Finnish borders at Treriksröset. The lower-lying east is dominated by boreal forest, stretching hundreds (if not thousands) of kilometers into Finland and Russia. Around 15 km east of Kiruna is a group of villages at the Torne River, most notably Jukkasjärvi, where an ice hotel is built in winter, attracting tourists from all over the world. The twin cities Gällivare and Malmberget are some 120 km south of Kiruna.

Kiruna became a Swedish city on January 1, 1948, and was at one time listed as the largest city in the world by area, even if most of its territory of course was non-urban. After the Swedish municipality reform in the 1970s, the term "city" has been legally discontinued. Today only the built-up area is considered a de facto city.