Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömseb ...

, Västra Götaland, Östergötland,

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

and

Kronoberg Kronoberg County (; sv, Kronobergs län) is a county or ''län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the counties of Skåne, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, and Blekinge. Its capital is t ...

. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in September 2017. The capital and largest city is

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 Municipa ...

. About one quarter of the total county population lives in the combined Jönköping-Huskvarna urban area around the southern point of Lake Vättern.

Provinces and administrative history

Despite being commonly used to indicate the geographical, cultural and historical region, the larger historical

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

''(landskap)'' of Småland, which most of Jönköping County is part of, has no administrative or political significance today. Jönköping County has existed as an administrative division since the 17th century, and constitutes the north-western part of Småland, the other parts being Kronoberg County in the south-west and Kalmar County in the east. Jönköping County was periodically united with neighbouring Kronoberg County in the single Jönköping and Kronoberg County until 1687. Until the 18th century the administration was housed in the Renaissance fortress at Jönköping Castle, which was demolished in the 19th century; the former site of the castle is still the site of the County Administrative Board building and the Governor's residence. Habo Municipality and Mullsjö Municipality, from the south-eastern part of the historical province of

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

, are since the dissolution of

Skaraborg County Skaraborg County ( sv, Skaraborgs län ) was a county of Sweden from 1634 until 1997. It was disestablished at the end of 1997 when it was merged with the counties of Gothenburg and Bohus and Älvsborg to form Västra Götaland County. The count ...

in 1998 also part of Jönköping County; both municipalities joined Jönköping County as the results of local referendums in 1997.

Administration

The main aim of the

County Administrative Board A county administrative board ( sv, länsstyrelse) is a Swedish Government Agency in each of the counties of Sweden, led by a vice-regal governor ( sv, landshövding) appointed by the government for a term of six years. The lists of gubernatorial o ...

is to fulfill the goals set in national politics by the Riksdag and the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

, to coordinate the interests and promote the development of the county, to establish regional goals and safeguard the due process of law in the handling of each case. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a Governor. The seat of residence for the Governor or ''Landshövding'' is the city of

. See the list of Jönköping Governors.

Politics

The main responsibilities of the

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

of Jönköping, or ''Landstinget i Jönköpings län'', are the regional public healthcare system and

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

. The County Council Assembly ''(landstingsfullmäktige)'', which is the elected body for regional municipal issues, is elected every four years concurrently with the Riksdag elections. The county's best-known parliamentary representative was the late Olof Palme, leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to 1986, and twice

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are su ...

from 1969 to 1976 and from 1982 to 1986. Jönköping County is the strongest electoral region of the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

, who traditionally have a large following among members of evangelical churches in the region. The County Council Assembly and most of the municipalities in the county are governed by liberal-conservative, center-right coalitions. The

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

have historically been strong in mill towns and industrial districts of Jönköping County.

Current representation in the Riksdag (2018–2022)

Riksdag elections

The table details all Riksdag election results of Jönköping County since the unicameral era began in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

. The blocs denote which party would support the Prime Minister or the lead opposition party towards the end of the elected parliament.

Governor

The present ''acting'' Governor ''(landshövding)'' of Jönköping County is Anneli Wirtén.

Municipalities

Localities in order of size

The ten most populous localities of Jönköping County in 2020:

Foreign background

SCB have collected statistics on backgrounds of residents since 2002. These tables consist of all who have two foreign-born parents or are born abroad themselves. The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.

Heraldry

Jönköping County was formally granted its arms in 1942. By custom it used a combination of the lesser state arms of Sweden and the arms for the town of Jönköping. Blazon for the town of Jönköping: "Gules, a Castle with three towers Argent massoned windowed and gated Sable issuant from a Base wavy Azure".

References and notes

External links

County Administrative Board of Jönköping County Council of Jönköping Regional Development Council of Jönköping County
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonkoping County Counties of Sweden Småland Västergötland States and territories established in 1687 1687 establishments in Sweden