The town was chartered in 1621, and a first urban plan for Sundsvall was probably created by
Olof Bure in 1642, less likely in 1623. It has a port by the
Gulf of Bothnia, and is located 395 km north of
Stockholm. The city has burned down and been rebuilt four times. The first time, in 1721, it was set on fire by the Russian army during the
Russian Pillage of 1719-1721. According to one historian, Swedish industrialism started in Sundsvall when the
Tunadal sawmill bought a steam-engine driven saw in 1849. In the early 20th century Sundsvall was an even greater centre of
forestry industry in Sweden than it is today. The first large Swedish strike was the "Sundsvall strike" in 1879. The industrial heritage makes
social democrat and socialist sympathies more prevalent in the Sundsvall region than in Sweden as a whole. (
the stone city). One advantage of the new construction was that within three years the town was arguing that it should be allowed reduced insurance as new rules had been brought in that applied to wooden towns. One disadvantage was that after the fire only the better off could afford to live in the centre. Today Sundsvall is not only dominated by the
pulp and paper industry, and the aluminium production but there are also banks, insurance companies, telecommunications administration and a number of large public data-processing centres such as the national social insurance board. The main campus of the
Mid Sweden University (
Mittuniversitetet) is also located in the city. The university, established in 1993, is a collaboration between Östersund, Sundsvall and Härnösand. ==Climate==