Welcome to Karlstad - The Sun City!
Karlstad is situated half way between Oslo and Stockholm on the northern shore of Lake Vänern in the county of Värmland. Karlstad was founded in 1584 and has about 80 000 inhabitants on 1200 square kilometres and is the county capital of Värmland.

When Norway broke away from the union with Sweden in 1905, a century of peace was under threat. The conflict was solved during negotiations held in Karlstad. In September 1905 both parties agreed to go to their separate ways peacefully. Another dramatic episode in the 400 years of Karlstad's history was the great fire of 1865. Virtually the entire town was razed to the ground. Only a few buildings were saved, including the cathedral and the Bishop's residence.
The natural environment in and around Karlstad is flourishing and has a wealth of variety. To the north there are extensive coniferous forests. To the south, farming land stretches out to lake Vänern and its 20 000 islands. The river Klarälven flows through the centre of Karlstad. It rises high in the Norwegian hills and forms an exciting delta as in empties into Lake Vänern.

Karlstad is known for sunshine and the sun has become the symbol of the town. "Sola", a dialect word for the sun, was also the name of a cheerful and lovely lady who lived in Karlstad during the 18th century. As a waitress and as the owner of an inn she spread joy and warmth throughout the town. Because of her radiant personality she was known as Sola i Karlstad - "Sunshine in Karlstad. Karlstad is home to many high-expertise companies and the town is one of Scandinavia's main centres for consultants. Many of these consultants work in the tele and data communication industry. Karlstad is also a research and development centre for machinery used in the pulp, paper and process industries.

Elite ice-hockey team Färjestad attract the crowds in winter and when lake Vänern freezes over, skaters of all age's head out onto the huge expanse of ice. Other major events held in Karlstad include the International Swedish Rally, the World Championships in handball, curling, football, racing-boats and ice racing.