The counties of Sweden () are the first-level administrative subdivisions of Sweden. There are twenty-one counties; however, the number of counties has varied over time, due to territorial changes and to divisions or mergers of existing counties. They are ''not'' regarded as geographical areas by Swedes as they are not connected to dialects or identity, which is a role fulfilled by the historical

provinces of Sweden The 25 provinces of Sweden () are historical, geographical and cultural regions. They have no administrative function, but retain their own cultural identities, dialects and folklore. Several were administrative subdivisions until 1634, when t ...

(). This level of administrative unit was first established in the 1634 Instrument of Government on

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

Count Axel Oxenstierna's initiative, and superseded the landskap, in order to introduce a more efficient administration of the realm. At that time, they were what the translation of ''län'' into English literally means:

fiefdom A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s. The county borders often follow the provincial borders, but

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

often chose to make slight relocations to suit its purposes. In every county there is a county administrative board (''länsstyrelse'') headed by a governor ('' landshövding''), appointed by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, as well as a separate regional council (''region''). In the county of

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

however, the county's only municipality has adopted regional responsibilities. The aims of the county administrative board are to supervise local state administration (that is not otherwise assigned to other government agencies), and to coordinate political goals with the central government. The regional council is the elected regional political assembly that oversees the municipal affairs of the county, primarily in regard to

public healthcare Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are se ...

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

, and culture. Beginning in the 2000s, many major government agencies have reorganised from a county-based subdivisional structure into larger geographical or functional areas. This include the

Swedish Tax Agency The Swedish Tax Agency () is a government agencies in Sweden, government agency in Sweden responsible for national tax collection and administering the Population registration in Sweden, population registration. The agency was formed on 1 January ...

(1 January 2004), the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (1 January 2005), the Swedish Public Employment Service (1 January 2008), and the Swedish Police Authority (1 January 2015).

List of counties

Map

With county codes, which were official until 1974. *AB: Stockholm County *C: Uppsala County *D:

Södermanland County Södermanland County (, ) is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' on the southeast coast of Sweden. In the local Sörmlandic dialects it is virtually universally shortened and pronounced as Sörmlands län, or simply Sörmland, which is the ...

*E:

Östergötland County Östergötland County () is a county or '' län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the northeast. It also has a ...

*F: Jönköping County *G:

Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; ) 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 the city of V ...

*H: Kalmar County *I: Gotland County *K:

Blekinge County Blekinge County () is a county or '' län'' in the south of Sweden. It borders the Counties of Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden ...

*M:

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

*N:

Halland County Halland County (, ) is a county ('' län'') on the western coast of Sweden. It corresponds roughly to the cultural and historical province of Halland. The capital is Halmstad. Prince Julian, the son of Prince Carl Philip, is Duke of Halland. ...

*O:

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County () is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1,616,000 amounts to 17% of S ...

*S: Värmland County *T: Örebro County *U: Västmanland County *W: Dalarna County *X:

Gävleborg County Gävleborg County () is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders the counties of Uppsala County, Uppsala, Västmanland County, Västmanland, Dalarna County, Dalarna, Jämtland County, Jämtland and V� ...

*Y: Västernorrland County *Z: Jämtland County *AC: Västerbotten County *BD:

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County (, Meänkieli/, ) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders with Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf ...

Each county region contains a number of

municipalities 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' ...

(), the existence of which is partly at the discretion of the central government. Since 2004 their number has been 290, thus an average of 13.8 municipalities per county. Until 1968, the City of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

had its own "county code" A, which is still used interchangeably with AB in some contexts, and County of Stockholm had county code B. L was for Kristianstad County and M was for Malmöhus County but since they were merged to form

, M is usually used. O used to stand for Gothenburg and Bohus County but has been used for

since it was merged with Skaraborg County (R) and Älvsborg County (P).

History

Older subdivisions

Sweden's

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

, or ''landskap'', and the "lands", or ''landsdelar'', lack political importance today but are common denominations culturally and historically. The provinces had their own laws and justice systems and could have large cultural and religious differences. The province of

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

(literally ''small land'') historically was several provinces with its own laws. Here burial tradition in the era before the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

could differ significantly from province to province. The province of Norrbotten is a relatively recent creation; it was part of Västerbotten which extended all the way to Österbotten in today's

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

before 1809. Finnish and Swedish Lapland formed a single province until 1809. Historically, the provinces were grouped in three lands:

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...

