Gotland County

Infobox Län
name=Gotland
fullname=Gotlands län
isocode=I
nutscode=094
capital=Visby
province=Gotland
governor=Marianne Samuelsson
council=Gotland Municipality
nuts=Småland and the islands
date=1658
arearank=20th
area=3,140
areapercent=0.8
population_as_of=1999
populationrank=21st
population=57,428
populationpercent=0.6
populationdensity=18.3
GDP_as_of=2004
GDPrank=21st
GDP=12,154 Million| GDPpercapita=212,000| GDPpercent=0.52

Gotland County ("Gotlands län") is a county or "län" of Sweden. Gotland is located in the Baltic sea to the east of Öland, and is the largest of Sweden's islands. Counties are usually sub-divided into municipalities, but Gotland County only consists of one municipality: Gotland Municipality. The difference between the two are only at an administrative level, as the county council and municipal council serve different tasks. Both have their seat in the largest city Visby, with 22,000 inhabitants.

Province

Sweden's counties are mainly administrative units, used for inhabitant figures, politics, etc. For the culture and history of the island, see article Gotland. In this case the province, the county and the municipality all have identical borders.

Administration

The main aim of the County Administrative Board is to fulfil the goals set in national politics by the Parliament and the Government, 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. See List of Gotland Governors.

Gotland is the only Swedish county that does not have a county council, as well as having only one municipality and one area code.

Politics

"Main article: Gotland Municipality"

The County of Gotland consists of a single municipality and as there is no separate entity for a County Council, those tasks are handled by the municipality. During a trial period the County Council provisions for Gotland has been evolved to provisions for a Regional Council, meaning that it has assumed certain tasks from the County Administrative Board. Similar provisions are applicable to the counties of Västra Götaland and Skåne during the trial period.

Heraldry

Gotland County inherited its coat of arms from the province of Gotland. When it is shown with a royal crown it represents the County Administrative Board.

External links

* [http://www.i.lst.se/ Gotland County Administrative Board]
* [http://www.gotland.se/ Gotland Municipality]