''Köping'' was a Swedish denomination for a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

since

the Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, derived from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

word ''

kaupang Kaupang was a Norse term for ''market-place'' composed of kaup- (buy) and angr (fjord, harbor), hence "buy fjord" or "buy harbor" (similar to the literal translation of Copenhagen). Today, it is generally used as a name of the first town-like m ...

''. The designation was officially abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

was subdivided into the

Municipalities of Sweden The municipalities of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges kommuner) are its lower-level local government entities. There are 290 municipalities which are responsible for a large proportion of local services, including schools, emergency services and physica ...

(currently amounting to 290). As present-day

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Both ...

was once a part of Sweden, the Finnish word ''kauppala'' has the same meaning. In modern Finnish, the word ''kaupunki'', borrowed from the Old Norse word ''kaupang'', is the main word for town and city. Swedish ''köping'' and the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

''chipping'' are also

cognates In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical ef ...

as is the Norwegian word ''

kjøpstad A (historically: ''kjøbstad'', ''kjöbstad'', or ''kaupstad'') is an old Scandinavian term for a "market town" that was used in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway for several hundred years. The name comes from the on, kaupstaðr. Kjøpstads were ...

'' and the Danish toponymical suffix '' -købing''.

Sweden

History

In 1863 the first

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

acts were implemented in Sweden. There were two acts, one for

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

and one for rural areas. Of the around 2,500 municipalities, 89 had

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

and thus had the right to call themselves ''stad'' (city). Under the "rural" act there were also eight localities given the status of ''köping'', which positioned them between a rural municipality and a town (see

municipalköping Municipalköping was a type of local government (municipality) in Sweden. Mostly these were minor trade towns with very limited city rights (market rights), which were delegated from larger cities in the same region. In 1863 the first local gover ...

). The number of localities designated as ''köping'' rose dramatically during the 20th century and reached its peak in 1959, when they were 95. Many new settlements during the industrialization of Sweden, as well as some of the suburbs in the metropolitan areas, first received the title of ''köping'' and it was also made part of their name (such as Linköping or Nyköping). They later grew further and received town privileges, but kept the ''köping'' ending of their names. See the list below. It has been found that a vast majority, nearly 70%, of such designated market-towns lie within an area of in south-central Sweden, especially in the highly economically productive region immediately west and south of Stockholm, in

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanl ...

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and h ...

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English lit ...

, and

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipal ...

counties. A large-scale merger of Swedish municipalities in 1971 removed the distinctions between towns, market towns and rural municipalities. Many of the former market towns are now seats of municipalities. In contrast to the term ''stad'', ''köping'' is seldom used in everyday speech today.

Toponyms containing the word ''köping''

Municipal Seats

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Churc ...

(104,232 inhabitants) *

(89,396) *

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

(87,247) *

Nyköping Nyköping () is a locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the southern shore of the ...

(29,891) *

Lidköping Lidköping () is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 40 000 inhabitants in 2021. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidkö ...

(25,644) *

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of Swedi ...

(21,121) *

Köping ''Köping'' was a Swedish denomination for a market town since the Middle Ages, derived from the Old Norse word ''kaupang''. The designation was officially abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when Sweden was subdivided into the Muni ...

(17,743) *

Falköping Falköping is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,350 inhabitants in 2010. History The town of Falköping was first spoken of in the Icelandic ''Rimbegla'' (around 1100 A.D.), and ...

(16,350) *

Söderköping Söderköping is a locality and the seat of Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,992 inhabitants in 2010. Söderköping is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''town' ...

(6,992)

Minor Localities

Malmköping Malmköping is a locality situated in Flen Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 1,977 inhabitants in 2010. Malmköping is located about 15 kilometers north of the municipal seat Flen. It is a tourist attraction due to its many annual ...

(1,977) * Köpingsvik (599) * Äsköping (342)

Localities/Parishes in the Diocese of Lund

Löddeköpinge Löddeköpinge is the second-largest locality in Kävlinge Municipality, Scania County, Sweden, with 6,290 inhabitants as of 2010. Löddeköpinge is about 10 km southwest of the municipal seat Kävlinge and about 5 km from Barsebäck ...

(6,290) *

Hököpinge Hököpinge is a locality situated in Vellinge Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 1,105 inhabitants in 2010. It lies about 2 km north of Vellinge. The village contains mostly older buildings along small roads. However, in the villag ...

(1,105) *Dalköpinge *Kyrkoköpinge *Sireköpinge *Stora Köpinge :sv:Stora Köpinge socken

Köping titles issued 1863–1959

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koping Koping Former subdivisions of Sweden da:Flække