Boden Municipality

Boden Municipality (Swedish: Bodens kommun) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Boden.

Boden Municipality Bodens kommun
Municipality
Rödberget fort, part of Boden Fortress
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 65°50′N 21°43′E
Country	Sweden
County	Norrbotten County
Seat	Boden
Area
• Total	4,285.13 km2 (1,654.50 sq mi)
• Land	4,007.86 km2 (1,547.44 sq mi)
• Water	277.27 km2 (107.05 sq mi)
	Area as of 1 January 2014.
Population  (31 December 2023)
• Total	27,943
• Density	6.5/km2 (17/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC 1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC 2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	SE
Province	Norrbotten
Municipal code	2582
Website	www.boden.se

In 1919 the evolving garrison town of Boden was detached from Överluleå and instituted as a city municipality of its own. In 1967 the rest of Överluleå was merged into the city together with a part of Råneå. In 1971 Edefors (which in 1892 also had been detached from Överluleå) was added and the present municipality was formed.

History

According to recent finds, the oldest human settlements are believed to be from around 5,000 BC. From this early time nothing is known (except some scarce finds). First accounted-for sources are from the 16th century, when Boden is referred to as Bodebyn or Bodarna, which may refer to the sheds (bod means "shed"). In 1543 there were seven farmers in the community (each farmer at that time might have several workers and a family). It was also mentioned that native Sami people were living in the proximity.

Geography

The closest larger city is Luleå, which is located some 35 kilometres (22 miles) southeast on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. Luleå is the largest city in Norrbotten County and hosts the main campus of Luleå University of Technology.

The main northern railway line, Stambanan genom övre Norrland, ends in Boden. By rail, Boden is connected to Luleå, and, on the same line, Uppsala, Stockholm, and finally Bräcke in the south.

Southern Boden seen from Rödbergsfortet, part of Boden Fortress

Localities

There were six localities in the municipality as of 2018:

Locality	Population
Boden	16,816
Sävast	3,177
Trångforsen och Heden	1,860
Vittjärv	521
Harads	511
Unbyn	459

Demographics

This is a demographic table based on Boden Municipality's electoral districts in the 2022 Swedish general election sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics.

In total there were 28,135 residents, including 22,002 Swedish citizens of voting age. 54.7% voted for the left coalition and 44.2% for the right coalition. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.

Location Residents Citizen
adults Left vote Right vote Employed Swedish
parents Foreign
heritage Income
SEK Degree % % Björknäs 1,437 1,163 61.0 37.8 72 79 21 19,866 30 Bosvedjan-Unbyn 1,682 1,281 53.5 45.5 88 93 7 29,145 45 Centrum N 738 653 60.4 38.5 77 86 14 21,250 32 Centrum S 1,309 1,191 60.9 38.2 74 89 11 18,935 36 Erikslund-Fagersnäs 2,113 1,639 51.8 47.8 82 93 7 25,470 33 Gunnarsbyn 579 496 60.0 39.0 82 91 9 22,267 25 Harads 1,258 1,038 52.7 45.6 81 88 12 22,084 25 Heden-S Bredåker 1,498 1,149 45.5 53.2 88 93 7 27,863 33 Prästholmen 2,147 1,771 61.3 37.1 73 80 20 21,057 33 Sanden 1,800 1,475 55.9 43.3 82 86 14 24,609 40 Svartbjörsbyn 2,085 1,624 52.6 46.8 86 94 6 26,982 37 Svartbyn 2,369 1,808 57.1 42.2 90 94 6 29,858 51 Sveafältet 1,782 1,211 53.2 44.2 69 61 39 18,711 26 Sävast 1,875 1,376 58.5 40.5 86 91 9 28,725 53 Sävastön 1,801 1,302 50.0 48.4 89 90 10 31,017 55 Torpgärdan 1,167 911 55.9 43.6 80 86 14 25,647 38 Trångfors 1,309 1,028 54.1 45.5 90 96 4 31,021 47 Vittjärv-N Bredåker 1,186 906 47.9 51.5 88 93 7 28,972 37 Source: SVT

Language

In Boden Municipality, as in all of Sweden, there is no "official" language, but Swedish is by far the mostly used one. Some people are also, due to the proximity to the Finnish border, proficient in Finnish, and a few speak Sami. Nowadays, due to immigration, a lot of languages from around the world can also be heard.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Sweden

Twin towns — Sister cities

Boden Municipality is twinned with:

• Alta, Norway
• Oulu, Finland (since 1948)
• Apatity, Russia

All of these are northerly located, only Oulu being on a more southern latitude than Boden.

Notable natives

• Peter Englund, author, historian (tenth member of the Swedish Academy)
• Berit Granquist, fencer
• Eyvind Johnson, author (awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974)
• Niclas Wallin, ice hockey player (team member of the winner of the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes)
• Tobias "Tejbz" Öjerfalk, online personality.

Politics

Following 2018 elections the municipal council is dominated by the Social Democrats despite their losing two seats compared to the previous elections. Two regional parties, Aktiv samling – Bodenalternativet and Health Care Party of Norrbotten, performed well, gaining 10 seats between them in the 49-member council. The head of executive is Social Democrat Claes Nordmark.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	±
	Social Democrats	6,555	34.17	17	−2
	Moderate Party	3,075	16.03	8	−5
	Aktiv samling – Bodenalternativet	2,338	12.19	6	6
	Sweden Democrats	1,806	9.41	5	−1
	Health Care Party	1,557	8.12	4	2
	Left Party	1,227	6.40	3	−1
	Centre Party	1,028	5.36	3	2
	Liberals	567	2.96	2	1
	Green Party	407	2.12	1	−1
	Others	626	3.26
Invalid/blank votes		255
Total		19,441	86.13	49	-

See also

• English Canal
• Boden Fortress

External links

• Boden Municipality - Official site (in Swedish)
• ExperienceBoden.nu - Official tourist site