Umeå

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Umeå is a town in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. The city is located on the Ume River.Umeå is the biggest city in Norrland and the twelfth biggest in Sweden, with 121,032 inhabitants in 2016. The municipality had 119,613 inhabitants at the end of 2014. When the university was established in 1965, growth sped up, and the amount of housing has doubled in the last 30 years., 700 to 800 new apartments are constructed each year.Umeå is a university town and centre of education, technical and medical research in Sweden, with two universities and over 39,000 students. The city was elected as the European Capital of Culture of 2014.HistoryThe first written mention of Umeå is from the 14th century. The northern parts of Sweden, including the counties of Västerbotten and Norrbotten, were mostly settled by nomadic Sami people before this time but not necessarily forming any permanent settlement in the city's exact location. The name is believed to be derived from the Old Norse word Úma which means roaring. The name of the town would therefore mean "The Roaring River.Therefore, the coast came to be permanently settled by Germanic peoples moving upwards on the Bothnian Bay by boat, hence the Germanic names of towns and villages on the Westrobothnian coast. Some Kven people had permanent settlements in northern Westrobothnia (Piteå and Luleå) but were gradually assimilated with the Germanic tribes although some Finnish names of lakes and villages survived. Southern Westrobothnia (Umeå and Skellefteå) has been a permanent Germanic settlement since at least the 14th century, but probably since the Viking ages or earlier.