Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg; pronounced ) is the second largest city in Sweden by population and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 522,259, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 938,580 inhabitants in the metropolitan area. Gothenburg is classified as a global city by GaWC, with a ranking of Gamma−.
The City of Gothenburg was founded in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. It lies by the sea at the mouth of Göta Älv—the river running through the city—and is the largest seaport in the Nordic countries.
Gothenburg is home to many students, as the city includes both the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927. The city is a major centre in Sweden for sports and home to the IFK Göteborg, BK Häcken, GAIS and Örgryte IS association football teams as well as the Frölunda HC ice hockey team.
Gothenburg is served by Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport, located 30 km (18.64 mi) southeast of the city centre. It is the second largest airport in Sweden. The city is also served by Gothenburg City Airport, located 15 km (9.32 mi) from the city centre.
The city is famous for hosting some of the biggest annual and non-annual events in Scandinavia, which has nicknamed Gothenburg as the "Event City". Gothenburg Film Festival, held in January since 1979, is the leading film festival in Scandinavia with over 155,000 visitors annually. In the summertime a broad variety of music festivals are taking place, such as Way Out West and Metaltown. Gothia Cup, held every year in Gothenburg, is in regards to the number of participants even the world's largest football tournament: in 2011, a total of 35,200 players from 1567 teams and 72 nations participated. Additionally, many huge international artists often pick Gothenburg as their primary choice for hosting concerts in favour of other Swedish cities such as Stockholm and Malmö.
Gothenburg is also famous for Liseberg, chosen as one of the top ten amusement parks in the world (2005) by Forbes Magazine.
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