Gothenburg (Swedish: ) ) is a city and municipality in the province Västergötland on the west-coast of Sweden. As of 2005, the population amounted to 485,000 in the actual city and 879,000 in the metropolitan area making it the second largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm. Gothenburg is the largest university city in Scandinavia with some 60,000 students.
The city is situated where the Göta Älv discharges into the Kattegat; the River divides the city in two halfs: the upper part located on the island Hisingen. The inlet of Göta Älv is well suited for a harbour, and Gothenburg has expanded its port into becoming the largest among the Nordic countries.
Name
In Dutch, Scots, German and English- 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. These traditional forms are now widely replaced with the use of the Swedish form Göteborg.
History
In the 16th and 17th century, the situation of Sweden's borders made it strategically important to have an outpost on the west coast the exposed area in between rivalling countries Denmark and Norway. After some initial failed attempts, Gothenburg was successfully founded in 1621, by King Gustavus Adolphus (Gustaf II Adolf). The coat of arms was based on the lion of the coat of arms of Sweden, symbolically holding a shield with the national emblem, the Three Crowns, to defend against its enemies.
In 1658 and the Treaty of Roskilde, the Danish and Norwegian provinces (Halland, south, and Bohus County or Bohuslän, north), became Swedish, and with a less exposed position, Gothenburg was able to grow into an important port and trade centre on the west coast.
The architectural structure was made by contracted Dutch town planners hired by the Swedish king, and the blueprint for the canals of Gothenburg are actually the same as those used for Jakarta.
In the 18th century, the most important industry was the fishing industry. However, in 1731 the Swedish East India Company was founded, and the city flourished due to its foreign trades with highly profitable commercial expeditions to Asian countries.
The harbour developed into Sweden's main harbour for trades towards the west and with the Swedish emigration to North America increasing, Gothenburg became Sweden's main point of exit. The importance of Gothenburg as a main port of exit for Swedish emigrants is apparent in the naming of Gothenburg, Nebraska a small Swedish settlement in the United States.
With the 19th century, Gothenburg evolved into a modern industrial city that continued on into the 20th century. The population increased ten-folt in the century, from 13,000 (1800) to 130,000 (1900). In the 20th century major companies that developed were SKF (est. 1907) and Volvo (est. 1926).
In more recent years however, the industrial section has faced a recession, which has spurned the development of new sectors such as increased merchandice and cultural and educational institutions.
Governance
Boroughs
The municipality is subdivided into 21 boroughs, which carry responsibility for primary school, social, leisure, and cultural services within their respective areas. 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.
Situated on the western coast by Kattegatt, an arm of the North Sea, at the outlet of the river Göta älv and the Göta Canal. Due to the Gulf Stream the city has a mild climate and quite a lot of rain. The archipelago of Gothenburg consists of rough, barren rocks and cliffs, which also is typical for the coast of Bohus County.
The main airport is located at Landvetter, 20 km east of Gothenburg. The smaller Gothenburg City Airport lies 14 km northwest of the city. Other major transportation hubs are Centralstationen ("the Central Station") and the Nils Ericson Terminal with trains and buses to various destinations in Sweden, as well as connections to Oslo and Copenhagen. Several ferry lines run to/from Fredrikshavn, Kiel, Kristiansand and Newcastle.
Gothenburg is a logistic centre, with transports by train and truck from Sweden and Norway to Gothenburg harbour which is by far the largest port in Scandinavia with a cargo turnover of 36.9 million tonnes a year (2004)Statistics from the homepage of the Port of Gothenburg, www.portgot.com.
With over 150 km the Gothenburg tram is the largest tram/light rail network in Northern Europe.
Demographics
Gothenburg, as most Swedish metropolitan areas, has a large immigrant population. According to SCB in 2005, there are 93,965 immigrants resident in Gothenburg, which is about 20% of the population, out of which 10% is from Iran and 9% from Finland. The Iranian population, as well as other immigrants from the Middle East (notably Iraq) and former Yugoslavia, is concentrated in Angered (most notably Bergsjön, Hjällbo and Hammarkullen) and other suburbs in the north east. This has received criticism from the Swedish Integration Board (Integrationsverket), since these areas are becoming more and more subjects of segregation.
Economy
By its naturally advantageous location, Gothenburg houses the largest and most important harbour installation in Scandinavia. Trade and shipping have always been important businesses and in the 18th century, the city was the home to the Swedish East India Company. Industry developed into an important business, e.g., SKF, Volvo and Ericsson.
The blue collar industries dominated until the late 1980s when shipyards started to shut down. Today the town has a mix of hi tech industries with Volvo Cars being the largest employer and a number of smaller computer software vendors.
Education
The are two universities in Gothenburg: Gothenburg University and the Chalmers University of Technology. They were both initiated in the 19th century as university colleges on private donations. Today there are more than 60,000 students, which makes Gothenburg the largest university city in Scandinavia.
