Kiruna is Sweden's northernmost city, sitting deep inside the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland. It is best known for two things: an enormous iron ore mine and the Aurora Borealis. The mine — operated by the state-owned LKAB — is one of the largest and most productive underground iron ore mines in the world, and it has shaped everything about the town, including its location. The ground beneath the old city centre was gradually subsiding due to mining activity, so between 2014 and the 2030s, Kiruna is being systematically moved three kilometres to the east — a relocation of an entire city that has no real precedent anywhere in the world.
The new city centre is compact and architecturally striking, built around a distinctive new town hall that won Sweden's most prestigious architecture prize. The old church, a beloved red wooden building from 1912 that Swedes once voted the country's most beautiful, was carefully dismantled and rebuilt in the new location.
Beyond the mine and the move, Kiruna is a gateway to the wilds of Lapland. The municipality is the largest in Sweden by area — roughly half the size of Switzerland — and most of it is untouched Arctic landscape. Sweden's highest mountain, Kebnekaise (2,096 metres), is within the municipality. The area has more than 6,000 lakes and seven rivers, making it excellent territory for fishing, hiking, dog sledding, snowmobiling, and watching the northern lights from October to March.
In winter, darkness is total around the winter solstice — Kiruna experiences polar night for about three weeks. In summer, the midnight sun provides continuous daylight for roughly two months. Both extremes draw visitors who want to experience something genuinely unusual.