|
| |
Arvika Municipality
|
| |
 
|
| |
Arvika
|
| |
|
| |
Värmland County
|
| |
Värmland
|
| |
55th
|
| |
16595
|
| |
xx
|
| |
2005
|
| |
93rd
|
| |
26,275
|
| |
xx
|
| |
16 <!--12,857 are male, and 13,331 are female-->
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
59_39_N_12_37_E
|
is a
Swedish Municipality in
Värmland County in western
Sweden . Its seat is in the
City '''Arvika''' with 14,000 inhabitants.
Is in contemporary Sweden most known for the annual Arvika Festival that attracts international artists.
The city Arvika is situated at
Kyrkviken , a bay of
Glafsfjorden , Swedens only inland
Fjord , a remnant of the
Ice Age , when the area was close to the sea. The area is hilly with the highest hill ''Storkasberget'' close to the city.
The largest city in its vicinity is
Karlstad , 80 km to the south-east at the shores of lake
Vänern .
Arvika and its surroundings has good water infrastructure. Through a system of
Canal s lake
Vänern can be reached, and from there the
Göta Canal allowes further passage to
Gothenburg and the sea on Sweden's east coast.
Ten kilometers west of the city, in ''Bergs Klätt'', there are remnants of a younger
Stone Age and
Nordic Bronze Age settlements in the form of graves.
The city was historically only a
Village until 1811 when it was given city privileges under the name ''Oscarsstad'' in order to improve the economics of the area. This attempt was unsuccessful, and the city privileges were withdrawn in 1821 and the village was instead given the status of market-town (köping) and renamed Arvika. The city privileges were not returned until 1911, and the name Arvika was kept.
A part of the town named ''Haga'' was once designated worker quarters.
Arvika has several heavy industrial production facilities which employ the majority of the population, among these
Volvo Wheel Loaders and
Arvika Gjuteri (nodular and grey iron foundry).
Arvika is know for their artist collective ''
Rackstad '' just outside the city. Here, several famous Swedish artists lived and worked, the most well-known probably being
Christian Eriksson and
Gustaf Fjæstad and his wife
Maja Fjæstad . Other talents that lived in Rackstad include
Björn Ahlgrensson and
Fritz Lindström .
In recent times, the
Arvika Festival (an annual event since 1992) is the biggest cultural activity in the area, with several international bands visiting the town during three days in July every summer. In recent years such bands as
Einstürzende Neubauten ,
Ministry ,
New Order and
Kraftwerk have performed here.
One of Sweden's six
Music School s,
Ingesund College Of Music , is situated in Arvika.
