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'Arvika' is a town in the traditional province of Värmland, Sweden, and the seat of Arvika Municipality, Värmland County. It has a population of about 14,000 persons.

Contents

Geography

History

Industry

Culture

Geography

The town of Arvika is situated at Kyrkviken, a bay of Glafsfjorden, Sweden's only inland fjord, a remnant of the time following the last ice age (once a fjord of the Ancylus Lake).
The area is hilly with the tallest hill ''Storkasberget'' close to the town centre.
Arvika and its surroundings has excellent water infrastructure. Through a system of canals lake Vänern can be reached, and from there the Göta Canal allowes further passage to Gothenburg and Sweden's west coast.

History

Ten kilometers west of the city, in ''Bergs Klätt'', there are remnants of a younger Stone Age and Nordic Bronze Age settlements in the form of graves.
The town was a village until 1811 when it was given town privileges by royal charter under the name ''Oscarsstad'' in order to improve the economy of the area. This attempt was unsuccessful, and the town privileges were repealed in 1821 and the town was instead given the status of köping (township) and renamed Arvika. The town privileges were reinstated at the founding centennial in 1911, and the name Arvika remained.

Industry

Arvika has several heavy industrial production facilities which employ the majority of the population, among these Thermia, Volvo Wheel Loaders, Arvika Gjuteri (nodular and grey iron foundry) and Coffee Queen, a coffemachine factory.

Culture

Arvika is known for the turn of the century (around 1900) artist commune ''Rackstad'' just outside the city. Here, several famous Swedish artists lived and worked, the most well-known probably being Christian Eriksson and Gustaf Fjæstad and his wife Maja Fjæstad. Other talents that lived in Rackstad include Björn Ahlgrensson and Fritz Lindström.
In recent times, the Arvika Festival (since 1992) is the biggest annual event in the area, with several international bands visiting the town during three days in July every summer. In recent years such bands as Einstürzende Neubauten, Skinny Puppy, Ministry, New Order, Kraftwerk and Franz Ferdinand have performed here. The 2007 festival will be headlined by The Scissor Sisters and Bloc Party.
One of Sweden's six music schools, Ingesund College of Music, is situated in Arvika.