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The Counties of Sweden, or län, are the first level administrative and political subdivisions of Sweden. Sweden is divided into 21 counties.

The Counties were established in 1634 on Count Axel Oxenstierna's initiative, superseding the provinces of Sweden to introduce a modern administration. The county borders often trail the provincial borders, but for economical reasons the Crown often chose to make slight relocations to suit their purposes.

Function

In each county there is a County Administrative Board as well as a County Council.

The County Administrative Board, or Länsstyrelse, is appointed by the Government to coordinate administration with national political goals for the County. The County Council or landsting on the other hand is a regional government, i.e. a political assembly appointed by the electorate to deliberate on the municipal affairs of the County, primarily regarding the public health care system.

Map

With official county codes.


Counties of Sweden
Comparing with provinces of Sweden, one sees many similarities

Each county is further divided into municipalities (or kommuner). The existence of those are partly at the discretion of the county, but since 2004 their number has been 290, thus an average of 13.8 / county. See further Municipalities of Sweden.

History

Older subdivisions

The provinces of Sweden, or landskap, and the lands of Sweden, or landsdelar, lack political importance today but are common denominations culturally and historally.

Historically, the provinces were divisioned into three lands: Götaland, being southern and western Sweden; Svealand being eastern and south-eastern, and Norrland being the entire northern half. The two former referred to ancient tribes, and the third is a geographical reference. They are still commonly used as geographical references.

Österland

After the Finnish War, Sweden was forced to cede the counties in Österland, current day Finland, to Russia following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in (1809). However, the counties was upheld in Finland until a reform in 1997. They are still in use in Sweden, 370 years hence.

The counties in current-day Finland established in 1634 were: Åbo and Björneborg County, Nyland and Tavastehus County, Viborg and Nyslott County, Österbotten County and Kexholm County. Over time the number of subdivisions in Finland increased to twelve, until a reorganization in 1997 reduced their numbers to six provinces, while keeping the administrative model intact.

Abolished counties

Abolished counties in current day Sweden proper are:

Riksområden

The European Union is divided into a Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics where the counties in Sweden correspond the third level of division. For the purpose of creating regions corresponding to the second level, counties has been grouped into eight SE, or National Areas: Stockholm, East Middle Sweden, North Middle Sweden, Middle Norrland, Upper Norrland, Småland and the islands, West Sweden and South Sweden.

Future regions?

The Swedish government is investigating the possibilities of merging the current 21 counties into circa 9 larger regions along the lines of the current riksområden used for statistical purposes. If approved, these would come into effect around 2015. Ansvarskommittén is, by the account of the Swedish government, investigating the possibilities of merging the counties into larger regions. On September 23, 2005 they have this suggestion on the agenda:

According to this proposal, the county of Halland would be abolished altogether and divided between three of the new regions, which has been met with protests from people living in Halland.

See also

External links

Lists of subnational entities | Counties of Sweden

Административно деление на Швеция | Švedske pokrajine | Län | Län | Organización territorial de Suecia | Comtés de la Suède | 스웨덴의 행정 구역 | Län | スウェーデンの県 | Sveriges len | Len i Sverige | Län | Subdivisões da Suécia | Административное деление Швеции | Регије у Шведској | Län i Sverige

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Counties of Sweden".

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