Why Sweden Is Moving Its Northernmost Town 2 Miles East

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  • čas přidán 15. 12. 2021
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    Video written by Adam Chase
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Komentáře • 912

  • @fernbedek6302
    @fernbedek6302 Před 2 lety +1453

    Lego making a ‘doomed Swedish mining town’ would be classic Denmark vs Sweden.

  • @themightyai-5302
    @themightyai-5302 Před 2 lety +2514

    Fun thing about the Ice Hotel: they are legally required to have fire extinguishers. It might seem a bit odd, but there other things in the hotel that actually can catch fire, unlike the ice.

    • @angus_m
      @angus_m Před 2 lety +175

      They have warm rooms and the reception area is not ice. Still seems ironically funny though.

    • @robertnichols2283
      @robertnichols2283 Před 2 lety +88

      Oh the IRONy

    • @Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer
      @Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer Před 2 lety +53

      That's because the law doesn't give any exception that would essentially only apply to the ice hotel.

    • @davepratt9909
      @davepratt9909 Před 2 lety +43

      And that is the reason why there aren't any ice hotels in the US. Fire code requires sprinklers in US hotel rooms. Water pipes and ice don't mix well.

    • @davepratt9909
      @davepratt9909 Před 2 lety +7

      @@angus_m Yes, but there are fire extinguishers in the ice building as well.

  • @PatrikBergsten
    @PatrikBergsten Před 2 lety +1452

    Fun Fact: They discovered that the ore, as it goes deeper, doesn’t slope 60° anymore but instead levels out to almost flat. Which is not good because that’ll mean that the town needs to be moved even faster if mining production is to continue. If they (LKAB) don’t get permission to move the town at an accelerated pace, production will cease as early as 2035. Source: Am from Kiruna and worked at the front in the mine

    • @derain95
      @derain95 Před 2 lety +62

      Passande efternamn till yrket :)

    • @captain61games49
      @captain61games49 Před 2 lety +7

      Could they mine side wards instead of open cut?

    • @PatrikBergsten
      @PatrikBergsten Před 2 lety +154

      @@captain61games49 It’s been hinted at that they are investigating new forms of mining it out instead of open cut but nothing has been officially stated. The current form of mining they have is efficient (and cost effective) because gravity does most of the work, blasting the ore in levels and hauling it out with loaders (heavy tractors) towards dump schafts leading to an deep underground railway at about 500 meters below sea level. The railway is to further haul the ore across the whole mines length (the ore body is 4.5km (4500m) long but only 80m wide on average) towards skips that elevates them up to the enrichment plants above ground. (In contrast to what the video said, they don’t sell ore to be directly put into the kilns at the steel plants. Lots of additives are mixed with the iron in the steel making process at steel mills. LKAB sells refined iron pellets with all the ingredients mixed in already so that it can be used directly without further additives). Underground mining is generally too expensive for the price that iron ore yields, but the purity and the shape and the angle of the ore body together with the investments of the underground railway and the refineries that allow you to sell it at a higher price makes the mine profitable. We’ll see if other methods can be made as cost effective as the current process. Otherwise there’s a fund they continually set aside for to restore the environment to a state where uninitiated people wouldn’t know a mine was ever there.

    • @OscarCarlsson1986
      @OscarCarlsson1986 Před 2 lety +5

      TIL

    • @Staffan1988
      @Staffan1988 Před 2 lety +2

      Det var som fan hörru

  • @SpektralJo
    @SpektralJo Před 2 lety +1069

    The Kiruna Mine is also the reason for Europes northern most railway line, which tansports ore to the port in Narvik, Norway and has no connection to the rest of norways rail system directly

    • @fuqupal
      @fuqupal Před 2 lety +87

      Not to mention the sole reason Hitler attacked Norway

    • @wiebemartens1030
      @wiebemartens1030 Před 2 lety +74

      Sounds like some guy (called Wendover?) might do a logistics video on that train line at some point

    • @samomuransky4455
      @samomuransky4455 Před 2 lety +36

      That rail line is great. Almost no passenger trains and yet it remains one of the busiest lines in Sweden (if not the busiest).

    • @marknc9616
      @marknc9616 Před 2 lety +3

      czcams.com/video/xfQ-x-K0LkY/video.html

    • @Joelsfilmer
      @Joelsfilmer Před 2 lety +12

      ​@@samomuransky4455 Well, there's two passenger trains in each direction every day. One of which being the night train between Narvik and Stockholm.

  • @ivanfuru9407
    @ivanfuru9407 Před 2 lety +576

    When you are swedish and alredy know what the video is going to be about but you watch it just to hear mispronounced names

    • @XCNT
      @XCNT Před 2 lety +5

      hahaha true

    • @fuqupal
      @fuqupal Před 2 lety +9

      Or Norwegian

    • @qwystr
      @qwystr Před 2 lety +22

      The pronounciation of Luossavaara Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag was decent tho

    • @handle_unknown
      @handle_unknown Před 2 lety

      Yeah lol

    • @nordicexile7378
      @nordicexile7378 Před 2 lety +33

      Yes, I cringed every time he said "Kiruna" wrong. (Which was every time, lol!)

  • @andrerenault
    @andrerenault Před 2 lety +698

    This is a bit like -Asbestos- Val-des-Sources, which wasn't moved in the same way but has progressively migrated east as the open pit has grown over time. There's a neat map somewhere illustrating the progression over time.

    • @vehre5550
      @vehre5550 Před 2 lety +8

      Also Hibbing and Highway 53 on the Iron Range in Minnesota

    • @AaronOfMpls
      @AaronOfMpls Před 2 lety +5

      @@vehre5550 Yup, Hibbing moved south a mile or two ~100 years ago. A roughly 2x3 block area of the old town still remains -- just a few empty streets with no houses, near the edge of the mine. But the rest is long gone, and all the buildings were either moved or replaced, a few at a time.

    • @patrickolivier
      @patrickolivier Před 2 lety +13

      same with Malartic, half of the city was relocated north to allow for the biggest gold mine in Canada. They also moved highway 117.

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Před 2 lety +3

      Now this feels like a crossover between strange towns that come up as trivia.

    • @rodrikforrester6989
      @rodrikforrester6989 Před 2 lety +9

      They renamed Asbestos?

