Counties of Sweden

Counties of Sweden
*Sveriges län* (
Counties of Sweden ; Sveriges län (
Category	County
Location	Sweden
Number	21
Populations	Least: Gotland, 59,686; Most: Stockholm, 2,377,081
Areas	Smallest: Blekinge, 2,946.4km2; Largest: Norrbotten, 98,244.8km2
Government	Administrative board; Regional council;
Subdivisions	Municipality;

The counties of Sweden (

fiefdoms. The county borders often follow the provincial borders, but the Crown

often chose to make slight relocations to suit its purposes.

In every county there is a

regional council (region). In the county of Gotland

however, the county's only municipality has adopted regional responsibilities.

The aims of the county administrative board are to supervise local state administration (that is not otherwise assigned to other government agencies), and to coordinate political goals with the central government. The regional council is the elected regional political assembly that oversees the municipal affairs of the county, primarily in regard to

public healthcare, public transport

, and culture.

Several other government agencies are organised on a county basis, including the main bodies of the

social insurance

, and forestry services.

List of counties

ISO	NUTS	County (Län)	Administrative centre	Governor	Area (km²)	Pop. (2019)^[1]	Den.
SE-AB	SE110	Stockholm	Stockholm	Sven-Erik Österberg	6,519.3	2,377,081	360
SE-C	SE121	Uppsala	Uppsala	Göran Enander	8,207.2	383,713	45
SE-D	SE122	Södermanland	Nyköping	Beatrice Ask	6,102.3	297,540	52
SE-E	SE123	Östergötland	Linköping	Carl Fredrik Graf	10,602.0	465,495	43
SE-F	SE211	Jönköping	Jönköping	Helena Jonsson	10,495.1	363,599	34
SE-G	SE212	Kronoberg	Växjö	Maria Arnholm	8,466.0	201,469	23
SE-H	SE213	Kalmar	Kalmar	Peter Sandwall	11,217.8	245,446	22
SE-I	SE214	Gotland	Visby	Anders Flanking	3,151.4	59,686	19
SE-K	SE221	Blekinge	Karlskrona	Ulrica Messing	2,946.4	159,606	52
SE-M	SE224	Skåne	Malmö, Kristianstad	Anneli Hulthén	11,034.5	1,377,827	120
SE-N	SE231	Halland	Halmstad	Brittis Benzler	5,460.7	333,848	59
SE-O	SE232	Västra Götaland	Gothenburg, Vänersborg	Lisbeth Schultze (acting)	23,948.8	1,725,881	68
SE-S	SE311	Värmland	Karlstad	Georg Andrén	17,591.0	282,414	16
SE-T	SE124	Örebro	Örebro	Maria Larsson	8,545.6	304,805	35
SE-U	SE125	Västmanland	Västerås	Ulrica Gradin (acting)	5,145.8	275,845	37
SE-W	SE312	Dalarna	Falun	Camilla Fagerberg Littorin (acting)	28,188.8	287,966	10
SE-X	SE313	Gävleborg	Gävle	Per Bill	18,198.9	287,382	16
SE-Y	SE321	Västernorrland	Härnösand	Berit Högman	21,683.8	245,347	11
SE-Z	SE322	Jämtland	Östersund	Marita Ljung	49,341.2	130,810	3.4
SE-AC	SE331	Västerbotten	Umeå	Helene Hellmark Knutsson	55,186.2	271,736	4.9
SE-BD	SE332	Norrbotten	Luleå	Lotta Finstorp	98,244.8	250,093	2.6

Map

With county codes, which were official until 1974.

Counties of Sweden

Comparison with the provinces of Sweden
Bold lines represent county borders, colors represent provinces.

Each county region contains a number of municipalities (kommuner), the existence of which is partly at the discretion of the central government. Since 2004 their number has been 290, thus an average of 13.8 municipalities per county.

Until 1968, the City of Stockholm had its own "county code" A, which is still used interchangeably with AB in some contexts, and County of Stockholm had county code B. L was for Kristianstad County and M was for Malmöhus County but since they were merged to form Skåne County, M is usually used. O used to stand for Gothenburg and Bohus County but has been used for Västra Götaland County since it was merged with Skaraborg County (R) and Älvsborg County (P).

History

Older subdivisions

Sweden's

Lappland

was also one province until 1809.

Historically, the provinces were grouped in three lands: Götaland, being southern and western Sweden; Svealand being eastern and south-eastern, and Norrland being the entire northern half. The names of the first two refer to ancient tribes, and the third is a geographical reference. They are still commonly used as geographical references. The boundaries have changed over time, with the most significant in 1658 (the cession of provinces from Denmark-Norway to Sweden) and 1812 (due to the loss of Finland to Russia in 1809). In 1812 some provinces were moved from Götaland to Svealand.

