The arctic capital of Swedish Lapland

Kiruna is in many ways a place of extremes. Here the light is brighter, the cold colder, the peaks higher, the distances longer and the location more northerly than anywhere else in Sweden. It is a place way beyond. 

With our 19,447 square kilometers, Kiruna is as big as half the Netherlands, giving each resident an average of one square kilometer of breathtaking nature, each. We are a uniquely quadrilingual city, where the Swedish, Sami, Tornedal and Finnish cultures live side by side in the city of Kiruna or throughout our 50 villages. 

Originally established more than 120 years ago upon the discovery of valuable ore deposits, Kiruna is currently undertaking an exciting societal transformation. As we literally move parts of the city in our urban transformation, we are bringing a new and modern city center, filled with the culture and history of the region, to life.

You may have heard of the “15-minute city” – the new concept, popularized in Paris, that seeks to make all of life’s essentials accessible only minutes from your doorstep. In the Swedish Arctic, our cities were built around this concept, long before it was popular to do so! We pride ourselves on our sustainable cities, where you can oftentimes walk to your destination faster than you can drive. A life in northern Sweden is a life free of the tedium of long commutes. Our residents get to enjoy incredible career opportunities that are minutes from our schools, mountain biking trails, ski slopes, and beaches. In the Swedish Arctic, we promise you an unmatched quality of life!