The history of Kiruna


There are many ancient remains in the area surrounding Kiruna that shows that people has lived here for as much as 6000 years. The big ice, that had covered the land, then disappeared and people could move in.

In the year 1900 Kiruna became a city. From that year the city grew very quickly and just some decades after approximately 8000 people lived in Kiruna. Later many youngsters moved south in Sweden in order to find a work in cities closer to Europe. This development seems to have stopped and now many young people choose to stay in Kiruna.


Ore deposits

Kiruna started to grow when one discovered what enormous amounts of ore the mountains in the area contained. The mining started as early as more than hundred years ago. This was the beginning of a tremendous growth and development in the area. Thanks to the mining industry many people got the possibility to find work in Kiruna. Though the working conditions sometimes were really hard. The company that started the mining industry in Kiruna was LKAB, Loussavaara and Kirunavaara Limited.

Fact is, that today the company extracts ore even below some parts of Kiruna. But it is not dangerous to stay in Kiruna; the parts of Kiruna that are not safe are shut off. The ore is transported to Narvik or to Lulea by the railroad track called “Malmbanan”. This railroad is about 500 kilometres long and leads across both Sweden and Norway.

The first Managing Director of the company LKAB was in fact the man who founded Kiruna. He engaged some of the best architects in Sweden to build the town. In the year 1900 Kiruna became a city. From that year the city grew very quickly and just some decades after approximately 8000 people lived in Kiruna. Later many youngsters moved south in Sweden in order to find a work in cities closer to Europe. This development seems to have stopped and now many young people choose to stay in Kiruna. For example the roads are built in accordance with the nature and thus are not straight as in other cities. This prevents the cold wind to follow the streets. This also gives the city a special charm and it is very picturesque.












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