Nowadays, Linköping is known for its university and its high-technology industry. Linköping wants to create a sustainable development of the city and therefore plans to become a carbon-neutral community by 2025. Located on the Östergötland Plain, Linköping is closely linked to Norrköping, roughly 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the east, near the sea.
The city is possibly named after the Lionga ting assembly which according to Medieval Scandinavian laws was the most important thing in Östergötland. Exact location of the Lionga ting is not known, but it was along the Eriksgata. The term "-köping" means there was a market there.
Historically, Linköping is famed for being an early diocese, c. 1082,[3] second in Sweden (within its pre-1658 boundaries) only to Skara. The diocese is first mentioned in 1104 in the so-called "List of Florence" (Lionga. Kaupinga). The monastery of Vreta Kloster near Roxen north of Linköping was established in 1128, and the oldest parts of the cathedral are also from the 12th century (although it has been changed many times since then, the eye-catching tower with copper roofing being a 19th-century product). On several occasions attempts to achieve a separate Swedish archdiocese were based in Linköping, although, when they finally were successful in 1164, Uppsala was chosen instead.
Religious centers tend to become educational centers, and Linköping was no exception. A cathedral school can be traced from 1266. In 1627 the current Linköping cathedral school was established, making it the third oldest gymnasium in Sweden.
Also, Linköping was the site for the final settlement of the dispute between king Sigismund III Vasa and his uncle Duke Charles, the latter prevailing in the battle of Stångebro (the main bridge in Linköping) on 25 September 1598. This ultimately led to the rise to the throne of Charles (de facto at the 1600 Riksdag of the Estates meeting in Linköping and formally four years later) and the end of the short-lived Swedish-Polish personal union, as well as the execution of five of Charles's political opponents on the main square of Linköping on 20 March 1600.
Linköping was a small town until 1937, when the Saab aircraft industry was formed, starting a period of rapid expansion. Linköping University was established in the 1960s. Today the city is a center of high-technology and software industry.
Climate
Linköping has a humid continental climate (Dfb), though with maritime influences, retaining the large differences between seasons but being comparatively mild when measured against other areas of the world on similar latitudes. Linköping tends to be slightly cooler in summer than nearby areas in the Mälar valley, but still was the weather station in Sweden among the officially listed for monthly statistics, that until 2018 had come the closest to a subtropical month, with July 1914 having a mean temperature of 21.8 °C (71.2 °F), with the subtropical border being at 22 °C (72 °F) for the warmest month.[4] Normally summer highs average in the low 20s and winter temperatures commonly hover just above the freezing point during the day, then falls below it at night.
Climate data for Linköping-Malmslätt (2002–2022 averages; extremes since 1901)
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2018)
In 2000, 10.9 per cent of the population in Linköping municipality had a foreign background. Since then, the share has gradually increased and in 2019 its share amounted to 23.1 percent.[7] Top 5 largest immigrant communities are:
The headquarters of regional utilities company, Tekniska Verken, at Stångebro
Linköping offers a wealth of leisure activities to people of all ages. Residents and visitors are able to enjoy art, theatre, history, concerts, markets, festivals and sporting events.
Special sights of interests are: the locks of Berg on the Göta Canal, the locks of the Kinda Canal, Gamla Linköping, Valla skogen and Valla fritidsområde (Old Linköping, Valla Wood, and the Valla recreational area), Flygvapen museum (the Air Force Museum), Linköping's domkyrka (the cathedral), Slotts- och domkyrkomuseet (the Castle and Cathedral Museum) and Östergötlands Länsmuseum (the Östergötland County Museum). Konsthallen Passagen is an art gallery located in the main square.
Tornby, to the north of the city centre, is a shopping area with retail outlets.
The city and its environs offer all sorts of green landscapes to see and experience. Two examples are a park named after the group responsible for it, Trädgårdsföreningen (The Garden Society), and the Tinnerö area with its oak woodland. Local bodies of water include the lakes Roxen, Rängen and Järnlunden, the River Stångån/Kinda Canal and the Göta Canal with the Berg locks. These areas can be accessed by foot, bicycle, or boat.
Linköping is the home of the Linköping Symphony Orchestra. The city is one of the sites of the Östergötland Music Days each summer, and the host of the Student Orchestra Festival in May every other year. One of the most notable choirs in Linköping is the Linköping University Male Voice Choir.
Linköping is also the home of theatrical heavy metal band Ghost and rock band the Pusjkins (sv).
The area around the main square was re-planned in the 1960s, and many old houses were destroyed. Some, however, were moved to Gamla Linköping (Old Linköping), in the city's western part, neighbouring the university's main campus. It is a living museum environment and a popular site with both residents and tourists.
NärCon, the largest anime and gaming convention in the Nordic countries, is held in Linköping.
A panorama view of Linköping, with Domkyrka church as the highest building of the whole city
Sport
Teams from Linköping are prominent in floorball, volleyball (Linköpings VC) and ice hockey (Linköpings HC; see above, or "Cluben" as some fans refer to it). The hockey team allied itself with Linköping's women's football team and created Linköpings FC, which plays in the highest division. The team won the Swedish Cup in 2006 and 2014. The world's largest floorball club Linköping Innebandy resides in the indoor sports arena in the city centre. The city continues to lack a first-class men's team in football with several teams competing in the lower leagues.
SAAB Arena (formerly Cloetta Center), LHC's home stadium
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