Karlstad

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City in Värmland, Sweden

title: "Karlstad" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["karlstad", "county-seats-in-sweden", "populated-lakeshore-places-in-sweden", "populated-places-in-karlstad-municipality", "municipal-seats-of-värmland-county", "swedish-municipal-seats", "cities-in-sweden"] description: "City in Värmland, Sweden" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlstad" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary City in Värmland, Sweden ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameKarlstad
image_skyline
image_shieldKarlstad vapen.svg
nicknamesCity of the Sun, Sun city
pushpin_mapSweden Värmland#Sweden
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameSweden
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_type2County
subdivision_type3Municipality
subdivision_name1Värmland
subdivision_name2Värmland County
subdivision_name3Karlstad Municipality
founderKing Charles IX
leader_titleChairman of the Executive Board
leader_nameLinda Larsson
area_footnotes
area_total_km230.31
elevation_m64
population_total67122
population_as_of2020 (city); 2015 (metro)
population_footnotes
population_density_km22035
population_metro96466
postal_code_typePostal code
postal_code65x xx
area_code(+46) 54
website
timezoneCET
utc_offset+1
timezone_DSTCEST
utc_offset_DST+2
settlement_typeEpiscopal see and
municipal seat
::

| official_name = Karlstad | image_skyline = | image_caption = | image_shield = Karlstad vapen.svg | shield_alt = | nicknames = City of the Sun, Sun city | pushpin_map = Sweden Värmland#Sweden | pushpin_label_position = | coordinates = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Sweden | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name1 = Värmland | subdivision_name2 = Värmland County | subdivision_name3 = Karlstad Municipality | founder = King Charles IX | leader_title = Chairman of the Executive Board | leader_name = Linda Larsson | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 30.31 | elevation_m = 64 | population_total = 67122 | population_as_of = 2020 (city); 2015 (metro) | population_footnotes = | population_density_km2 = 2035 | population_metro = 96466 | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 65x xx | area_code = (+46) 54 | website = | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | settlement_type = Episcopal see and municipal seat Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitants in the wider municipality in 2023, and is the 21st largest municipality in Sweden. Karlstad has a university and a cathedral.

In recent years, Karlstad has started seeing big growth with many new buildings, for example the new apartment complexes around Orrholmen and Tullholmen, hosting a brand new Coop store and a 17 story high rise apartment which was finished in late 2022.

Karlstad is built on the river delta where Sweden's longest river, Klarälven, runs into Sweden's largest lake, Vänern. It has the second largest lake port in the country after Västerås.

Karlstad is reputed to be one of the sunniest towns in Sweden and a local waitress, known as "Sola i Karlstad" (the Sun in Karlstad) for her sunny disposition, is commemorated with a statue.

History

On Karlstad's largest islet, there was a place of counsel called Tingvalla in the medieval age, which had roots from the Viking Age before 1000 AD. It was also used as a market place.[[File:Statue of Charles IX of Sweden.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of Charles IX of Sweden]]Karlstad was granted its city charter on March 5, 1584, by the Swedish Duke Charles, who would later be crowned King Charles IX of Sweden. The city derives its name from the King – Karlstad literally means Charles' city. The Duke also granted Karlstad the right as a governmental seat in the region, and gave it a substantial amount of land.

The Duke built his own house in the city, which is referred to as Kungsgården (The King's Manor). Karlstad's Cathedral was built on the location Kungsgården in 1724–1730 by Christian Haller.

Then most significant coup d'état in modern Swedish history had its beginning in Karlstad. During the night of 7 March 1809, major general Georg Adlersparre used a part of the western army that was stationed in Värmland to occupy Karlstad. From there, they officially proclaimed a revolution, and during 9 March, he and his soldiers began their march toward the capital to end the reign of king Gustav IV Adolf.

Karlstad has suffered four major fires. Only the cathedral and a few houses remained after the last fire on July 2, 1865. Karlstad was thereafter rebuilt according to a grid pattern with wide streets surrounded by trees.

In 1905, the agreement to dissolve the union between Norway and Sweden was negotiated and signed in Karlstad.

