The city is also the center of the Laplanders history and culture. Lule , the provincial capital of Norrbotten and the church seat is located on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia at the outflow of the Lule River. The city wad founded in 1621 by king Gustav II Adolf . Lule was a trading town where furs, leather, timber and tar changed hands for implements, flour and silver. The modern day Lule is Norrbotten's most important industry, trade and maritime city.
Industry is dominated by the mining company SSAB and smaller computer service companies.
It is a university town and the provincial capital. Ume has a long, both modern and preserved, cultural tradition. Lycksele and Vilhelmina in southern Lappland are also interesting cultural towns. V sterbottens industry city with power plants and manufacturing and Robertsfors, named after the Scotsman Robert Finlay who started the town's industrialization in 1756.