  • @Ludix147
    @Ludix147 Před 2 lety +677

    I visited Kiruna last winter, for northern lights, ice hotel, reindeer, sauna. It was lovely.
    I didn't know that the mine was that big, though! Amazing!

    • @neko6990
      @neko6990 Před 2 lety +4

      happy you enjoyed your visit! really the only reason people visit is because of nature xD

    • @rickinielsen1
      @rickinielsen1 Před 2 lety +2

      Visited the city and toured the mines as a kid. Got to go underground and saw the massive freight elevators bringing up ore, the huge electric loaders moving blasted material etc. It was really interesting, and the scale was enormous. Worth a visit.

    • @JuiceBoxScott
      @JuiceBoxScott Před 2 lety

      I went a couple years ago for dog sledding and really enjoyed the beautiful area. It was interesting that the fences were already up back then and the move was already underway.

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Před 2 lety

      @Maxx B. I would pay to visit that.

    • @TimpanKanava
      @TimpanKanava Před 2 lety +2

      You visit Sweden for sauna? That's like visiting Germany for cheese and wine

  • @floydian022
    @floydian022 Před 2 lety +466

    They should've just waited for the Sweden 1.18 update, where resources distribution changes completely and they wouldn't even have to worry anymore about mining for iron ore so close to the town!

    • @adrianthoroughgood1191
      @adrianthoroughgood1191 Před 2 lety +35

      Adding huge ore veins is one of the main changes so it sound like Kiruna was already running on the beta snapshot!

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Před 2 lety +26

      Yeah, but they were planning on rebuilding their base anyway. This is still the old one they built when they first played the game as a kid, so everything is mostly made of cobblestone.

    • @Respectable_Username
      @Respectable_Username Před 2 lety +1

      You my friend deserve a clap for that one 👏👏👏

  • @jonasdatlas4668
    @jonasdatlas4668 Před 2 lety +470

    I kind of want to see them literally cutting the town out of the ground and moving it now.

    • @mbgaming1017
      @mbgaming1017 Před 2 lety +9

      Amish people be like

    • @purpleaki6969
      @purpleaki6969 Před 2 lety +2

      Gay

    • @halothefluffyderg
      @halothefluffyderg Před 2 lety +32

      @@purpleaki6969 Interesting opinion...but you might want to look again

    • @joermnyc
      @joermnyc Před 2 lety +12

      “We are the Borg, we’re moving your house… resistance is futile.”

    • @SoggyCoffeeAddict
      @SoggyCoffeeAddict Před 2 lety +2

      Better than what bikini bottom did, at least you could keep your plumbing then 🤷🏻‍♂️

  • @Niobium773
    @Niobium773 Před 2 lety +79

    They have been enlightened by Patrick Star.

  • @Tuned_Rockets
    @Tuned_Rockets Před 2 lety +36

    Greetings from Kiruna Space High School. It's nice to see the town featured for an international audience. (also nice to see my house in a HAI video)

  • @thenorthernhandyman
    @thenorthernhandyman Před 2 lety +28

    Corrections: The Kiruna mine doesn't produce 90% of Europe's iron ore, but LKAB does in their mines spread over three different towns.
    Moving of towns isn't new for LKAB because they have been moving Malmberget since the 1960s. A town 100km south of Kiruna.

  • @michaelsmith4904
    @michaelsmith4904 Před 2 lety +45

    20% of the town is employed by the mine. 80% of the town voted to move. Plot twist:
    It was the 80% that doesn’t work for the mine.

    • @cmmartti
      @cmmartti Před 2 lety +21

      20% of the town is _directly_ employed by the mine, but probably closer to 80% (a guess) of the town is supported by the mine indirectly, as providers of other services that the mine and its employees require. If the mine shut down, so would the town, quite rapidly.

    • @MrAlRats
      @MrAlRats Před 2 lety +5

      I'm curious about the 20% who didn't vote to move the town. Did they want the mining to stop or were they content with the town crumbling around them?

    • @youmukonpaku3168
      @youmukonpaku3168 Před 2 lety

      little of column A, little of column B, plus a few of those weirdos who just vote no on everything.

    • @PanduPoluan
      @PanduPoluan Před 2 lety

      @@MrAlRats or just abstain in the sense of "yeah, I'll go with whatever the majority votes for."

  • @jroemling
    @jroemling Před 2 lety +88

    How nice to hear about something close to where I live on an American channel! :-) Some comments: Kiruna is pronounced with an emphasis on the ”i”, not on the ”u”. Also, we don’t say LKAB as L-Cab, but as L-K-A-B. In the picture around 02:00 when you talk about the cracks, you could literally see in the background on the left at the foot of the mountain how the rock was sunk in and that pit is what moves towards the town at around 7cm per week. If only they had built their town on the other side of the mountain, they would have been fine, but I guess 120 years ago they didn’t know that the iron ore core went in the direction of where they built their town. Also: Even if ”only” 20% of the people work in the mine, most of the others form the supporting economy and the businesses where the miners spend their money. Without the mine there would be nothing else there, so I don’t think that closing the mine was ever a serious option. Kiruna was literally built because there was iron ore, which is why in the very north of Sweden there is Kiruna and Gällivare (also a mine) but everything else are just tiny villages. I love living up there because it is the perfect nature, but you have to really love it to cope with all the downsides, like the cold temperatures. Oh: it is right that the sun doesn’t rise for 3-4 weeks in December, but it is not ”total darkness”, there are maybe 3 hours every day when it is light outside like dusk or dawn and there is always snow from October-May, which makes it much lighter than if there weren’t snow. It is not really a problem if you are used to it, and in the summer there are 2 months when the sun never goes down, which is absolutely awesome!

