Skåne County

Infobox Län
name=Skåne
fullname=Skåne län
isocode=M
nutscode=044
capital=Malmö
province=Scania, Halland
governor=Göran Tunhammar
council=Skåne Regional Council
nuts=South Sweden
date=1998
arearank=10th
area=11,027 [http://www.sna.se/webbatlas/lan/skane.html Sveriges Nationalatlas. Retrived 2 April 2008]
areapercent=2.7
population_as_of=2004
populationrank=3rd
population=1,156,070
populationpercent=12.9
populationdensity=105.7
GDP_as_of=2004
GDPrank=3rd
GDP=278,254 Million| GDPpercapita=244,000| GDPpercent=11.85

Skåne County ("Skåne län") is the southernmost county or "län", of Sweden, basically corresponding to the historical province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronoberg and Blekinge. The seat of residence for the Skåne Governor is the town of Malmö. The headquarters of Region Skåne is the town of Kristianstad. [ [http://www.skane.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=54724 About Region Skåne] . Region Skåne. Retrieved 10 April 2008.]

The present county was created in 1997 when Kristianstad County and Malmöhus County were merged.

Skåne County covers around 3% of Sweden's total area, but its population of 1,200,000 comprises 13% of Sweden's total population.

Heraldry

The coat of arms for Skåne County is the same as for the province of Scania only with the tinctures reversed and the crown, beak and tongue of the Griffin in the same color. When the arms is shown with a royal crown it represents the County Administrative Board, which is the regional presence of (royal) government authority. Blazon: "Gules, a Griffin's head erased Or, crowned and armed the same".

Provinces

Skåne County is the administrative equivalent of the province of Scania, but it also includes an insignificant part of the province Halland.

Administration

The seat of residence for the Governor or "Landshövding" is the town of Malmö. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a Governor. See List of Skåne Governors.

The two administrative counties of the province of Scania, Kristianstad County and Malmöhus County, which were established in 1719 were merged together in 1997, forming the present county with boundaries that are almost identical to the boundaries of the province.

County council

Skåne Regional Council ("Region Skåne") is an evolved County Council. Its main responsibilities are for the public healthcare system and public transport. In addition, it has for a trial period assumed certain tasks from the County Administrative Board.

In 1999, a regional council ("Region Skåne" in Swedish) was established for the overall political organisation. Its county or regional assembly is the highest political body in the region and its members are elected by the Scanians themselvesRegion Skåne. [http://www.skane.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=43835 Democracy-Increased autonomy] . Official site. Retrieved 24 August 2007.] , as opposed to the county administrative council that guards the interest of the state in the region under the chairmanship of the county governor ("landshövding" in Swedish).

Municipalities

Skåne County is subdivided into 33 municipalities [Region Skåne. [http://www.skane.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=56606 Municipalities in Skåne] . Official site. Retrieved 24 August 2007.] ("kommuner" in Swedish), the largest being Malmö Municipality (280,000 inhabitants), Helsingborg Municipality (124,000), Lund Municipality (103,000 inhabitants) and Kristianstad Municipality (75,000 inhabitants). The municipalities have municipal governments, similar to city commissions, and are further divided into parishes. The parish division is traditionally used by the Church of Sweden, but also serves as a divisioning measure for Swedish census and elections.

Bjuv Bromölla Burlöv Båstad Eslöv Helsingborg Hässleholm [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A4ssleholm] Höganäs Hörby Höör Klippan

Kristianstad Kävlinge Landskrona Lomma Lund Malmö Osby Perstorp Simrishamn Sjöbo Skurup

Staffanstorp Svalöv Svedala Tomelilla Trelleborg Vellinge Ystad Åstorp Ängelholm Örkelljunga Östra Göinge

Localities in order of size

Below is a list of localities (tätorter) in Skåne County with a population greater than 2,000 (as of 2000). In those cases when municipal borders cross through a town, it's counted to the municipality the largest part belongs to. Municipalities are noted in parenthesis, except when the municipality carry the name of the town.

# Malmö & Arlöv¹, 248,520
# Helsingborg, 87,914
# Lund, 73,840
# Kristianstad, 31,592
# Landskrona, 27,393
# Trelleborg, 24,850
# Ängelholm, 21,716
# Hässleholm, 17,289
# Ystad, 16,851
# Eslöv, 15,521
# Staffanstorp², 13,596
# Höganäs, 13,401
# Höllviken², 9,387 (Vellinge Municipality)
# Oxie², 9,242 (Malmö Municipality)
# Svedala, 9,085
# Åhus, 8,681 (Kristianstad Municipality)
# Bjärred², 8,374 (Lomma Municipality)
# Lomma², 8,373
# Åstorp, 8,007
# Kävlinge², 8,006
# Klippan, 7,402
# Bromölla, 7,333
# Höör², 7,176
# Skanör² & Falsterbo², 7,087 (Vellinge Municipality)
# Osby, 6,903
# Skurup, 6,615
# Hörby, 6,421
# Simrishamn, 6,319
# Sjöbo, 6,270
# Bjuv, 6,228
# Vellinge², 5,973
# Tomelilla, 5,946
# Södra Sandby², 5,586 (Lund Municipality)
# Dalby², 5,469 (Lund Municipality)
# Åkarp², 5,339 (Burlöv Municipality)
# Perstorp, 5,321
# Löddeköpinge², 5,173 (Kävlinge Municipality)
# Bunkeflostrand², 5,114 (Malmö Municipality)
# Ödåkra, 4,839 (Helsingborg Municipality)
# Båstad, 4,683
# Tyringe, 4,606 (Hässleholm Municipality)
# Örkelljunga, 4,416
# Rydebäck², 4,287 (Helsingborg Municipality)
# Vinslöv, 3,818 (Hässleholm Municipality)
# Hittarp², 3,664 (Helsingborg Municipality)
# Veberöd², 3,569 (Lund Municipality)
# Furulund², 3,517 (Kävlinge Municipality)
# Hjärup², 3,402 (Staffanstorp Municipality)
# Bara², 3,289 (Svedala Municipality)
# Viken, 3,269 (Höganäs Municipality)
# Tollarp, 3,174 (Kristianstad Municipality)
# Knislinge, 3,130 (Östra Göinge Municipality)
# Svalöv, 3,071
# Ekeby, 2,983 (Bjuv Municipality)
# Broby, 2,955 (Östra Göinge Municipality)
# Hofterup², 2,931 (Kävlinge Municipality)
# Vejbystrand, 2,714 (Ängelholm Municipality)
# Munka-Ljungby, 2,702 (Ängelholm Municipality)
# Billesholm, 2,688 (Bjuv Municipality)
# Bårslöv², 2,664 (Helsingborg Municipality)
# Påarp², 2,652 (Helsingborg Municipality)
# Bjärnum, 2,636 (Hässleholm Municipality)
# Genarp², 2,512 (Lund Municipality)
# Häljarp², 2,511 (Landskrona Municipality)
# Ljunghusen², 2,253 (Vellinge Municipality)
# Förslöv, 2,058 (Båstad Municipality)

Notes
¹/ Arlöv is the center of the Burlöv Municipality, but as Arlöv constitutes a conurbation with Malmö, Arlöv is in this table counted as a neighbourhood of Malmö.
²/ Today chiefly detached house suburbs within the West-Scanian metropolitan area reaching from Mölle in the North-West to Ystad in the South-East.

References

External links

* [http://www.m.lst.se/ Skåne County Administrative Board]
* [http://www.skane.se/ Skåne Regional Council]