This is a list of cities in modern Sweden that once enjoyed city privileges, thus were entitled to call themselves

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

(, plural ). The year indicates the year they were established or when they were granted a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

. The list does not include towns in Finland established during Swedish rule.

Overview

Legally and administratively, the term is not used in Sweden since the municipal reform of 1971, when the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

(''kommun'') became the only existing form of local government. Before the reform there were 132 urban centres (133 to 1966) that had the title of . The urban centres of these municipalities are still called in daily speech and 14 of the municipalities have chosen to continue to call themselves in marketing situations, although several of them now encompass large rural areas following the merger of Swedish municipalities in the 1970s and 1980s. These 14 are:

Borås Municipality Borås Municipality () is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Borås. In 1971 the ''City of Borås'' was made a municipality (''kommun'') when the unitary type of local government unit ...

Gothenburg Municipality Gothenburg Municipality ( or ) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Gothenburg. When the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863 the City of Gothenburg, founde ...

Haparanda Municipality Haparanda Municipality (; Meänkieli and Finnish: ''Haaparannan kunta'') is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Haparanda (). In 1967 the "City of Haparanda" was merged with the rural municipalities Ka ...

, Helsingborg Municipality, Landskrona Municipality,

Lidingö Municipality Lidingö Municipality (, semi-officially ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality east of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located on the island of Lidingö. The municipality is a part of Metropolitan Stockh ...

Malmö Municipality Malmö Municipality (), or City of Malmö (''Malmö stad''), is a Swedish municipality in Skåne County, the southernmost of the counties of Sweden (and conterminous with the historical province (''landskap'') of Scania). The central city is ...

Mölndal Municipality Mölndal Municipality (, semi-officially ) is a municipality in Västra Götaland in western Sweden, just south of Gothenburg. Its seat is located in Mölndal, which lies within the Gothenburg urban area, and the whole municipality is part of ...

Solna Municipality Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockh ...

Stockholm Municipality Stockholm Municipality () or the City of Stockholm () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It has the largest population of the 290 municipalities of the country, but one of the smallest areas, making it the second most ...

Sundbyberg Municipality Sundbyberg Municipality ( or ''Sundbybergs stad'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, just north of the capital Stockholm. Sundbyberg is wholly within the Stockholm urban area and has a 100% urban population. Sundbybe ...

Trollhättan Municipality Trollhättan Municipality (, semi-officially ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the stad (Sweden), city of Trollhättan. The municipality was created gradually in 19 ...

Vaxholm Municipality Vaxholm Municipality (, semi-officially ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The municipal slogan is "Vaxholm – the capital of the archipelago", due to its central location in the archipelago. Its seat is located ...

and Västerås Municipality. The decision to call themselves has been taken purely for image and marketing reasons. In legal situations the word ''kommun'' (municipality) must be included in the municipality's name and governmental authorities will only refer to them by their legal names.

List

Notes

# Skanör and Falsterbo were joined together administratively in 1754 by the name Skanör med Falsterbo; they merged into a single urban area in the 1960s, still keeping their separate identities as two towns.

Today

Most of the former towns are today urban centres ('' tätorter'') and seats of their municipalities. Two seats/former towns and municipalities have a different name: Djursholm is the seat of Danderyd Municipality and

Visby Visby () is an urban areas in Sweden, urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic League, ...

is the seat of

Gotland Municipality Region Gotland, legally Gotlands kommun ('), is a municipality with regional responsibilities that covers the entire island of Gotland in Sweden. The city of Visby is the municipality's seat. Gotland Municipality is the 39th most populous municip ...

. A number of suburban towns have grown together with neighbours and are nowadays seldom considered as separate towns: * Huskvarna (part of

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, 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 o ...

) * Mölndal (part of Gothenburg urban area) * Djursholm,

Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mi ...

Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna i ...

Sundbyberg Sundbyberg Municipality ( or ''Sundbybergs stad'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, just north of the capital Stockholm. Sundbyberg is wholly within the Stockholm urban area and has a 100% urban population. Sundbybe ...

(part of

Stockholm urban area The Stockholm urban area () is the largest and most populous of the statistical localities or urban areas in Sweden. It has no administrative function of its own, but constitutes a continuous built-up area, which extends into 11 municipalities in ...

) *

Lidingö Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 48,162. It is the ...

(separated from Stockholm by water, but anyhow often counted to its urban area although according to

Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( ; SCB, ) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsibilities include: * developin ...

, Lidingö is an urban area of its own) The following are not seats of their municipalities: *

Gränna Gränna () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Jönköping Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden with 2,665 inhabitants in 2018. Founded in 1652 by Count Per Brahe the Younger, Per Brahe, it is in Småland on the eastern shores of the lake ...

and Huskvarna (in Jönköping Municipality) *

Mariefred Mariefred is a locality situated in Strängnäs Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 7,121 inhabitants in 2023. The name is derived from that of the former Carthusian monastery in the city, Mariefred Charterhouse, and means "Peace ...

(in

Strängnäs Municipality Strängnäs Municipality () is a municipality in Södermanland County in eastern Sweden, located by Lake Mälaren. Its seat is located in the city of Strängnäs. The present municipality was created in 1971, when the ''City of Strängnäs'' wa ...

) *

Marstrand Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for histo ...

(in

Kungälv Municipality Kungälv Municipality () is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Kungälv. It is the 50th largest municipality in Sweden by population size, which exceeded 50 000 during May 2024. The pr ...

) *

Sigtuna Sigtuna is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in the eponymous Sigtuna Municipality, in Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,689 inhabitants in 2020. It is the namesake even though the seat of the municipality is in another locality, Märsta. S ...

(in

Sigtuna Municipality Sigtuna Municipality () is a municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Märsta, approximately north of the Swedish capital, Stockholm. The municipality is a part of Metropolitan Stockholm. The municipality c ...

where the seat is Märsta) * Skanör med Falsterbo (in Vellinge Municipality) * Skänninge (in

Mjölby Municipality Mjölby Municipality () is a municipality in Östergötland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Mjölby, with some 13,000 inhabitants.

) *

Torshälla Torshälla () is a locality situated in Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 7,612 inhabitants in 2010. It is mainly known for steel manufacturing, centered on the Nyby Bruk steel mill, and also for its historic old town ce ...

(in

Eskilstuna Municipality Eskilstuna Municipality () is a municipality in Södermanland County in southeast Sweden, between Lake Mälaren and Lake Hjälmaren. The seat of the municipality is in the city of Eskilstuna. The present municipality was formed in 1971 by the m ...

) *

Öregrund Öregrund is a locality situated in Östhammar Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden. As of 2010, it had 1,555 inhabitants. It is located by the Baltic Sea, on the coast of Uppland. Despite its small population, Öregrund is still commonly referre ...

(in

Östhammar Municipality Östhammar Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city status in Sweden, city of Östhammar. The present municipality was created during the local governmen ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:List of cities in Sweden *

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...