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Arjeplog Municipality (Swedish: Arjeplogs kommun, ; ) is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Arjeplog. The area, which now is Arjeplog Municipality, used to be a single parish (Swedish: socken), which was made into a municipality when the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863. It has not been amalgamated with any other entity. In terms of geographical area, Arjeplog is one of Sweden's largest, but it is also the country's least densely populated municipality. The vast majority of the populace live in Arjeplog, which is one of Sweden's smallest municipal seats. [edit] History
People lived in the area of today's municipality as early as 10,000 years ago, following the end of the last ice age. For a long time it was only populated by a fishing and hunting people, the Sami people, who have their own language and breed reindeer in northern Sweden, and today have special rights as a Swedish minority group. The population in today's municipality was only a few hundred people in the 17th and 18th century, most of them Sami, and the rest of Sweden did not know much of them. Not until 1640 did Queen Christina of Sweden order a church to be built in order to Christianize the Sami people in Arjeplog. The church was inaugurated in 1642. At first the deceased were buried under the earthen floor in the church, but eventually the stench became unbearable and the procedure had to end. [edit] SilverThe interest in Arjeplog had been sparked when silver was found in the area in the 1620s, and a mining industry was established there 1635–1659. It has been estimated that the amount of silver mined was 36 kilograms per year. In August 1659, the Danes and Norwegians – who were in the Denmark–Norway union – attacked and burned down the mining village. The mining industry was then stalled for 120 years. It was once again taken up in 1719, probably as a means of supporting the war of King Charles XII of Sweden. The mining was upheld until 1810, when the low profits, harsh climate and the long distances led to its closure. There are still remains from that time in the village Adolfström. There are also several names in the area such as Silvervägen ("Silver Road") and Silversundet ("Silver Strait") reminding of its silver history. When a Sami museum was built in the town of Arjeplog in 1965, it was appropriately named Silvermuseet ("The Silver Museum"). It is filled with Sami photos and artifacts. [edit] Research Tips
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