  • @alvinwaara9519
    @alvinwaara9519 Před 2 lety +128

    I live in northern sweden and loved the video. Your pronunciation of Kiruna is hilarious. They are actully doing this to another town as well (malmberget)

    • @sundhaug92
      @sundhaug92 Před 2 lety +17

      Malmberget ofc basically meaning ore-mountain

    • @aqthefanattic7933
      @aqthefanattic7933 Před 2 lety +7

      This video should've been about Malmberget, it's cooler since it's already collapsing

    • @spudespude7648
      @spudespude7648 Před 2 lety +2

      So to us nordics its Jällivaara

    • @aqthefanattic7933
      @aqthefanattic7933 Před 2 lety +5

      @@spudespude7648 Jällivaara is the new town, Malmivaara is the old one, and I don't think the Swedes are going to appreciate you telling them that the Finnish name is the correct one

    • @spudespude7648
      @spudespude7648 Před 2 lety +2

      @@aqthefanattic7933 thanks for info. There are over 11000 finnish named places in north sweden so I dont think that they mind it, but maybe some idiots in the south do

  • @joscha1068
    @joscha1068 Před 2 lety +211

    We do this (moving towns) in Germany all the time, except that we do it to ensure mining of coal, and except for the fact that we don't ask the inhabitants before.
    And just in case you were wondering, yes this is done even though we have climate change and even though there are plenty of other options, ranging from renewable energy to other fossil energy sources

    • @needn5796
      @needn5796 Před 2 lety +6

      Braunkohle in Garzweiler

    • @EibaProductions
      @EibaProductions Před 2 lety +4

      Die gute alte Lausitz

    • @johnmcm7690
      @johnmcm7690 Před 2 lety

      Lol

    • @1224chrisng
      @1224chrisng Před 2 lety +63

      Germany replacing nuclear with coal is the stupidest thing ever, all because of the fear mongering post-Fukushima, an event where no-one died and also somehow overshadows the much bigger tsunami

    • @fhfthf
      @fhfthf Před 2 lety +8

      and historical buildings don't get moved but demolished

  • @phbuss
    @phbuss Před 2 lety +148

    My hometown 🤩
    Not everything in the video was however correct. The new railway station has not been moved to the final spot, there is just a temporary station outside town for now.
    LKAB should be pronounced letter by letter, L K A B.

    • @nevreiha
      @nevreiha Před 2 lety +21

      I wonder how he would pronounce USA, yusah? hmm

    • @EibaProductions
      @EibaProductions Před 2 lety +1

      Out of couriosity: Where will the new train station be located?

    • @HazewinDog
      @HazewinDog Před 2 lety +3

      @@nevreiha yuzzah! like huzzah!

    • @TheUglyGnome
      @TheUglyGnome Před 2 lety +5

      Other not so correct thing in the video: name of the town not pronounced correctly.

    • @axmoylotl
      @axmoylotl Před 2 lety +1

      how does it feel to be a lizard person

  • @samwill7259
    @samwill7259 Před 2 lety +119

    You know what? Good for them. This sounds like the kind of thing that could easily have turned into an unjust, beaurecratic fustercluck in any other country. If people are getting to have new homes, or even better homes, if there's pains being taken to maintain the city's historical buildings and symbols, if it's all being done to help protect everyone's livlihoods I don't see how we can see this intiative as anything other than a complete win for the people of Kiruna.

    • @zebedeesummers4413
      @zebedeesummers4413 Před 2 lety +6

      While I agree for the most part things like cemeteries add difficult questions.

    • @samwill7259
      @samwill7259 Před 2 lety +8

      @@zebedeesummers4413 As an atheist I unfortunately can't commentate on that from the kind of perspective that might be required. My personal solution would be to dig up the coffins and move them with everything else. Though for the faithful residents of the town that would probably be an unhelpful answer and sacrilegious to boot. I'm sure there's some kind of religious body or group of religious bodies in the town who can come to some kind of worthwhile religiously sound solution though, one can only hope.

    • @robertwilloughby8050
      @robertwilloughby8050 Před 2 lety +4

      Well, as a believer (yes, I know, I know) there are many ways to move cemeteries respectfully - been done in Germany and the USA on a regular basis without too much chelping about it being sacrilegious. And here in the UK? Well, there was a cemetery that had to be....... interred inside a railway embankment! It's in Leeds and it's on the way out of the main railway station towards York and Hull.

    • @samwill7259
      @samwill7259 Před 2 lety +1

      @@robertwilloughby8050 Well I'm more than glad that you decided to reach out and enlighten us. Here's hoping that the physical and spiritual needs of the community are met when it does come time to see those people to their new place of rest. Even as a non believer it'd be good news for the sake of the families involved and if it's all above board with the church too? well then we can call that a win all around.

    • @lzh4950
      @lzh4950 Před 2 lety +1

      @@zebedeesummers4413 In my country the gov't has exhumed tombs (dug out the deceased bones & cremated them) for various reasons e.g. to allow an air base across the road to expand, to be replaced by a new train depot or a new suburb

  • @elitegeneral4543
    @elitegeneral4543 Před 2 lety +64

    i like how he was like the answer is easy save the town, and i was like the answer is easy save the mine, i mean it’s about as good as mining gets for the planet, it’s in a cold desolate place that’s dark half the year with little other draw to live there, it’s more efficient then other mines because the high concentration ore so they don’t have to dig as much as other mines would for the same amount of iron, and it good for the economy since it alone supplies 90% of europes iron. it’s kind of a no brainer to move the town i’m glad the people there thought so too

    • @nevreiha
      @nevreiha Před 2 lety +5

      at least it isn't a brown coal mine like _some_ western european countries * cough* *cough *

    • @TheSpecialJ11
      @TheSpecialJ11 Před 2 lety +19

      Yeah. This is an ideal mine. You're not degrading arable land, or a beach resort, or something, and you're getting a lot of benefit per unit of damage you're doing. And the 4,000 people being employed metric is only part of the story. Those 4,000 people need to shop at stores, restaurants, pay for groceries, etc. Often with towns of that size, the "domestic services" are entirely supported by the existence of its export economy. So it might just be that several more thousand people in that town's employment is dependent on the 4,000's employment.

    • @thiccityd9773
      @thiccityd9773 Před 2 lety +11

      Exactly. I hate mining as much as the next guy, but seriously, 90% of Europe’s iron kinda trumps a ridiculously small town, especially considering that the town is just moving a little bit.

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Před 2 lety

      And the amount of money it takes to move the town can easily be recovered from profits from the mine.

