Skellefteå Sweden Camera
August 7, 2008
Skellefteå is believed to have been inhabited from around 1000 AD by the Sami people and possibly partly Finnish people. Archeologists have found that people were living in the area as far back as 8000 years ago.
In the 14th century attempts were made to Christianize Skellefteå. Norrland was not Christianized until several hundred years after the rest of Sweden, and northern cities such as Skellefteå were largely unexplored. The reason for the sudden awakened interest was the fishing of salmon in the areas around Skellefteå, which was sparked by an increased demand of fish, due to stricter enforcement of the annual month long fasting by the Catholic Church whereby meat was substituted by fish.
The largest employer in Skellefteå is the mining company Boliden AB, with about 1,200 employees. Mining is done for gold, and Skellefteå is sometimes referred to as the Goldtown. This view looks south on the E4 motorway.