Demographics

Language

The official language, Swedish, is the native language of a large majority and also spoken by most people in Karlstad. Immigration has also established five notable minority languages:

Religion

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Catedral_de_Karlstad.jpg" caption="The [[Karlstad Cathedral"] ::

Karlstad has several Christian denominations, including the Church of Sweden, with notable churches such as the Karlstad Cathedral built in 1730. In the 1800s, a small Jewish community formed in Karlstad and built a synagogue in 1899, which was demolished in 1961.

Education

Several upper secondary schools (gymnasium) offer the most common range of courses usually available throughout Sweden, including the IB Diploma Programme. The majority of students in Värmland need to commute or move to Karlstad for their upper secondary education. Tertiary education is offered by Karlstad University, which was granted university status in 1999.

Media

Värmlands Folkblad and Nya Wermlands-Tidningen are both located in Karlstad, with county-wide circulations.

Sports and recreation

Winter sports

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/LLA_Homestand.jpg" caption="Värmland Regiment]] seen to the far right"] ::

Ice hockey is a highly popular spectator sport in Karlstad. The most popular club is Färjestad BK. The team plays in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL, highest level) and their home arena is Löfbergs Arena. The club has won the Swedish Championship several times, most recently in 2022, and is the most successful ice hockey club in Sweden since the foundation of Elitserien (Swedish Hockey League since 2013) in 1975. Several other ice hockey clubs exist and Karlstad is also represented in the 1st Division of ice hockey (3rd highest level) by the team Skåre BK. The 2010 Men's World Inline Hockey Championships was also hosted by Karlstad, with Löfbergs Arena as the primary site of the tournament.

Traditionally, bandy has been the most popular winter sport in Karlstad, and the city is the home of two of the historically most successful clubs in Sweden, IF Boltic and IF Karlstad-Göta. Boltic reached 10 Swedish finals in a row from 1979 to 1988. They won the first 7 and the one in 1988. They also won in 1995. In 2000, the two clubs merged into BS BolticGöta. The first team again played as IF Boltic since the winter 2008/2009. After a successful season in Allsvenskan 2009/2010 the team qualified for Elitserien, but was again relegated for the 2011/2012 season. Boltic's general meeting decided in 2014 to take back the club's old name IF Boltic. And Karlstad-Göta does not have a bandy team anymore. The home arena of Boltic, Tingvalla Ice Stadium, built in 1967, was claimed to be one of Northern Europe's largest artificially frozen areas. The outdoor stadium was demolished in 2020 and converted into an indoor rink, inaugurated in 2022. While one of many indoor bandy arenas, it is Sweden's only indoor speed skating arena. Afghans living in Karlstad has taken a liking to bandy and set up an Afghanistan national bandy team, which is based in the city.

Karlstad is a regular host of start, finish and special stages for the Swedish Rally. The competition has world championship status and is held annually in Värmland.

Summer sports

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Tingvalla_IP.JPG" caption="Tingvalla IP"] ::

Several football clubs exist. QBIK was founded in 1978, and entered the premier division of women's football, Damallsvenskan, in 2005. The team currently plays in the 1st Division (2nd highest level), but has several players in the Swedish national team. Their home ground is Tingvalla IP, and the facility was also the home ground for the football team Karlstad BK, that played in the men's Division 1 Norra (3rd highest level), having gained promotion following a successful 2010 season. The third highest-ranking football team was Carlstad United. The club was founded in 1998 by an alliance of seven local football clubs, with the aim of providing Karlstad with an elite football team. The club was accepted by the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) in 1999 and the team played in the men's Division 2 Norra Götaland (4th highest level). Carlstad United and Karlstad BK ended up merging into IF Karlstad Fotboll, who compete in Division 1 Norra. Another club from Karlstad is FBK Karlstad, who currently play in Division 1.

Motorcycle speedway takes place at the Kalvholmen Motorbana, situated in the southeast outskirts of the city. The team is called Solkatterna (the Sun Cats), who compete in the Swedish Speedway Team Championship.

American football is also played on Tingvalla IP. The Carlstad Crusaders play in Superserien, the highest level since the founding of the club in 1990. The team has attended eight finals, winning its first championship in 2010.

Karlstad is also famous for athletics. The club IF Göta has a number of international athletes and host the annual athletics meet Götagalan. There is an outdoor athletics track at Tingvalla IP and an indoor track (200 m) in Våxnäshallen.