    • @zombieguyproducion
      @zombieguyproducion Před 2 lety +1

      @@thiccityd9773 Add the fact that the town would die in a decade of the mine shut down anyways. Literally everything is built around the mine and the money it generates

  • @ihavetowait90daystochangem67

    These Swedish Iron Ore is so good, I wonder which country traded with them in WW2

    • @muratqitaku56
      @muratqitaku56 Před 2 lety +10

      It started with something like the 3rd something something but I can't remember correctly?

    • @vishwanathasharma1409
      @vishwanathasharma1409 Před 2 lety +16

      @@muratqitaku56 the political leader of that country was tall blonde and had blue eyes , or that's what I have herd

    • @qwystr
      @qwystr Před 2 lety +7

      Basically everyone...

    • @handle_unknown
      @handle_unknown Před 2 lety

      Their ice hotel should open a new location at the knee, tho King the widdle baby would probably freeze at night!

    • @kezzmexx2476
      @kezzmexx2476 Před 2 lety +1

      Sold to the peeps with moooney nazi bois early war and the brits late war.
      At least we didnt sell them machines to catalog peeps ;)

  • @Temriel
    @Temriel Před 2 lety +191

    As a Swedish person, seeing him pronounce Kiruna was PAIN.

    • @elinkammeby1198
      @elinkammeby1198 Před 2 lety +6

      Eller hur 😅

    • @samomuransky4455
      @samomuransky4455 Před 2 lety +6

      At some point of my trip to Kiruna, I was just desperately tried to avoid saying the name loud :D At least with Kiruna I know I do it wrong. Malmö is worse, I always say Malmö, no one understands me, then they say "Malmö" which sounds the same to me as what I said, but they feel like they said something completely different :D

    • @flutterwind7686
      @flutterwind7686 Před 2 lety +4

      How was it wrong?

    • @Mochu_s_Junkyard
      @Mochu_s_Junkyard Před 2 lety +1

      google translator said it almost the same way Sam did

    • @neko6990
      @neko6990 Před 2 lety +4

      @@flutterwind7686 should be a hard k and i. so more like KIruhna

  • @winmine0327
    @winmine0327 Před 2 lety +4

    As soon as you mentioned an expensive architect I thought "Wonder if it'll be hideous"

  • @guidodelpapa3875
    @guidodelpapa3875 Před 2 lety +36

    Great video as always, but... the people in Northern Sweden do not spend 5 months of the year in almost total darkness... They have civil twilight for just 1 month in December and that's it, so they get some light between 9AM and 2PM.

    • @phbuss
      @phbuss Před 2 lety +10

      True, I live in Kiruna and right now is the period of Polar Night, how ever it was almost daylight from 9 AM but the sun wasn't above the horizon.

    • @VG_164
      @VG_164 Před 2 lety +5

      It doesn't really make a difference when the sun just barely reaches over the horizon during those hours. It's either darkness or some dim sunset orange.

    • @guidodelpapa3875
      @guidodelpapa3875 Před 2 lety +10

      @@VG_164 I live in Svalbard and I can tell you it does make a lot of difference :) A week ago I was in Tromsø, where they have civil twilight for bit less than Kiruna, and for me it was a total relief to see some "daylight". Here is pitch dark all the time for 3 months. Wish we had as much civil twilight as Kiruna hehehe

    • @guidodelpapa3875
      @guidodelpapa3875 Před 2 lety +1

      Though I have to admit that I also used to think that the hours of twilight between Northern Scandinavia Svalbard wouldn't make a difference before I moved here. I realized my misconception when the dark season already started here :)

  • @sleeptyper
    @sleeptyper Před 2 lety +6

    Fun fact; Luossavaara and Kiirunavaara (in the LKAB name) are finnish names.

  • @ignemuton5500
    @ignemuton5500 Před 2 lety +30

    why aren't they moving the town in an opposite direction of the mining direction? or just, literally in any other direction other than the literal mining direction?

    • @Tuned_Rockets
      @Tuned_Rockets Před 2 lety +24

      They considered it (moving the city center north towards Luossavaara) but the terrain there was not as flat and easy to build on as the location they chose. Also the new city center is much closer to the airport and the industrial area

    • @vberl9573
      @vberl9573 Před 2 lety +12

      Mountains and terrain mainly

    • @skie6282
      @skie6282 Před 2 lety +11

      It looks like the geography isnt that nice. More hills and alot more wetland

    • @ignemuton5500
      @ignemuton5500 Před 2 lety +1

      @@Tuned_Rockets that is understandable but it still seems weird to me that there was literally no other option in the 3d space they live in?

    • @WanJae42
      @WanJae42 Před 2 lety +4

      Have you ever watched someone running in front of a bolder in a movie and asked why they don't just run in another direction? Because it would spoil the fun, of course.

  • @wraithship
    @wraithship Před 2 lety +4

    I live in Kiruna 😁
    We were lucky and got to see some rare and very pretty Polar Stratospheric Clouds that look like opal today!

  • @Robin_Goodfellow
    @Robin_Goodfellow Před 2 lety +2

    Reminds me of the relocation of Most Cathedral in Czechia. They literally jacked a big stone church up onto some rails and rolled the whole thing nearly 1km, no disassembly required.

  • @samomuransky4455
    @samomuransky4455 Před 2 lety +103

    Having been in Kiruna few months ago, the most fascinating thing about it is that you can actually see an old Swedish town. You see, Sweden is rich, so even more remote areas are modernised (that of course doesn't mean they don't have old buildings, but the overal vibe is different). But since Kiruna is moving to another place, no one is pouring money into modernising it, making it a unique experience for few more years. Enjoy while you can. Preferably in summer :)
    Oh and by the way, new Kiruna looks awesome. Very little is open so far (basically just the town hall), but it's wonderful.
    (And seriously, Swedish urban planners don't wear masks. No one in Sweden does. A factual error in the video!)

    • @neko6990
      @neko6990 Před 2 lety +8

      id say to preferably come here in winter. depends of course on what you want to do. Like hiking in the mountains is easier in summer. But in winter you can visit the ice hotel, can see the northern lights if you are lucky, go on dog sleighs and snowmobile rides. Kiruna is a winter focused town in general so we got much more to do in winter :D

    • @gregorymalchuk272
      @gregorymalchuk272 Před 2 lety +3

      Apparently Swedish urban planners are big supporters of brutalist architecture.

