Kramfors

Story

Kramfors is a locality and the seat of Kramfors Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 5,990 inhabitants in 2010.Geographically the town is situated on the western shore of the Ångerman River. This river was the reason that Kramfors was founded, because in the 19th century it was a main transportation line for lumber poles, and along it sawmills and pulp mills sprung up. Christopher Kramm chose to locate the river's first steam driven saw at this location, and then named it after himself. The locality takes its name from this saw and the word fors ("rapid").The municipality of Kramfors has about 20,000 inhabitants and it is situated almost in the middle of Sweden with the most central location of Northern Sweden. Within 100 kilometres from Kramfors you can reach 250,000 people and within 200 kilometres about half a million. It is not possible to reach so many people from any other place in Northern Sweden. Furthermore, the two big Norrland towns Sundsvall and Umeå are situated within a commuting distance.In addition to its beautiful landscape Kramfors is probably best known for providing the name for a popular model of IKEA couch. Located in the High Coast area with World Heritage-status, it has a varying landscape which affords many opportunities for a full outdoor life.This settlement, called Kramfors, was in Gudmundrå municipality, but got in 1889 the status of a so-called municipalsamhälle (which was a kind of borough, still remaining part of the original municipality). In 1947 it was awarded the title of a city, as one of the last in the country. Since the municipal reform, in 1974, it is the seat of Kramfors Municipality. Kramfors is, despite its small population, for historical reasons, however, normally still referred to as a city.