Official Name: | Vuollerim |
Pushpin Map: | Sweden Norrbotten#Sweden |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Sweden |
Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
Subdivision Name3: | Jokkmokk Municipality |
Subdivision Type2: | County |
Subdivision Name2: | Norrbotten County |
Subdivision Type1: | Province |
Subdivision Name1: | Lapland |
Area Footnotes: | [1] |
Area Total Km2: | 1.44 |
Population As Of: | 2020 |
Population Total: | 623 |
Population Density Km2: | 432 |
Timezone: | CET |
Utc Offset: | +1 |
Timezone Dst: | CEST |
Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
Coordinates: | 66.4292°N 20.6236°W |
Vuollerim (in Swedish pronounced as /vʉˈɔ̌lːɛrɪm/) (Lule Sami: Vuolleriebme)[2] is a village (tätort)situated in Jokkmokk Municipality, Norrbotten County, in northern Sweden with 623 inhabitants in 2020, declining from 732 inhabitants in 2010. The name originates from Lulesamiska vuolle (lower) and riebme, which describes a place where a river runs quickly, but without rapids (often a calmer place between two sets of rapids).[3]
Vuollerim is located at the confluence of the Lilla and Stora Lule Rivers. It is located by national road 97, which leads to Jokkmokk in the northwest and Boden in the southeast. The nearest railway station is 18 kilometers away in Murjek on the Malmbanan.
Vuollerimbopladsen, a prehistoric settlement site three kilometers northwest of the town, bears witness to the fact that the place has been inhabited since the Stone Age. The town became known for its archaeological site when it was discovered in 1983 by researchers from Umeå University. The site has been dated at 6000 years old, but is not visible above ground.[4] However, an archaeological museum called Vuollerim 6000 has been constructed two kilometers from the site.
The first permanent settlement was built in Vuollerim in 1756, and the site has been permanently populated since then.[5] [6] Not until the construction of the Porsi hydroelectric power plant in 1956–61, however, would the population increased significantly.