Lidingö Municipality (, semi-officially ) is a

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' ...

east 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 ...

in Stockholm County in east central

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 ...

. Its seat is located on the island of

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 ...

. The municipality is a part of

Metropolitan Stockholm Sweden has three metropolitan areas consisting of the areas surrounding the three largest cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. The statistics have been retrieved from Statistics Sweden and the statistics released on 10 November 2014. The off ...

. It is chiefly located on the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

, but also incorporates a few smaller islands in the surroundings, most notably the

Fjäderholmarna The Fjäderholmarna (English: Feather Islands) are a group of small islands in the Stockholm archipelago close to downtown Stockholm, Sweden. The Fjäderholmarna consist of the four named islands of Stora Fjäderholmen, Ängsholmen, Libertas and ...

islands within the

Stockholm archipelago The Stockholm Archipelago () is the largest archipelago in Sweden, and the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea (the largest being the Archipelago Sea across the Baltic in Finland). Part of the archipelago has been designated as a Rams ...

. Being an island municipality it has not been amalgamated with any other entities. The small island of Tranholmen has, however, been transferred to

Danderyd Municipality Danderyd Municipality (; ) is a municipality north of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is one of the smallest municipalities of Sweden, but the most affluent. Its seat is located in Djursholm and it is located within Stoc ...

. The rural municipality was made a market town (''

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 Munic ...

'') in 1910, a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in 1926 and a unitary municipality in 1971. The municipality always refers to itself as ''Lidingö stad'' ("''the City of Lidingö''"). This was a decision taken by the municipal assembly (

kommunfullmäktige A municipal council () is the decision-making body governing each of the 290 municipalities of Sweden. Though the Swedish Local Government Act () uses the term "municipal assembly" in an English translation of the Act, "municipal council" and even ...

) in 1992.

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

, was born in Lidingö on 4 August 1912.

Geography

The island

is connected to the city of

by the two bridges of

Lidingöbron Lidingöbron () is the name of two existing and three historical bridges across the strait of Lilla Värtan between the mainland Norra Djurgården at Ropsten, at the eastern part of Stockholm, and the island of Lidingö. History First pontoon ...

. One is for cars and one for the

Lidingöbanan Lidingöbanan () is a light-rail line in Stockholm, Sweden, between Ropsten and Gåshaga brygga, serving the southern half of Lidingö island. History The Lidingöbanan has its origins in the ''Stockholm-Södra Lidingöns Järnväg'' (Stockho ...

suburban tramway and pedestrians. The bridges lead directly to

Ropsten Ropsten is a cape at the eastern part of Stockholm mainland at the inner part of Stockholm archipelago in Sweden. Two bridges named Lidingöbron extend from Ropsten over to the island of Lidingö. Ropsten area is located between Hjorthagen and ...

, a station on the Stockholm Metro. Lidingö is for statistical purposes divided into three

localities Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

, Brevik and

Sticklinge udde Sticklinge udde is a locality situated in Lidingö Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 2,943 inhabitants in 2010. The locality corresponds to the northern part of Sticklinge Sticklinge is a small community outside Stockholm, Sweden on th ...

. Because of the

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

Lilla Värtan Lilla Värtan () or simply Värtan is a strait in Stockholm, Sweden. Separating mainland Stockholm from the island and municipality Lidingö, it stretches from Blockhusudden in the south to Stora Värtan in the north, and is joined by the Stocks ...

separating the island Lidingö from central

, Lidingö statistically is not counted as a part of Stockholm.

History

Lidingö traces its history to at least 600 BC, from when remains have been found. According to legend, Lidingö was a place where the

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

s would gather before setting sails to eastern areas, however no proof have been found to confirm that theory. When the city arms was to be chosen in 1928 a

Viking ship Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as being slender and flexi ...

became the motif, in the colors of the

Swedish flag The national flag of Sweden () consists of a yellow or gold Nordic cross (i.e. a horizontal cross extending to the edges, with the crossbar closer to the hoist than the fly) on a field of light blue. The Nordic cross design traditionally represe ...

. Lidingö was first mentioned in writing in 1328, called ''Lydhingö'' when the entire island and the farms were owned by Bo Johnsson Grip. On a map from 1661 the island is called ''Lijdingeöö''.

Economy

The island itself hosts very few industries, a relatively well-known one being

AGA AB AGA AB, previously ''AB Gasaccumulator'' and ''AB Svenska Gasaccumulator'', was a Swedish industrial gas company founded in 1904. Nobel Prize laureate Gustaf Dalén was an important part of the development of the company. Inventions included t ...