    • @rocketsurgeon2135
      @rocketsurgeon2135 Před 2 lety +12

      @@gregorymalchuk272 No, but well versed in physics. The surface area of an object grows much slower than the volume, so big boxy buildings optimizes for the most available living space and the least amount of heat losing surfaces.
      Something that, as you can imagine, is a huge deal for keeping heating costs down in a really cold locale. Like Kiruna.

    • @gregorymalchuk272
      @gregorymalchuk272 Před 2 lety +8

      @@rocketsurgeon2135 "Boxy" is not the defining feature of brutalist architecture. Commercial buildings have been boxy for the past 130 years. It's the exposed monolithic concrete. The video even says that the town hall looks like a parking deck.

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Před 2 lety

      So it'd be like visiting a building before it gets destroyed. That sounds like something special.

  • @elinkammeby1198
    @elinkammeby1198 Před 2 lety +12

    I'm from sweden, the pronunciation is comedy gold.

  • @EyesOfByes
    @EyesOfByes Před 2 lety +17

    4:22 I'm pretty sure that specific train model does not operate in Sweden. I might be wrong, havent worked at BAJS I mean SJ AB for a few years now

    • @Gary_Harlow
      @Gary_Harlow Před 2 lety +2

      haha

    • @Joelsfilmer
      @Joelsfilmer Před 2 lety +3

      This channel and misused stock footage is a truly iconic duo.

    • @Gary_Harlow
      @Gary_Harlow Před 2 lety +1

      @@chyza2012 bajs is swedish for poo
      and SJ (the national trains service) has in recent years gotten a reputation for being late and causing massive chaoses at trains stations as a result. Even thougth most of it is not their fault as it is 1. people stealing copper wire and 2. old infrastructure with not enougth funding

  • @TonyYarusso
    @TonyYarusso Před 2 lety +2

    Pretty much the same thing happened in Hibbing, Minnesota.

  • @AnimilesYT
    @AnimilesYT Před 2 lety +78

    What makes a town a town is an interesting question. I think it's the buildings and the physical land it stands on. But it is also the history. It's similar to language. English is English. But modern English is completely different from old English. The Kiruna from 50 years ago is completely different from the Kiruna 50 years from now. But changes have happened and the location shifted over time to a different place. The town is not the same as it used to be, but the history behind it makes it so that it's still the same town. The same, but different.

    • @trla6505
      @trla6505 Před 2 lety +1

      I like it

    • @LD-Orbs
      @LD-Orbs Před 2 lety +6

      *Waves to the Ship of Theseus passing by...*

    • @sechran
      @sechran Před 2 lety +4

      As long as a town is recognized and agreed upon by those who live/interact with it, that town is what those people say it is.
      Besides, it isn't like this is moving to a *completely* different location. In all honesty, if the town just naturally expanded over time, it's hardly unthinkable that its "new" location would have been occupied by said expansion given enough time. Sure, maybe some boundaries and jurisdictions changed, but in terms of proximity? ... Honestly, this is about as tame and low-key as a "mining issues force civic relocation" story can get - the opposite of Centralia basically.

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Před 2 lety +3

      Yeah, especially considering that the new Kiruna is basically just another neighborhood of the old Kiruna. If I go to the outer arrondisements of Paris, that's still the same city as the old town of Paris.

    • @soundscape26
      @soundscape26 Před 2 lety

      Calling it New Kiruna would solve this dilemma. A bit of new, a bit of old.

  • @haski002
    @haski002 Před 2 lety +5

    For the philosophical question, in Kiruna's case I'd say it's still the same town. It's more being gradually shifted to the side & still connected to the other parts of Kiruna. If you put a house on an empty plot on the outskirts of a town, that house becomes a part of the town. Essentially, you're expanding one side while removing the other.

  • @stellacollector
    @stellacollector Před 2 lety +32

    The ship of Theseus is an artifact in the museum. Over time, its planks of wood rot are replaced with new planks. When no original plank remains, is it still the ship of Theseus? Secondly, if those removed planks are restored and reassembled free of the rot, is that the ship of Theseus?
    If the buildings in Kiruna are lifted and moved to the new location, is that still Kiruna? If the buildings of Kiruna are dismantled brick by brick and reassembled in a new location like Lego's Doomed Swedish Mining Town Collection, is THAT still Kiruna?

    • @Confron7a7ion7
      @Confron7a7ion7 Před 2 lety +4

      I knew someone HAD to have beaten me to this.

    • @effbar2400
      @effbar2400 Před 7 měsíci

      Yes

    • @eliasandersson8236
      @eliasandersson8236 Před 7 měsíci +1

      You probably dont care since this is a year old comment, but it might be interesting anyway. I actually lived in Kiruna during part of this move, and while the video makes it sound like the entire town is moving, that is not quite correct. the city center and large parts of the town are moving, but a very large part of the town remains the same, so some "planks" so the Ship of Theseus still remain, even if in parts :)

  • @MomotheToothless
    @MomotheToothless Před 2 lety +7

    This is the real world equivalent of Patrick saying "Why don't we take it, and push it somewhere else!"
    EDIT : I typed this before he made the joke and now I feel dumb for not watching the whole video first...

  • @JonLupen
    @JonLupen Před 2 lety +4

    I'll never stop appreciating and enjoying the humor of this channel :)

  • @alanw1994
    @alanw1994 Před 2 lety +3

    Looks like all the locals and visitors of Kiruna are in the comments section. Another thing with moving the town is that the municipality in cooperation with the mine is using this move to artificially control the demand of housing in Kiruna right now so that rental house prices go through the roof. It is common to find student housing costing upwards of 600 EUR a month which is particularly awful given that the town is located in the middle of nowhere.

  • @ishouldgetalif3
    @ishouldgetalif3 Před 2 lety +3

    As someone who's been down into the Kiruna mine, i can just say this: the ride down was.. interesting. it was a ''road'' that just kept spiraling down.

  • @chrisarnold8777
    @chrisarnold8777 Před 2 lety +1

    This is crazy I'm literally planning a trip to Kiruna next month. Great timing for this video!