Another prominent sports club in Karlstad is OK Tyr, one of the largest orienteering clubs in Sweden. OK Tyr won Tiomila in 1989 and 1990.

Public facilities

Public sports facilities in Karlstad include Klarälvsbanan, a 90 km cycle path on a former railway line running north from Karlstad to Hagfors. It is popular with cyclists, inlines skaters and roller skiers.

There is also a large number of open-air beaches and bathing spots by Vänern, smaller lakes and Klarälven in the municipality, and a 25 m indoor municipal swimming pool.

Many wood-chip jogging trails, some of which are lit, can be found in the city outskirts. During wintertime, several are used for cross-country skiing.

Economy

In 2023, Karlstads BVP per capita was 623 thousand Swedish crowns, about 20% above the national average at the time. Karlstad has a relatively strong IT sector and a number of IT consulting companies – CombinedX, Sogeti, CGI Inc., Tieto. Telia Group has a global network operation center in the city.

Climate

Karlstad has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with influence from the surrounding waters of Vänern and the inflow from the Atlantic Ocean. It has large differences between seasons and is moderately influenced by both marine and land airflows. The highest recorded temperature since 1901 is 34.0 °C (93.2 °F) in July 1933 and the lowest is -36.0 °C (-32.8 °F) from February 1966.

|location = Karlstad Airport (1991-2020 averages; 2008–2018 precipitation for Väse; 2002-2020 average record highs and lows and sunshine hours; extremes 1901–present) |collapsed = |metric first = Yes |single line = Yes |Jan record high C = 10.2 |Feb record high C = 13.9 |Mar record high C = 20.1 |Apr record high C = 25.8 |May record high C = 29.0 |Jun record high C = 32.5 |Jul record high C = 34.0 |Aug record high C = 32.0 |Sep record high C = 25.2 |Oct record high C = 20.0 |Nov record high C = 17.1 |Dec record high C = 11.5 |year record high C = 34.0 |Jan avg record high C = 6.3 |Feb avg record high C = 6.9 |Mar avg record high C = 12.8 |Apr avg record high C = 18.4 |May avg record high C = 24.6 |Jun avg record high C = 26.8 |Jul avg record high C = 28.6 |Aug avg record high C = 26.8 |Sep avg record high C = 22.1 |Oct avg record high C = 16.1 |Nov avg record high C = 11.0 |Dec avg record high C = 7.4 |year avg record high C = 29.5 |Jan high C = 0.3 |Feb high C = 0.8 |Mar high C = 4.7 |Apr high C = 10.6 |May high C = 15.9 |Jun high C = 19.7 |Jul high C = 22.0 |Aug high C = 20.7 |Sep high C = 16.0 |Oct high C = 9.8 |Nov high C = 4.6 |Dec high C = 1.4 |year high C = 10.6 |Jan mean C = -2.7 |Feb mean C = -2.6 |Mar mean C = 0.6 |Apr mean C = 5.3 |May mean C = 10.2 |Jun mean C = 14.2 |Jul mean C = 16.8 |Aug mean C = 15.7 |Sep mean C = 11.5 |Oct mean C = 6.3 |Nov mean C = 1.9 |Dec mean C = -1.6 |year mean C = |Jan low C = -5.6 |Feb low C = -6.0 |Mar low C = -3.5 |Apr low C = 0.1 |May low C = 4.6 |Jun low C = 8.8 |Jul low C = 11.5 |Aug low C = 10.7 |Sep low C = 6.9 |Oct low C = 2.8 |Nov low C = -0.8 |Dec low C = -4.6 |year low C = |Jan avg record low C = -17.1 |Feb avg record low C = -14.8 |Mar avg record low C = -11.9 |Apr avg record low C = -5.2 |May avg record low C = -1.1 |Jun avg record low C = 4.3 |Jul avg record low C = 7.7 |Aug avg record low C = 4.9 |Sep avg record low C = 0.2 |Oct avg record low C = -4.4 |Nov avg record low C = -8.5 |Dec avg record low C = -14.4 |year avg record low C = -19.5 |Jan record low C = -32.5 |Feb record low C = -36.0 |Mar record low C = -26.9 |Apr record low C = -18.4 |May record low C = -5.0 |Jun record low C = -1.8 |Jul record low C = 2.0 |Aug record low C = 1.0 |Sep record low C = -5.0 |Oct record low C = -12.0 |Nov record low C = -19.9 |Dec record low C = -28.0 |year record low C = -36.0 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 50 |Feb precipitation mm = 35 |Mar precipitation mm = 35 |Apr precipitation mm = 50 |May precipitation mm = 55 |Jun precipitation mm = 65 |Jul precipitation mm = 60 |Aug precipitation mm = 85 |Sep precipitation mm = 65 |Oct precipitation mm = 75 |Nov precipitation mm = 70 |Dec precipitation mm = 55 |year precipitation mm = |Jan sun = 47 |Feb sun = 69 |Mar sun = 168 |Apr sun = 219 |May sun = 261 |Jun sun = 287 |Jul sun = 271 |Aug sun = 223 |Sep sun = 174 |Oct sun = 108 |Nov sun = 52 |Dec sun = 44 |year sun = |source 1= |source 2=

