Place:Arvidsjaur, Norrbotten, Sweden

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NameArvidsjaur
Alt namesArvidsjaursource: Wikipedia
TypeMunicipality
Coordinates65.583°N 19.167°E
Located inNorrbotten, Sweden
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Arvidsjaur Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is Arvidsjaur.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Arvidsjaur Municipality was for a long time inhabited only by the Sami people. They were back then a hunting people, living off the abundance of fish and wildlife in the area. Archaeological discoveries suggest that people have been moving through the area for several thousands of years. The name Arvidsjaur itself comes from a Sami word which means "generous water" and was originally the name of the adjacent lake.

In the 14th and 15th century some farmers settled in the area. They acquired furs and skins from the hunters, and traded them off to southern regions, allegedly in vast numbers.

The Christianization of Arvidsjaur Municipality was slow, as it was in Norrland as a whole, because of the low population, the harsh climate and the long distances. It was also commonly believed that Norrland was inhabited by magicians.

Not until 1577 did the first settler, Per Käck, settle in Arvidsjaur. The settlers built the first chapel at the marketplace at the time, in 1560. The first church was inaugurated in 1604.

The Swedish minister and missionary Petrus Læstadius (1802–1841; brother of Lars Levi Læstadius, founder of the largest Christian revival movement in Norrland) collected old stories and myths in the area in the 19th century, which create the basis for our knowledge from that time.

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Arvidsjaur Municipality. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.