Kiruna

Town in Swedish Lapland; population (2005 est) 18,200. In area it is the largest town in the world. It includes vast iron-ore fields; most of the mining is opencast. The iron ore is transported to the Norwegian seaport of Narvik by rail, and to the Swedish Baltic port of Luleå, which is closed by ice in winter. The mines in the Kiruna area produce 25 million tonnes of iron ore a year.

Kiruna is the seat of the Swedish Saami parliament for the indigenous people of Lapland. There is a space-research station at Esrange. In January a snow festival is held.

The geologist Hjalmar Lundbohm first exploited the iron deposits in the late 19th century. He was a philanthropist and established a town plan for Kiruna.