Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg ) is a city and a municipality on the western coast of Sweden, in the County of Västra Götaland. With 478,055 inhabitants in the city and 816,931 in the metropolitan area it is the second largest city in Sweden after Stockholm and the seat of residence for the county.

History

Main article: History of Gothenburg

In the early 17th century Sweden controlled only one point on the western coastline. An attempt in 1607 to found a city by the name of Gothenburg on the nearby island of Hisingen had failed due to the Kalmar War, but the second attempt in 1621, by King Gustavus Adolphus (known commonly as Gustav Adolf), was successful. Following the successive wars, by 1658 all the Danish eastern provinces were ceded to Sweden, by the Treaty of Roskilde.

In English, German and Dutch - languages with a long history of being spoken in the trade and maritime-oriented city - the name Gothenburg (with varying pronunciations) was traditionally used for the city, while the French form of the city name is Gothembourg. Without displacing these traditional forms, the use of the Swedish form Göteborg has in recent years spread to other languages.

Getting here

Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport is located east of Göteborg. There is bus services from Landvetter terminating at the Nils-Ericson Terminal in thirty minutes (cost 70 crowns).

Ryanair flies to Gothenburg City Airport from London Stansted, Glasgow Prestwick and Frankfurt-Hahn - more destinations are coming. Remarkably for this airport is that it's the only airport Ryanair operates, located closer to city centre than the main airport. A bus (cost 50 crowns) meets each Ryanair flight, and takes you to the Nils Ericson Terminal in just 20 minutes.

From Centralstationen or Nils Ericson Terminalen you can catch trains (operated by SJ) to all different parts of Sweden. There are services to Copenhagen via the Öresund bridge. Swebus Express and Säfflebussen will take you to exotic desinations such as Oslo, Stockholm, Jönköping, Karlstad or Copenhagen. Eurolines connects the city to most countries in Europe.

Stena Line operates ships to/from Denmark (Fredrikshavn) and Germany (Kiel). DFDS Seaways operates Norway (Kristiansand) and United Kingdom (Newcastle).

Politics

Main article: Politics of Gothenburg

The municipality is subdivided into 21 boroughs, which carry responsibility for primary school, social, leisure and cultural services within their respective areas. A point of some controversy is the fact that the borough councils do not reflect the local majority, but follow the majority at City Hall for the entire municipality. In the election of 1998 three boroughs -- Askim, Torslanda and Älvsborg -- held local referenda on forming their own municipalities, but their petitions were rejected by the Government of Sweden.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Gothenburg

Situated on the western coast by Kattegat, an arm of the North Sea, at the outlet of the river Göta älv and Göta kanal. The Gothenburg Metropolitan Area (Stor-Göteborg) extends to the municipalities of Ale, Härryda, Kungälv, Lerum, Mölndal, Partille, Stenungsund, Tjörn, Öckerö in Västra Götaland County and Kungsbacka in Halland County.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Gothenburg

By its naturally advantageous location, Gothenburg houses the largest and most important harbor installation in Scandinavia. Trade and shipping have always been important businesses and already in the 18th century it was the home to the Swedish East India Company. Industry developed into an important business, and examples include SKF, Volvo and Ericsson.

Universities

Main article: Universities in Sweden

• Gothenburg University
• Chalmers University of Technology
• IT University of Göteborg
• Gothenburg School of Economics and Commercial Law

Heraldry

Main article: Heraldry of Gothenburg

Sites of interest

Gothenburg has a wide selection of cultural establishments, including theatres and museums. A new opera house was inaugurated in 1994. Museums include art, design and handicrafts, sea history, natural history, science, East India, etc. and a new museum on world culture to be inaugurated in 2004. Gothenburg Botanic Garden is considered to be one of the outstanding botanical gardens in Europe. The amusement park Liseberg, is the largest one in Scandinavia, and among the most popular attractions in Sweden.

Sports

Held events:

• 1992 European Football Championship
• 1993 World Championships in Handball
• 1993 World Championships in Table tennis
• 1995 World Championships in Athletics
• 1997 World Championships in Swimming (Short track)
• 1997 Davis Cup Finals, Tennis, Sweden-United States
• 1999 European Championships in Athletics (20-22 year olds)
• 2002 European Championships in Handball
• 2002 World Championships in Ice Hockey
• 2002 Volvo Ocean Race
• 2003 World Championships in Skating (allround)
• 2004 O-Ringen - A 5-days orienteering competition
• 2004 World Championships in Skating (short track)
• 2004 UEFA Cup Final

Annual events:

• Gothia Cup

Planned events:

• 2006 European Championships in Athletics

Arenas: Scandinavium, Ullevi

Notable natives

William Chalmers, manager of the Swedish East India Company and founder of Chalmers University of Technology. Gothenburg is also the hometown of Ingemar Johansson, world heavyweight champion of boxing, who beat Floyd Patterson in 1959. Also jazz star pianists Bengt Hallberg and Jan Johansson lived here. Also, the pop group Ace of Base are from here.

Miscellaneous topics

Gothenburg is also noted for being the centre of the melodic death metal movement, a typically Swedish musical style, being home to such internationally known bands as At The Gates, Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, and In Flames. It is also the hip-hop capital of Sweden.

On the evening of October 29 1998, a fire developed in the premises of the Macedonian Association discotheque in Gothenburg. On the evening of the fire it was estimated that the number of people in the disco reached 400. In this incident 63 people died[1] [2].

The name Gothenburg or Göteborg literally means Castle of the Goths, and the city has a former status as capital of the Götaland (land of the Goths), one of three ethnic (? - bad classification) subgroups in Sweden. The ethnic Goths in this context are not to be confused with the Goth subculture, which is unrelated.

See also

• Gothenburg Opera
• Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
• Gothenburg City Airport
• Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport

External links

• Gothenburg - Official City site
• Gothenburg & Co. - Official Tourist site
• Gothenburg Botanic Garden - Official site