A County, or Län, is an administrative and political subdivision of Sweden. Sweden is divided into 21 counties, and in each county there is a County Administrative Board as well as a County Council. The County Administrative Board, or Länsstyrelse, is appointed by the Government to coordinate administration with national political goals for the County. The County Council on the other hand is a regional government, i.e. a political assembly appointed by the electorate to deliberate on the municipal affairs of the County, primarily regarding the public health care system.

List of counties

Each county is further divided into a total of 290 Municipalities or Kommuner (2004).

History

The Counties were established in 1634 on count Axel Oxenstierna's initiative, superseding the Provinces of Sweden to introduce a modern administration. The most significant change to the county system took place when Sweden, after the Finnish War, was forced to cede the Eastern counties to Russia in the Treaty of Fredrikshamn (1809). Despite this the county reform survived in Finland until a reform in 1997 and still survives in Sweden, 370 years hence.

The counties established in what is now Finland in 1634 were Åbo and Björneborg County, Nyland and Tavastehus County, Viborg and Nyslott County, Österbotten County and Kexholm County. Over time the number of subdivisions in Finland increased to twelve, until a reorganization in 1997reduced their number to six provinces, while keeping the administrative model intact.

Abolished counties in current day Sweden proper includes Gothenburg and Bohus County, Skaraborg County, Älvsborg County, Malmöhus County, Kristianstad County, Norrland County, Härnösand County, Hudiksvall County and Öland County.

Older subdivisions

The provinces of Sweden, or landskap, and the lands of Sweden, or landsdelar, lack political importance today but are culturally of great significance. The division into the lands of Götaland, Svealand and Norrland is commonly used as a geographical reference.

Riksområden

The European Union is divided into a Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), where the counties in Sweden correspond the third level of division. For the purpose of creating regions corresponding to the second level, counties has been grouped into eight Riksområden, or National Areas: Stockholm, East Middle Sweden, North Middle Sweden, Middle Norrland, Upper Norrland, Småland and the islands, West Sweden and South Sweden.

See also

• Government of Sweden

• Realm of Sweden
• Lands of Sweden
• Provinces of Sweden
• Dominions of Sweden
• Ranked list of Swedish counties

• ISO 3166-2 codes for Sweden

External links

• The Swedish County Administrative Boards
• Official site of the Swedish government