  • @AlexOfTheWoods99
    @AlexOfTheWoods99 Před 2 lety +2

    There's a town in Spain along the Camino that was moved up the hill during the Franco era because a new dam would've flooded it. You can still see some remains of the old town under the water when it's clear, and on the bricks of one of the churches you can see each number that was carved into it so it could be reconstructed

  • @confusedtoad8757
    @confusedtoad8757 Před 2 lety +4

    When you know everything about the relocation because you’re Swedish but still watch the video because you want to hear him say kiruna

  • @kitthekat6844
    @kitthekat6844 Před 2 lety +18

    Honestly, the question of "What makes a town a town" is really interesting! I'd be curious to know more about that ^-^

    • @questioner1596
      @questioner1596 Před 2 lety +3

      Many cities and towns move as new attractions get added in one area, and businesses in the old downtown close because they can't compete. It's just a slower process to demolish abandoned buildings over 30+ years instead of a couple.

    • @questioner1596
      @questioner1596 Před 2 lety +1

      The town of Lewisporte, NL, Canada had its old downtown by the harbour, because its economy was based around the ocean. In the last 30 years most businesses have moved around 2 km south, to be at the crossroads near the mall, McDonalds, etc.

    • @aceman0000099
      @aceman0000099 Před 2 lety +2

      I'll tell you what makes a town a town: people saying "this is a town".

    • @kosongdua2055
      @kosongdua2055 Před 2 lety +1

      oo there's a video that'll answer that ( the topic is pretty similar i guess), it's by city beautiful, feel free to check it out czcams.com/video/8YVBBkBcdrg/video.html

    • @kitthekat6844
      @kitthekat6844 Před 2 lety +1

      @@kosongdua2055 Oh, thanks, I'll check it out!

  • @alexlandherr
    @alexlandherr Před 2 lety

    Cool that you talked about this. I learned of this over 10 years ago. Still fun to see stuff from my homeland get the HAI treatment.

  • @joeym5243
    @joeym5243 Před 2 lety +7

    This town literally taking advice from Patrick Star

  • @ville7213
    @ville7213 Před 2 lety +8

    In fairness to your pronunciation, (basically) no Swedish person person can pronounce Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara either.

    • @PM-gf1nj
      @PM-gf1nj Před 2 lety +12

      But all Finnish people can!

    • @phbuss
      @phbuss Před 2 lety +3

      It's not hard if you live in Kiruna like me. But for a person from the South it sure is hard.

    • @VG_164
      @VG_164 Před 2 lety +2

      Eh, I think most Swedes will try to pronounce it with a Finnish dialect and get it mostly right.

  • @TheMazzive
    @TheMazzive Před 2 lety +4

    I'm from Finland and even I am offended by how he pronounced Kiruna

  • @lagritsalammas
    @lagritsalammas Před 2 lety

    Thank you, this was really good!

  • @gunnarmundt956
    @gunnarmundt956 Před 2 lety

    I lived there for a few years and its so cool to see HAI make a video about small kiruna :D

  • @Zygal_
    @Zygal_ Před 2 lety +8

    As a swede, it is hilarious to hear you mispronounce the names.

  • @perhir01
    @perhir01 Před 2 lety +5

    Fun fact: LKAB isn't running one mine that is causing a town to be relocated. LKAB is running TWO mines that are causing two separate towns to relocate/get torn down. Check out Malmberget if you are curious.

    • @anul6801
      @anul6801 Před rokem

      Liar!! They have Svappavaara aswell...

  • @Abbe235
    @Abbe235 Před 2 lety +1

    I was pleasantly surprised to see two videos in my feed today mentioning my good ol’ hometown of keeruenah.

  • @BetrayedCow
    @BetrayedCow Před 2 lety

    istg, the comedic timing in these videos never fails to disappoint, like the flow of jokes is just so good. I was dying when suddenly Ship of Theseus at the end. Like seriously, props to the writers and definitely-not-Sam-from-Wendover and just everyone, you're all so great at making these easily digestible, short, fun videos of really cool, mostly informative content. Always brightens my day seeing a new video

  • @perennialcoma
    @perennialcoma Před 2 lety +4

    I love Kiruna, I've been there many many times. They have amazing food and views.
    If anyone is there I recommend to try some souvas (smoked reindeer) pizza!

    • @neko6990
      @neko6990 Před 2 lety +2

      souvas is basically like our kebab, usually eat it in a pita with lingonberry sauce and some vegetables. I love it :)

    • @perennialcoma
      @perennialcoma Před 2 lety

      @@neko6990 I prefer it with hjortron in the pita, but however you get souvas it's amazing!

  • @EyesOfByes
    @EyesOfByes Před 2 lety +12

    Not Kiruuuna. Kirruna 😏 Also, not "L-cab", you say literally LKAB like MKBHD 😄

    • @Croz89
      @Croz89 Před 2 lety +2

      Doesn't help that it's a Swedish limited company with a Finnish name.

    • @Tuned_Rockets
      @Tuned_Rockets Před 2 lety +2

      @@Croz89 It's a Swedish name, it just happens to have two finnish names in it.

    • @Croz89
      @Croz89 Před 2 lety +1

      @@Tuned_Rockets Whole name of the company is Finnish, the last word is basically the Swedish equivalent of "Ltd." or "LLC." Normally it would be abbreviated to AB.

  • @jannetteberends8730
    @jannetteberends8730 Před 2 lety

    This is great, Kiruna fascinated me a long time. So I’m glad with this video.

  • @elton1981
    @elton1981 Před 2 lety +2

    It happened in England in the C14th. Sarum was built on a hill, and they were running out of land on that hill, and the slopes were too steep to build on; so they built a new city called Salisbury and everyone moved there. One problem, the city of Sarum sent two members of parliament until 1832 despite nearly no one living there.

    • @danielbishop1863
      @danielbishop1863 Před 2 lety

      A similar thing happened to Dunwich, which was a major port city in the 1200's, but storms and coastal erosion ate away at the coastal cliffside until only a small village was left. It also had two seats in Parliament until 1832.

    • @Spacemongerr
      @Spacemongerr Před 2 lety

      That is a strange way of writing the 1300s. "Century fourteenth".