, being southern and western Sweden;

Svealand Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south-central Sweden and is one of the three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tive ...

being eastern and south-eastern, and Norrland being the entire northern half. The names of the first two refer to ancient tribes, and the third is a geographical reference. They are still commonly used as geographical references. The boundaries have changed over time, with the most significant in 1658 (the cession of provinces from Denmark-Norway to Sweden) and 1812 (due to the loss of Finland to Russia in 1809). In 1812, some provinces were moved from

Finland

After the

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

, Sweden was forced to cede the counties in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in (1809). However, the counties were upheld in Finland until a

reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

in 1997. They are still in use in Sweden, 370 years later. The counties in Finland established in 1634 were: Turku and Pori County, Nyland and Tavastehus County, Viborg and Nyslott County, Ostrobothnia County and Kexholm County. Over time the number of subdivisions in Finland increased to twelve, until a reorganization in 1997 reduced their number to six

, while keeping the administrative model intact. The counties in Finland were abolished in 2010.

Abolished counties

Abolished counties in current-day Sweden proper were: * Skaraborg County + Gothenburg and Bohus County + Älvsborg County (merged as

in 1998) * Kopparberg County (became Dalarna County in 1997) * Malmöhus County + Kristianstad County (merged as

in 1997) * Norrland County (in 1645 divided into Västerbotten County, Hudiksvall County and Härnösand County) * Nyköping County, Gripsholm County and Eskilstunahus County (united in 1683 to become

) * Närke and Värmland County (became Örebro County) * Härnösand County (1645–1654, formed Västernorrland County) * Hudiksvall County (1645–1654, formed

) * Office of the Governor of Stockholm (1634–1967, united with Stockholm County) * Svartsjö County (1786–1809, united with Stockholm County) * Öland County (1819–1826, united with Kalmar County) Counties in Swedish-ruled

were: * Turku and Pori County (1634–1809) * Nyland and Tavastehus County (1634–1809) * Ostrobothnia County (1634–1775) * Viborg and Nyslott County (1634–1721) * Kexholm County (1634–1721) * Kymmenegård and Nyslott County (1721–1747) * Savolax and Kymmenegård County (1747–1775) * Vasa County (1775–1809) * Oulu County (1775–1809) * Kymmenegård County (1775–1809) * Savolax and Karelia County (1775–1809)

Proposed regions

Under the aegis of the Swedish government, ''Ansvarskommittén'' has been investigating the possibilities of merging the current 21 counties into 6 to 9 larger regions. These proposals are from their final report, delivered in 2007: # ''Norra Sverige'':

+ Västerbotten County + Jämtland County + Västernorrland County + Nordanstig and Hudiksvall # ''Bergslagen'': the rest of

+ Dalarna County + Örebro County + Värmland County # ''Mälardalen'': Stockholm County + Uppsala County +

+ Västmanland County + Gotland County # ''Västra Götaland'':

# ''Östra Götaland'':

+ Jönköping County +

+ Kalmar County # ''Södra Götaland'':

# ''Norra Sverige'':

+ Västerbotten County +

Örnsköldsvik Örnsköldsvik (; ), often shortened to just Ö-vik, is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017. Its natural harbour and archipelago is in th ...

# ''Mellannorrland'': Jämtland County + Västernorrland County (except Örnsköldsvik) + Nordanstig and Hudiksvall # ''Dalarna-Gävleborg'': Dalarna County +

(except Nordanstig and Hudiksvall) # ''Västra Svealand'': Värmland County + Örebro County # ''Mälardalen'': Stockholm County + Uppsala County +

+ Västmanland County + Gotland County # ''Västra Götaland'':

# ''Östergötland'':

+ Västervik # ''Småland'': Jönköping County +

+ Kalmar County (except Västervik) # ''Södra Götaland'':

A model for this comes from the merger of some counties into

and

in 1997 and 1998, respectively, which is now considered a success. The counties are discussing the proposal. An obstacle is that Stockholm County does not want to merge with any other county, while its neighbours want to merge with Stockholm. After this discussion the following proposal has in 2016 emerged: # Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Västernorrland and Jämtland county # Dalarna, Gävleborgs, Södermanlands, Uppsala, Västmanland and Örebro county # Östergötland, Jönköping, Kalmar and Kronoberg county # Gotland and Stockholm county # Halland, Värmland and Västra Götaland county # Blekinge and Skåne county The main difference is that the proposed Bergslagen is divided to other counties, and Stockholm is on its own (plus the small Gotland which has air connections to Stockholm)

Riksområden

The counties in Sweden correspond to the third level of division in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's system of

Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS () is a geocode standard for referencing the administrative divisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003, is developed and regulated by the European ...

. For the purpose of creating regions corresponding to the second level, counties have been grouped into eight Riksområden, or ''National Areas'':

, East Middle Sweden, North Middle Sweden, Middle Norrland, Upper Norrland, Småland and the islands, West Sweden and South Sweden.

References

External links

The Swedish County administrative boardsOfficial site of the Swedish government
{{DEFAULTSORT:Counties of Sweden Administrative divisions of Sweden

Counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Sweden 1 Counties, Sweden