The Gothenburg University contains such faculties as:
There are also four folk high schools (Arbetarrörelsens Folkhögskola i Göteborg, Folkhögskolan i Angered, Göteborgs Folkhögskola and Kvinnofolkhögskolan).
The cooperation with South African City of Port Elizabeth (established 1998) is a partnership fostering development of common fields of interest such as solid waste management, public libraries, sport and tourism.
Culture
The sea, trade and industrial history of the city is evident in the cultural life of Gothenburg. The biggest attraction in the city is the amusement park Liseberg (see Sites of interest), an institution that was largely built because the workers should have something to do on their spare time, except to drink liquor. Another fact related to the industrial heritage of the city is that many of the cultural institutions, as well as hospitals and the university, were created thanks to donations from rich merchants and industrialists, for example the Röhss Museum.
The 1923 Gothenburg Industrial Exhibition saw the creation of the art museum and a number of other institutions. The event culture of the city was an important factor behind the creation of a number of other sport and cultural institutions.
There are very few houses left from the 17th century when the city was founded, since all but the military and royal houses were built of woodNationalencyklopedin (NE), The Swedish National Encyclopedia (Most of this section is based on NE) . One example is Skansen Crown.
Instead the first major architectural interesting period is the 18th century when the East India Company made Gothenburg an important trade city. Imposing stone houses with a Classical look are erected around the canals. One example from this period is the East India House, which today houses Gothenburg’s City Museum.
In the 19th century the wealthy bourgeoisie begun to move outside the city walls which had protected the city when Norway and Denmark still was a threat. The style now was an eclectic, academical, somewhat over decorated style which the middle-class favoured. The working class lived in the overcrowded city district Haga, in wooden houses.
In the 19th century the first important town plan after the founding of city was created, which led to the construction of the main street Kungsportsavenyn.
The perhaps most significant type of houses of the city, Landshövdingehusen, were built in the end of the 19th century; three story-houses with the first floor in stone and the other two in wood.
A very important period in the architectural history of the city was the early 20th century, when the National Romantic style dominated. Among the many monumental building erected the Masthugget Church can be mentioned.
And in the beginning of the 1920s, when the city celebrated its 300th anniversary, the Götaplatsen square with its Neo-Classical look was built.
After this the predominant style in Gothenburg and rest of Sweden was Functionalism which especially dominated the suburbs like Västra Frölunda and Bergsjön. In the 1950s the big stadium Ullevi was erected when Sweden hosted the 1958 World Cup in football.
The modern architecture of the city are being formed by such architects as Gert Wingårdh who started as a Post-Modernist in the 1980s.
Food and drink
Gothenburg, with its location just by the North Sea, has a number of top class fish and seafood restaurants. The city also has a number of star chefs – over the past decade seven of the Swedish Chef of the Year Awards have been won by Gothenburgers. The most popular place to buy the raw ingredient is the Feskekôrka ("Fish Church"); an indoor fish market, it got its name from the building's resemblance to a Gothic church. Four restaurants have presently (2006) a star in the Michelin Guide: 28 +, Basement, Fond and SjömagasinetInformation from the tourist company Göteborg & Co, website www.goteborg.com.
Gothenburg is perhaps the city with the highest concentration of cafés and coffee shops in Sweden; with a large group of students in the city centre and a long tradition of more traditional cafés the number of establishments exploded in the 1990s.
There are also a large number of pubs, bars and discotheques – for example at the main street Kungsportsavenyn.
Kungsportsavenyn, commonly known as just Avenyn, "The Avenue", is the main boulevard. It was created in the 1860s and 1870s as a result of an international town planning competitionGuide till Sveriges arkitektur, red. Waern, Caldenby, Arkitektur förlag. With a total length of about two kilometers, it stretches from the old moat at the edge of the older part of Gothenburg, and ends at the Götaplatsen square, where the Gothenburg Museum of Art and several other cultural institutions are located.
Avenyn passes the Stora teatern, a Neo-Renaissance theatre and opera building from 1859, and has a major concentration of pubs, discoteques and restaurants.
Just across Dag Hammarskjöldsleden is Gothenburg's largest park, Slottskogen, where you can visit Gothenburg's Natural History Museum (Naturhistoriska Museet), a tropical animal park (Tropikhuset), a children's zoo (Barnens Zoo), and a family animal park (Djurgårdarna). The park is also home to the city's oldest observatory, but if you prefer, it's a perfect place for sun-bathing, picnicking, or taking a relaxing stroll through Gothenburg's shady forests.
The amusement park Liseberg located in the central part of the city, is the largest in Scandinavia, and the most popular attraction in Sweden by number of visitors per year (>3 millions). Next to Liseberg is the science discovery centre Universeum.
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