  • @mbgaming1017
    @mbgaming1017 Před 2 lety +4

    Sam just hits us the philosophical question regarding the persistence of identity at the end for no reason and now I’m fucked up

    • @rmp7400
      @rmp7400 Před 2 lety

      MB: you are fine✨ its poor Sam who has trouble staying on topic....
      (As to what makes a town a town: EVERY place on earth...is a place in time. Time changes places: new people are born if permitted to be, learn hopefully & die inevitably). Earth is passing - but Heaven is coming, gratefully!🎆

  • @matthew.datcher
    @matthew.datcher Před 2 lety +4

    Who knew we'd one day have the Town of Theseus?

    • @ntsst3
      @ntsst3 Před 2 lety

      Highly intellectual comment 👌

  • @viszke2412
    @viszke2412 Před 2 měsíci +1

    I live in Kiruna and I’m supprised how many things you got right

  • @Gunitz89
    @Gunitz89 Před 2 lety

    i love the humor of this channel

  • @mrgreatauk
    @mrgreatauk Před 2 lety +3

    "Close down the mine!!! The mine is bad!!!"
    "the mine underpins the whole town's economy, the company has a $1bn relocation plan, and they'll pay you 25% more than your house is worth to move out."
    "nvm"

  • @loveforsberg530
    @loveforsberg530 Před 2 lety +4

    Kiruna isn't moving two miles, it's moving 3 km. *angry Swedish noises*

  • @lordrindfleisch1584
    @lordrindfleisch1584 Před 2 lety +1

    There are a lot of interesting videos you could do about Swedish mining, like Malmbanan (the railway connecting the mines to the ports of Narvik and Luleå), how it effects sami culture and so on.

  • @themspspotter593
    @themspspotter593 Před 2 lety +1

    This reminds me of Hibbing, Minnesota. It’s next to the largest iron ore open pit mine and 1919 they moved over 200 buildings2 miles away to make room for the expanding mine

  • @strangeandwonderful247
    @strangeandwonderful247 Před 2 lety +5

    If we replace a piece of a boat at a time, when does that boat stop being THAT boat. Love this philosophy problem.

    • @bouli3576
      @bouli3576 Před 2 lety

      Same with the family hammer handed down from generation to generation : 4th shaft and 2nd head, but still THE family hammer ...

  • @oddzag
    @oddzag Před 2 lety +4

    Eventually the town will stay mobile on giant tracks for convenience. Then, it will attack the mine for its resources and that is how the world of Mortal Engines will become reality.

  • @Lozoot2
    @Lozoot2 Před 2 lety +2

    I'm so glad you used the Patrick meme. There would have been riots had you not.

  • @sprelleNOR
    @sprelleNOR Před 2 lety

    Older generations in Northen Norway sometimes hiked across the mountains to Kiruna to work. One of my favorite tidbits about this is that in winter you could hang your bedsheets outside and then shake it to remove all the lice and fleas, small black dots would cover the snow.

  • @Draktand01
    @Draktand01 Před 2 lety +10

    I love how the LKAB’s full name used both Finnish (I think) and Swedish in it’s full name, making it even more annoying to pronounce.

    • @TheSimon253
      @TheSimon253 Před 2 lety +2

      Pretty sure it's Sami.

    • @ann1ka_
      @ann1ka_ Před 2 lety +5

      @@TheSimon253 no

    • @TheSimon253
      @TheSimon253 Před 2 lety +1

      @@ann1ka_ I was wrong

    • @spudespude7648
      @spudespude7648 Před 2 lety +3

      Luossavaara and kiirunavaara are finnish names of places and aktiebolag means join-stock company in swedish

    • @asj3419
      @asj3419 Před 2 lety +6

      I did some reading and it turns out the name just the name of the two places that the mine is on. First A literal translation would be Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara limited company. (Luossavaara is a mountain and Kiirunavaara a fell next to it.) Luossavaara came from Sami (though this spelling is Finnish), while Kiirunavaara is Finnish.

  • @jr637-1
    @jr637-1 Před 2 lety +3

    3:19 Litteraly (sic)

    • @brianxyz
      @brianxyz Před 2 lety

      Also "Colapse." HAI needs a spell checker.

  • @mablaba3629
    @mablaba3629 Před 2 lety +1

    Hibbing, Minnesota did that around a century ago using horses and logs! 😂

  • @andycockrum1212
    @andycockrum1212 Před 2 lety +2

    I know someone who’s slept at that ice hotel, they say it’s literally the best and most restful nights sleep they’ve ever had in their lives

    • @neko6990
      @neko6990 Před 2 lety +1

      you do get a reindeer skin to lay on. also get a sleeping bag and the toilets are heated even in the ice rooms :)

  • @nicolasblume1046
    @nicolasblume1046 Před 2 lety +4

    Same thing has been happening in Germany for decades: dozens of smaller towns have been moved so the coal mines can expand further

  • @cynthiarevstrom8487
    @cynthiarevstrom8487 Před 2 lety +4

    I would say, yes it's still the same town as it's more just moving the houses and people but the municipality is still the same area.

  • @iamasteriix
    @iamasteriix Před 2 lety

    Big up to this guy's very rhythmic speaking, and to the writers and editors!

  • @joshuasheets9236
    @joshuasheets9236 Před 10 měsíci

    Lol I love the Kiruna of Theseus bit at the end.

  • @johnlow1670
    @johnlow1670 Před 2 lety +3

    Sorry but I keep laughing when Sam is saying Kiruna and Kiirunavaara

  • @ne0tic
    @ne0tic Před 2 lety +13

    Damn, 90% of EU's iron ore production? This iron ore mine would literally become a gold mine during wartimes.

    • @hET30209Q
      @hET30209Q Před 2 lety +2

      Sweden sold a lot of it to Germany during the war.

    • @hET30209Q
      @hET30209Q Před 2 lety +1

      WW2*

    • @rocketsurgeon2135
      @rocketsurgeon2135 Před 2 lety

      @@hET30209Q Don't need to specify which world war, it was sold there during both.

    • @hET30209Q
      @hET30209Q Před 2 lety

      @@rocketsurgeon2135 Besserwisser

    • @danielbishop1863
      @danielbishop1863 Před 2 lety +4

      No, it would literally remain an iron mine. It would *figuratively* become a gold mine.

