[7] Umeå is a university town and centre of education, technical and medical research in northern Sweden.

[a] CRISPR gene editing was developed by researchers, headed by Emmanuelle Charpentier at Umeå University, being awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

[12][13][14] Consulates from ten countries can be found in Umeå (2021): Denmark (from 1848), Finland (from 1921), France (from 1989), Iceland (from 2002), Italy (from 2012), Latvia (1939–1940; again from 2014), Lithuania (from 2012), Norway (from 1963), and the Republic of Seychelles (from 2001).

[17][18] During that period, the climate was mild, allowing for the cultivation of barley and wheat, while moose and beaver were hunted further inland.

Before this time, the northern parts of Sweden, including the counties of Västerbotten and Norrbotten, were mostly settled by nomadic Sami people, though there is no evidence of a permanent settlement at the exact location of the city.

Southern Västerbotten (including Umeå and Skellefteå) has had permanent Germanic settlements since at least the 14th century, and possibly since the Viking Age, or even earlier.

Umeå initially developed as a parish, with a wooden church and a trading post located in what is now known as Backen (or Kyrkbacken).

[22] For the next few centuries, Umeå remained a collection of scattered parishes where merchandise originating from the Sami people was traded.

At the close of the Finnish War in 1809, a Russian army under Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly captured Umeå and occupied it from June to August.

Umeå had already begun making structural changes[25] when, on 25 June 1888, a fire devastated the eastern parts of the town, leaving at least 2,300 of its 3,000 inhabitants homeless.

During the restoration, almost 3,000 silver birch[26] trees were planted along wide avenues to prevent future fires from spreading.

The nearby community of Holmsund serves as Umeå's port, with a ferry line connecting it to Vaasa (Swedish: Vasa) in Finland.

[39] Umeå is located along the Blue Highway, which is an international tourist route from Mo i Rana, Norway to Pudozh, Russia via Finland.

Well-known metal bands from Umeå include Cult of Luna, Gotham City, Hollow, Meshuggah, Mexicoma, Nocturnal Rites and Persuader.

During the 1990s, the influence of Umeå hardcore punk bands such as Final Exit, Step Forward, Refused, Abhinanda, Shield and Doughnuts and the local labels Desperate Fight Records and Busted Heads Records led to the growth of Umeå's hardcore scene.

In 2021 it was announced that Rally Sweden would relocate to the northern Swedish city of Umeå after being held in the province of Värmland since its foundation.

Although its head office is located in Uppsala (Ultuna), the university has several campuses in different parts of Sweden, including Umeå.

Key research fields of the University are life sciences (especially medical and cell and the molecular biology of plants), human-technology interaction, social welfare, ecology and gender perspectives.

The Umeå University works collaboratively with companies such as ABB, Volvo, Skanska, Ericsson, and Öhrlings PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).