, which started production on the island in 1912. Much of the populated land area is built with one-family houses; a total of 36% of the population, or 17,020 people (2006), live in such house

and, to a large extent, commute to work in Stockholm or other municipalities of Greater Stockholm. There are also quite a number of conference mansions in the northern parts of the island, providing a part of the industry of Lidingö.

Demography

Population development

2022 population by district

This is a demographic table based on Lidingö Municipality's electoral districts in the

2022 Swedish general election General elections were held in Sweden on 11 September 2022 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag who in turn elected the Prime Minister of Sweden. Under the constitution, regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The pr ...

sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics. In total there were 35,877 Swedish citizens of voting age resident in the municipality. 36.8% voted for the left coalition and 62.2% for the right coalition. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.

Income and Education

Lidingö is one of the wealthiest municipalities in Sweden, with the fourth highest median

income per capita The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of under ...

. The share of highly educated persons, 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 ...

's definition: persons with post-secondary education that is three years or longer, is 46.0% – also the fourth highest in the country.

Residents with a foreign background

On 31 December 2017 the number of people with a foreign background (persons born outside of Sweden or with two parents born outside of Sweden) was 10 065, or 21.33% of the population (47 185 on 31 December 2017). On 31 December 2002 the number of residents with a foreign background was (per the same definition) 6 422, or 15.59% of the population (41 192 on 31 December 2002).Antal personer efter region, utländsk/svensk bakgrund och år
(Read 4 januari 2019) On 31 December 2017 there were 47 185 residents in Lidingö, of which 8 265 people (17.52%) were born in a country other than Sweden. Divided by country in the table below - the Nordic countries as well as the 12 most common countries of birth outside of Sweden for Swedish residents have been included, with other countries of birth bundled together by continent by

.Statistiska centralbyrån: Utrikes födda efter län, kommun och födelseland 31 december 2017
(XLS-fil) Läst 4 januari 2019

Politics

The island's politics has traditionally been dominated by the centre-right

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

. They currently run the municipality in coalition with the

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

and with the Lidingö Party. Chairman of the municipal executive board is Anna Rheyneuclaudes Kihlman from the

Election results

Major sporting events

Lidingöloppet Lidingöloppet is an annual cross country running competition held in Lidingö, Sweden. The 30 km run has about 15,000 participants per year and the shorter races several thousands, making it the largest cross-country event in the world.IAA" ...

, cross-country running, 30 km. *

Round Lidingö Race Round Lidingö Race (), is a one course sailboat race, counter clockwise round Lidingö Municipality in the inner part of Stockholm archipelago arranged by Lidingö Segelsällskap, and is held annually the second Saturday in May, the first one bei ...

, sailing race round Lidingö counter clockwise, 13,5 M

Culture

Millesgården Millesgården is an art museum and sculpture garden, located on the island of Lidingö in Stockholm, Sweden. It is located in the grounds of the former home of sculptor Carl Milles (1875–1955) and his wife, the artist Olga Milles (1874–1967). ...

is an art museum and sculpture garden, located on the island of Lidingö, created by

Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

and his wife Olga Milles.

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

In 1942, Lidingö created a committee to provide support for the people in

Lohja Lohja (; ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Lohja is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Lohja is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, munici ...

(Swedish: Lojo) in the southern part of

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, ...

who suffered badly during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. An

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

was opened in Lidingö and money was collected and sent to Lohja. The orphanage was closed in 1943 as most of the children then had returned to Finland. The money that was left over was used to provide food for the children in Lohja. Lidingö and Lohja still maintain a close relationship. Another sister city is

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...

. The initiative came from Alameda in 1959 and was part of U.S. President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

's people-to-people-movement. The purpose was to develop better understanding between people from different countries after World War II. Both Alameda and Lidingö are islands with a bridge connecting them to a big city. As the

Baltic countries The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

were liberated from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1990-1991, Lidingö looked for a new sister city in the area.

Saldus Saldus (; , ) is a Latvian town located in Courland () region of Latvia, and the largest town in Saldus Municipality. The name Saldus has been noted in historical sources as far back as the mid-13th century, but the founding year for the establis ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

was selected. During the years, a number of environmental, cultural and other projects have been accomplished. After the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Lidingö made a sister city deal in 2023 with

Slawuta Slavuta (, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Shepetivka Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast (Oblast, province) of western Ukraine, located on the Horyn River. The city is located approximately 80 km from the oblast capital, Khmelnytskyi, ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lidingo Municipality Municipalities of Stockholm County