Municipalities of Sweden

The Municipalities of Sweden (kommun) represent the local level of self government in Sweden. The current 290 municipalities form sub-divisions to the 21 Counties of Sweden (Län).

Foundation

The basic regulation of Swedish municipalities can be found in the Local Government Act of 1991. It specifies several responsibilities for the municipalities, and provides outlines for local government, such as the process for electing the municipal assembly. It also regulates a process (laglighetsprövning, "legality trial") through which any citizen can appeal the decisions of the local government to a county administrative court.

Municipal government in Sweden is similar to city commission government. A municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) of between 31 and 101 members is elected by party-list proportional representation at municipal elections, held every four years in conjunction with the national parliamentary elections. The municipal assembly in turn elects an executive committee (kommunstyrelse) from its members. The executive committee is headed by the chairman of the committee (kommunstyrelsens ordförande).

History

In the middle of the 20th century several municipal reforms were implemented, which successively and drastically reduced their numbers.

The last major reforms in 1971-1974 removed the remaining differences in government and privileges between cities and countryside municipalities, consolidated cities and countryside municipalities into larger municipalities, and abolished the formal term stad (city) altogether. At that last reform the number of municipalities was decreased from around 1,000 to 278. A few municipalities have subsequently been divided.

The cities often trace their history back several centuries, and are still colloquially referred to as cities. Some municipalities use the term "City" (Swedish: Stad) when referring to themselves, a practice adopted by the largest municipalities Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. 13 municipalities altogether have made this choice, which is unofficial and has no effect on the administrative status of the municipality.

Sub-division

Municipalities are further divided into boroughs (stadsdelsnämnder alt. kommundelsnämnder). The existence of such divisions are at the discretion of the municipality.

The municipalities are also divided into a total of 2,512 parishes, or församlingar (2000). These have traditionally been used as a divisioning measure by the Church of Sweden, but still have importance for census and elections.

Regulations

The municipality decides whether a borough is allowed to secede and form a separate municipality. However, the question of whether a new municipality will be created is at the discretion of the central Swedish Government. It is recommended that the lower limit of a municipality be 2,000 inhabitants.

Duties

According to law, the municipalities are responsible for:

Social service
care and custody of elders, disable, etc.
childcare and pre-school
The public school system for children
Structure and building issues
Health and environment issues
Sanitations and waste disposal
Rescue service
Water and drainage
Order and safety

All other activities are voluntary, for instance:

Leisure activities (e.g. for youths)
Culture (apart from a public library, which is mandatory)
Housing
Power and energy
Industry and commerce

The voluntary activities enables municipalities to distinguish themselves as the means of attracting inhabitants.

Geographical boundaries

The municipalities in Sweden cover the entire territory of the nation. Unlike the USA or Canada, there are no unincorporated areas. The municipalities in the north cover large areas of sparsely populated land. Kiruna, at 19 446 km², is sometimes held to be the world's largest "city" by area (although places like La Tuque, Quebec and Wood Buffalo, Alberta can be argued as larger). At any rate, several northern municipalities are larger than many counties in the more densely populated southern part of the country.

External links

Swedish Association of Local Authorities - Official site
The Local Government Act in English translation (pdf)
Swedish Government - Official site

Municipalities of Sweden | Municipalities

Gemeinde (Schweden) | Communes de la Suède | Sveriges kommuner

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