  • @matthijsdeboer9932
    @matthijsdeboer9932 Před 2 lety +2

    So why not move the town to west of the mine if the ore is at an angle towards the east?

    • @feralcatgirl
      @feralcatgirl Před 2 lety +1

      they'd have to fuck with the road network a lot more, wouldn't they?

  • @gregthompson5580
    @gregthompson5580 Před 2 lety

    Went to Kiruna while studying abroad in Sweden. Miss those days…

  • @Elated_Llama
    @Elated_Llama Před 2 lety +3

    Imagine that... a company not (entirely) screwing it's workers over
    in the US you'd be lucky if they gave you an offer for the house at all,
    let alone market value
    let alone above market value
    let alone 25% above

  • @TheHitsJustKeepComin
    @TheHitsJustKeepComin Před 2 lety +3

    The amazing part of this video is that people are actually surprised that they chose to move the town - like anyone is going to conceivably imagine shutting down a mine that has a 60-70% pure iron deposit and that produces 90% of the iron ore for the EU. Do you know how much money Sweden makes off this mine? You people act like moving a town of 20K people is a global catastrophe - geez....

    • @olivercharles2930
      @olivercharles2930 Před rokem

      It is surprising, but no one is acting like it is a global catastrophe. Geez.... you love exaggerating

  • @rj-mu7ns
    @rj-mu7ns Před 2 lety

    This channel is turning into Wendover productions with every upload

  • @creiij
    @creiij Před 2 lety

    Love hearing you try and speak Swedish =)

  • @thefareplayer2254
    @thefareplayer2254 Před 2 lety +3

    I thought they had to move it because of…….Kirunavirus

  • @kfaughter4350
    @kfaughter4350 Před 2 lety +16

    We should take Kiruna AND PUSH IT SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!
    (I wrote this comment before I started watching, I didn't know he himself referenced it)

  • @jimothypersson8306
    @jimothypersson8306 Před 2 lety +2

    First video about my country since the one on Dagen H, what a day

  • @Erikaaaaaaaaaaaaa
    @Erikaaaaaaaaaaaaa Před 2 lety

    Kiruna is still, at the end of the day, a small town. It just so happens to be a small town dealing with enormous financial decisions and massive international attention. I visited it a while back and the mayor took us on a tour of the city in his car. He showed us around the new city hall and everything. It was really nice

  • @le9038
    @le9038 Před 2 lety +3

    This video was the most IRONic video ever

  • @ann1ka_
    @ann1ka_ Před 2 lety +3

    the pronounciation 0:34 😭

  • @jumbo1701
    @jumbo1701 Před 2 lety +1

    Kiruna is a very cool city. We went into the mine for a tour and it was truly draw dropping. We also toured the old town hall and saw the model of the new town hall. Sleek!

    • @Chase92488
      @Chase92488 Před 26 dny

      "draw dropping"
      (ik this is two years later but still)

  • @domameno
    @domameno Před 2 lety

    I live in Ruth, Nevada and this is the 3rd version of the town it's been moved twice before because of a mine. As well 4 former towns have been completely buried under then mine.

  • @Loop42
    @Loop42 Před 2 lety +3

    Pronounced "Kirr-un-ah"

  • @cookiecoderbt
    @cookiecoderbt Před 2 lety +2

    if you guys had a second channel would it be called “two times as interesting,” or “a quarter as interesting?”

  • @corro202
    @corro202 Před 2 lety

    Great video.

  • @markiangooley
    @markiangooley Před 2 lety

    In northern peninsular Florida there used to be a small town called Edgar. There’s a big deposit of good kaolin and much of it is where Edgar used to be. Now little is left of Edgar apart from the post office.
    The demand for kaolin has dropped somewhat, now that glossy paper can be made with limestone instead of kaolin. Last I checked the mine is still in operation and the post office is pretty much all that’s left unless one counts mine buildings.

  • @Mesozoic_mammal
    @Mesozoic_mammal Před 2 lety +5

    The new town hall looks horrible. They had a lot of funding and time to plan and they went with this!?! How? Why?

  • @gabrielhenschen9665
    @gabrielhenschen9665 Před 2 lety +3

    Kiruna is not Sweden's northernmost town. Karesuando is more north, altough its population is 60 times smaller. It's still a town though,

    • @juicebox6124
      @juicebox6124 Před 2 lety +2

      If it's only got like 1000 people (Assuming this place has ~60 thousand) then wouldn't it be considered a village?

    • @cynthiarevstrom8487
      @cynthiarevstrom8487 Před 2 lety +4

      that might be true, however I think the misunderstanding/unclarity is "what is a town?". Karesuando is inside Kiruna municipality still, and municipality is the most common definition of town/city in Sweden in my experience

    • @seneca983
      @seneca983 Před 2 lety +1

      @@juicebox6124 Wikipedia says it has a population of 300 so I would consider it a village.
      What may cause some confusion here is the English vs. Swedish language. In English there are 3 commonly used words for settlements of different size, namely "city", "town", and "village" (I'm ignoring some rarer words like "hamlet" for simplicity). Swedish, on the other hand, only has 2, namely "stad" and "by". The former roughly corresponds to "city" whereas the latter corresponds to both "town" and "village". Thus Swedes might not make the distinction between a town and a village.

    • @gabrielhenschen9665
      @gabrielhenschen9665 Před 2 lety +2

      @@juicebox6124 In Sweden there are only two ways of classifying settlements, småort (anything between 50 and 200 residents), and tätort (above 200 residents). Karesuando has 279 placing it in the same category as Kiruna with its 16 420. There are no småort or tätort further north afaik. The northernmost settlement is 50 km north of Karesuando and has 4 residents. It is called Keinovuopio.
      Karesuando is in the same legal category as Kiruna and is further north making it the northernmost town.
      Kiruna is the northernmost municipality seat, but there are plenty of towns that are not municipality seats that nobody disputes as towns.

    • @dsludge8217
      @dsludge8217 Před 2 lety

      Karesuando used to be its own kommun, but did it really have stadsrättigheter?

  • @milseq
    @milseq Před 2 lety

    My home town also went through a similar process about 50 years ago.

  • @InterloperBob
    @InterloperBob Před 2 lety +1

    The doomed swedish mining town Lego set joke had me laughing really hard. Great video.