Post code: S-90...
Telephone code: 090
Umeå, chief town of the county and province of Västerbotten, lies on the left bank of the Umeälv 5km/3mi above its outflow into the Gulf of Bothnia. A port and commercial town, it is also the cultural center of northern Norrland, with a library, an opera house, a university (founded 196
3) and a college of forestry. Umeå has the annual Jazz festival, the Norrland Opera, annual film and music festivals and several notable museums. It has a variety of industry, in particular woodworking.
Umeå received its municipal charter in 1622, but its development really began only with the rise of the woodworking industry in the second half of the 19th century. In 1888 three-quarters of the town and its three shipyards were destroyed in a great fire, and thereafter it was rebuilt with broad streets lined by birch trees. The town is particularly attractive in May, when the trees burst into leaf.