Säffle Municipality

Infobox_Kommun2
fullname=Säffle kommun


county=Värmland County
province=Värmland and Dalsland
capital=Säffle


arearank=37th
area=2,512.49
arealand=1,220.68
populationrank=138th
population=15,973
densityrank=214th
populationdensity=13.1
website=http://www.saffle.se/
footnotes=Area & population from SCB as of December 31, 2006

Säffle Municipality ("Säffle kommun") is a municipality in Värmland County in west central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Säffle.

Säffle was the last local government unit in Sweden to get the title of a city, in 1951. In 1952 the system with different types of municipalities was made obsolete, but it formally existed until 1971. The present municipality was created in that year, when the city was amalgamated with the surrounding rural municipalities.

The municipality covers a peninsula in Lake Vänern (Värmlandsnäs), and has a large fresh water archipelago.

Värmlandsnäs

Värmlandsnäs, also called Näset, is a big and important part of the municipality. The area which reaches out into the middle of Lake Vänern as a big peninsula is very significant to the economy by the produce of pork. The area supplies more than 200,000 people with pork.

Näset also has a wonderful archipelago on the east side. The boat people talk very well of Millesvik Archipelago ("Millesviks skärgård"), which also has a lot of old runestones and other ancient monuments.

From Ekenäs harbor you can take the tourist boat to Lurö, a small island in Lake Vänern. At Lurö you can dine and stay over night.

Many people who visit Värmlandsnäs in the summer wants to take a swim in Lake Vänern. The opportunities are plenty and good. At Ekenäs you will find a very nice bathing place. From this place you can almost walk all the way out to Lurö. Other popular bathing places are Ekôrn and the bathing place at Örud near Örö harbor ("Örö hamn").

ome interesting stories from Värmlandsnäs

When Sweden was a poor country and the gold rush started in America a lot of Swedes emigrated to America, it even started a long time before that era. A genealogist has found out that one of the most famous actors in America, Julia Roberts, has her roots in Värmlandsnäs.

The next story is a modern fairy tale and the person is still alive and all of it is true:

An emigrated brother visited his brother in Gaperhult, Värmlandsnäs, and felt bad for his old brother who had to drive on a bad road every time he had to buy something. He decided to do something for his brother and when he got back home to America he donated $1,000,000 to build a new road for his brother and the people who live in Värmlandsnäs. The next year he visited his brother and they could take a trip on the new road "Dollarvägen" (Dollar Road).

Localities

*Säffle, pop. 9,500 (seat)
*Värmlandsbro, 630
*Svanskog, ca 600
*Nysäter, ca 200

Politics

The municipal commissioner of Säffle Municipality is Daniel Bäckström and he was elected in 2006. He represents the Centre Party.

External links

* [http://www.saffle.se Säffle Municipality] - Official site