Jönköping
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Jönköping ['jœncøːpiŋ] is a town in the province of Småland in southern Sweden with 81,000 inhabitants, located at .
The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipality (pop. 120,000), and also the seat of Jönköping County (pop. 327,000).
Geographically the town is situated by the southern end of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern.
History
Jönköping is an old trading center (Köping), since it was located on a crossroad for the roads following along the rivers Nissan and Lagan, and the road between the provinces Ostrogothia and Westrogothia. This was rather natural due to the geographical position of the city at the southern end of lake Vättern, which divided the two counties. On May 18 1284, Jönköping received rights as a City in Sweden as one of the first communities in the country, by King Magnus Ladulås, who at that time largely ruled the nation from Vättern's largest island Visingsö.However, the geographical position of the city also left it vulnerable to foreign attacks, mainly from the Danes, coming from the south with the river roads; at that time, the provinces of what is today southern Sweden — Scania, Hallandia and Blechingia — belonged to Denmark. Consequently, the city was plundered and burned several times, until a fortification was built in the 16th and 17th century.
Jönköping is known for its matchstick industry 1845-1970. Still today it is an important Swedish logistical center, with many companies' central warehouses situated there (like IKEA, Electrolux and Husqvarna).
Present
Jönköping is today one of the more popular cities for higher education at the University College of Jönköping. A considerable amount of foreign exchange students study in Jönköping each year as well.
-->The urban area of Jönköping today includes the eastern industrial town of Huskvarna, with which it has grown together.
Since 2002, Jönköping has been the home of the worlds largest LAN party, DreamHack.
Notable natives
- Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of the Swedish colony of New Sweden
- John Bauer, illustrator, painter
- Amy Diamond, singer
- Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA
- Dag Hammarskjöld, United Nations Secretary-General
- Nina Persson, The Cardigans
- Viktor Rydberg, author
- Carl Peter Thunberg, botanist
Education
- *Jönköping International Business School (Internationella Handelshögskolan)
- *Jönköping School of Education and Communication (Högskolan för lärarutbildning och kommunikation)
- *Jönköping School of Engineering (Ingenjörshögskolan)
- *Jönköping School of Health Sciences (Hälsohögskolan)
See also
- Jönköping Municipality
- Swedish National Board of Agriculture
- International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships (2002, held in Jönköping)
External links
- [Jönköping] - Official site
- http://www.fmj.nu Jönköping 2006
- [article Jönköping] from Nordisk familjebok, in Swedish.
Jonkoping is one of 134 towns with the historical City status in Sweden.
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