Jönköping is a city in southern Sweden with 62,000 inhabitants. Jönköping is situated by the southern end of Sweden’s second largest lake, Vättern. The original town Jönköping has grown together with twin city Huskvarna (population 23,000) and suburb Norrahammar-Hovslätt (population 9,000), forming a contiguous urban area, with 94,000 inhabitants in 2013.
The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipality which has a population of 131,000 and is Sweden’s 10th populous municipality. Jönköping is also the seat of Jönköping County which has a population of 341,000. Jönköping is the seat of a district court and a court of appeal as well as the Swedish National Courts Administration. It is the seat of the Swedish Board of Agriculture.
Jönköping is an old trading center (Köping), since it was on a crossroad for the roads following along the rivers Nissan and Lagan. Jönköping is known for its matchstick industry 1845-1970. Because of it’s central location between Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö, the city is still an important Swedish logistical center today, with many companies’ central warehouses (like IKEA, Electrolux and Husqvarna). The city is seat of the Jönköping University. Jönköping University conducts research and offers undergraduate studies, graduate studies, doctoral studies and contract education through four schools. One of it, the Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), gained international recognition.
A major fair and exhibition center, Elmia, is in Jönköping, with fairs including Elmia Wood, the world’s largest forestry fair. Elmia’s fairs are the biggest of their kind in Europe for subcontractors, trucks, caravans and railways. Since 2001, Elmia has been the site of the world’s largest LAN party, DreamHack with two events every year, Dreamhack Summer and Dreamhack Winter.
