MALMO, SWEDEN
Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden, situated in the southernmost province of Scania. It has 272,634 inhabitants (about 605,000 in the metro area). Malmö was one of the earliest and most industrialized towns of Scandinavia, but has in recent decades been struggling with the adaptation to post-industrialism.
The city contains many historic buildings and parks, and is also a popular place to shop due to its many different shops and stores. During the last few years a university college (Malmö Högskola) has been established and the city is now focusing extensively on education, arts and culture.
The administrative entity for most of the city Malmö is the Malmö Municipality, referred to as Malmö Stad, or City of Malmö in English.
Malmö is located at 13°00' east and 55°35' north. Its location in southernmost Sweden makes it closer to the Italian city of Milan than to the northernmost Swedish town Kiruna, giving the city a compratively more continental feel (and warmer climate).
Malmö is part of the transnational Oresund Region and since 2000 the Oresund Bridge crosses the Oresund strait to Copenhagen, Denmark. The bridge was inaugurated July 1, 2000, and measures 8 kilometres (the whole link totalling 16km), with pylons reaching 204.5 metres vertically. Except the Helsingborg-Helsingør ferry links further north, most ferry connections have been discontinued.
Commuter trains pass the bridge every 20 minutes connecting Malmö, Copenhagen, and the Copenhagen Metro (inaugurated on Oct 19, 2002). Also some of the X2000 and Intercity trains to Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Kalmar pass the bridge. All these trains stop at Copenhagen Airport.
In March of 2005, digging began on a new railway connection called Citytunneln (The City Tunnel). The tunnel will run from under Malmö Central Station to Hyllievång (Hyllie Meadow), where it will emerge to connect with the Oresund Bridge, effectively changing Malmö Central from being a terminus to being a transit station.
Beside the Copenhagen Airport to which the Oresund Bridge offers swift connection, Malmö has a minor airport of its own, Malmö Airport, today chiefly used for low-cost carriers, charter flight routes, and domestic Swedish destinations.
Malmö, and the rest of southern Sweden have an oceanic climate. Despite its northern location, the climate is relatively mild compared to other locations in similar latitudes, or even somewhat further south, mainly because of the Gulf Stream. Because of its northern latitude, daylight extends 17 hours in midsummer, to only around 7 hours in midwinter.
Summers are warm and pleasant with average high temperatures of 22°C (72°F) and lows of around 14°C (57°F), but temperatures do sometimes exceed 35°C (95°F+) and occasional heat waves are common during the summer. Winters are cold, with temperatures steady between -1 to 3°C (30 - 37°F), and it rarely drops below −10 °C (14 °F).
Rainfall is light to moderate throughout the year with 169 wet days. Snowfall occurs mainly in December through March, but snow covers do not remain for a long time, and some winters are virtually free of snow.
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