Notable residents

Twin towns – sister cities

Karlstad is twinned with:

Image gallery

File:Karlstad Cathedral.JPG|Karlstad Cathedral File:Karlstad from Klaraborgsbron.JPG|Karlstad from the Klaraborg Bridge File:Sola i Karlsta 2008.jpg|Statue of Sola i Karlstad, next to Klarälven File:Älvgatan på andra sidan älven.JPG|Wooden houses that survived the fire in 1865 File:Karlstad Teatern (Värmlandsoperan).JPG|Karlstad Theatre, a theatre and the home of the Wermland Opera File:East bridge karlstad 20061022 002.jpg|The East Bridge File:Carlarnas sluss.jpg|Carlarnas sluss, a lock from the early 19th century File:Karlstad Biskopsgården.JPG|The Bishops House File:Värmlands Museum by night.jpg|Värmland Museum by night File:Värmlands museum.JPG|The new part of Värmland Museum File:Tingvalla Secondary Upper School.jpg|Tingvalla upper secondary school File:Rådhuset Karlstad.JPG|Karlstad Town Hall

References

References

  1. (14 December 2011). "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km2 2005 och 2010". [[Statistics Sweden]].
  2. (17 June 2022). "Statistiska tätorter och småorter 2020". [[Statistics Sweden]].
  3. {{Cite American Heritage Dictionary. Karlstad
  4. {{Cite Merriam-Webster. Karlstad
  5. (1979). "Svenska ortnamn med uttalsuppgifter".
  6. Norberg, Johan. (1999). "Den Svenska Liberalismens historia". Timbro.
  7. (2 December 2019). "Norsk kupp spräckte unionen".
  8. As per info on the Karlstad Municipal web page
  9. "Karlstads gamla kyrka".
  10. Rist, Marcus. (25 March 2022). "Karlstads synagoga".
  11. "Historia i korthet {{!}} Karlstads universitet".
  12. . (6 November 2008). ["BolticGöta blir IF Boltic"](https://www.nwt.se/2008/11/06/bolticgota-blir-if-boltic-2d861/). *NWT Media AB*.
  13. . (27 June 2014). ["Boltic tar tilbaka sitt gamla namn"](https://www.vf.se/2014/06/27/boltic-tar-tilbaka-sitt-gamla-namn-22094/). *NWT Media AB*.
  14. "Om Klubben | QBIK". Klubben.se.
  15. (2010-03-15). "Tre gånger QBIK i landslaget | QBIK". Klubben.se.
  16. (1998-04-12). "United-idén | Carlstad United". Laget.se.
  17. "KARLSTAD / SOLKATTERNA - Sweden".
  18. (2023-12-15). "BRP per invånare, kommun".
  19. "Climate karlstad (Sweden)". www.climatestotravel.com.
  20. "SMHI Open Data". SMHI.
  21. "Internationellt arbete". [[Karlstad Municipality]].

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karlstadcounty-seats-in-swedenpopulated-lakeshore-places-in-swedenpopulated-places-in-karlstad-municipalitymunicipal-seats-of-värmland-countyswedish-municipal-seatscities-in-sweden