Finland

After the

reform

in 1997. They are still in use in Sweden, 370 years later.

The counties in Finland established in 1634 were:

Turku and Pori County, Nyland and Tavastehus County, Viborg and Nyslott County, Ostrobothnia County and Kexholm County. Over time the number of subdivisions in Finland increased to twelve, until a reorganization in 1997 reduced their number to six provinces

, while keeping the administrative model intact. The counties in Finland were abolished in 2010.

Abolished counties

Abolished counties in current-day Sweden proper were:

Skaraborg County + Gothenburg and Bohus County + Älvsborg County (merged as Västra Götaland County in 1998)
Kopparberg County (became Dalarna County
in 1997)

Malmöhus County + Kristianstad County (merged as Skåne County in 1997)
Norrland County (in 1645 divided into Västerbotten County, Hudiksvall County and Härnösand County)
Nyköping County, Gripsholm County and Eskilstunahus County (united in 1683 to become Södermanland County)
Närke County (became Örebro County)
Härnösand County (1645–1654, formed Västernorrland County)
Hudiksvall County (1645–1654, formed Gävleborg County)
Office of the Governor of Stockholm (1634–1967, united with Stockholm County)
Svartsjö County (1786–1809, united with Stockholm County)
Öland County (1819–1826, united with Kalmar County)

Counties in Swedish-ruled Finland were:

Turku and Pori County (1634–1809)
Nyland and Tavastehus County (1634–1809)
Ostrobothnia County (1634–1775)
Viborg and Nyslott County (1634–1721)
Kexholm County (1634–1721)
Kymmenegård and Nyslott County (1721–1747)
Savolax and Kymmenegård County (1747–1775)
Vasa County
(1775–1809)
Oulu County
(1775–1809)
Kymmenegård County (1775–1809)
Savolax and Karelia County (1775–1809)

Proposed regions

Six or nine new administrative regions.

Under the aegis of the

Swedish government, Ansvarskommittén has been investigating the possibilities of merging the current 21 counties into 6 to 9 larger regions. These proposals are from their final report, delivered in 2007:^[2]

Norra Sverige: Norrbotten County + Västerbotten County + Jämtland County + Västernorrland County + Nordanstig and Hudiksvall
Bergslagen: the rest of Gävleborg County + Dalarna County + Örebro County + Värmland County
Mälardalen: Stockholm County + Uppsala County + Södermanland County + Västmanland County + Gotland County
Västra Götaland: Västra Götaland County + Halland County
Östra Götaland: Östergötland County + Jönköping County + Kronoberg County + Kalmar County
Södra Götaland: Skåne County + Blekinge County

Norra Sverige: Norrbotten County + Västerbotten County + Örnsköldsvik
Mellannorrland: Jämtland County + Västernorrland County (except Örnsköldsvik) + Nordanstig and Hudiksvall
Dalarna-Gävleborg: Dalarna County + Gävleborg County (except Nordanstig and Hudiksvall)
Västra Svealand: Värmland County + Örebro County
Mälardalen: Stockholm County + Uppsala County + Södermanland County + Västmanland County + Gotland County
Västra Götaland: Västra Götaland County + Halland County
Östergötland: Östergötland County + Västervik
Småland: Jönköping County + Kronoberg County + Kalmar County (except Västervik)
Södra Götaland: Skåne County + Blekinge County

A model for this comes from the merger of some counties into Skåne County and Västra Götaland County in 1997 and 1998, respectively, which is now considered a success.

The counties are discussing the proposal. An obstacle is that Stockholm County does not want to merge with any other county, while its neighbours want to merge with Stockholm. After this discussion the following proposal has in 2016 emerged:

Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Västernorrland and Jämtland county
Dalarna, Gävleborgs, Södermanlands, Uppsala, Västmanland and Örebro county
Östergötland, Jönköping, Kalmar and Kronoberg county
Gotland and Stockholm county
Halland, Värmland and Västra Götaland county
Blekinge and Skåne county

The main difference is that the proposed Bergslagen is divided to other counties, and Stockholm is on its own (plus the small Gotland which has air connections to Stockholm)

Riksområden

Current statistical regions

(riksområden).

The counties in Sweden correspond to the third level of division in the

Riksområden, or National Areas: Stockholm, East Middle Sweden, North Middle Sweden, Middle Norrland, Upper Norrland, Småland and the islands, West Sweden and South Sweden

.

References

^ "Sweden: Major Municipalities". City Population. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
^ "Regional utveckling och regional samhällsorganisation". Government Offices of Sweden (in Swedish). 23 March 2007. SOU 2007:13.

External links

[1] "Sweden: Major Municipalities". City Population. Retrieved 1 February 2020.

[2] "Regional utveckling och regional samhällsorganisation". Government Offices of Sweden (in Swedish). 23 March 2007. SOU 2007:13.

[1]

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