Karlstad Municipality

Karlstad Municipality Karlstads kommun
Municipality
Coat of arms
Country	Sweden
County	Värmland County
Seat	Karlstad
Area[1]
• Total	1,517.74 km^2 (586.00 sq mi)
• Land	1,169.11 km^2 (451.40 sq mi)
• Water	348.63 km^2 (134.61 sq mi)
	Area as of January 1, 2014.
Population (December 31, 2015)[2]
• Total	89,245
• Density	59/km^2 (150/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	SE
Province	Värmland
Municipal code	1780
Website	www.karlstad.se

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

The present municipality was established in 1971 when the former City of Karlstad was amalgamated with a number of surrounding rural municipalities.

Localities

• Alster
• Blombacka
• Karlstad (seat)
• Molkom
• Skattkärr
• Slängserud
• Vallargärdet
• Väse

Politics

Karlstad municipal library, and facilities for the municipal government.

Municipalities are responsible for government-mandated duties, and elections for the Municipal council are held every four years, parallel to the general elections.

The inhabitants of Karlstad have a tendency to vote close to the national results at the general elections, making it the generally accepted Bellwether town of Sweden.^[3][4]

Following the municipal election in 2010, the seats are divided as follows:^[5]

The Governing Majority	The Opposition	Independent parties
The Moderate Party 17 The Liberal People's Party 4 The Centre Party 3 The Christian Democrats 4	The Social Democrats 23 The Green Party 5 The Left Party 4	The Sweden Democrats 2

Notable natives

• Bengt Alsterlind, TV host ("Hajk")
• Zarah Leander, singer
• Sven-Erik Magnusson, singer/dance band artist (Sven-Ingvars)
• Christer Sjögren, rock/dansband singer (Vikingarna)
• Ulf Sterner, ice hockey player (first Swede to play in the National Hockey League)
• Elgen Helge, local hero (Most handsome moose around)

Sites of interest

• Alsters herrgård, the manor house where Gustaf Fröding was born
• Karlstad Church, built in 1730
• An indoor ice rink and event arena, Löfbergs Arena, expanded in 2002 to host the Ice Hockey World Championships
• Botanical gardens
• The masonic lodge where the negotiations for the dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway were held in 1905
• A runestone Vr 2, one of four known in Värmland
• A history museum
• A nature museum

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

The municipality is twinned with: ^[6]

Blönduós, Iceland Gaziantep, Turkey Horsens Municipality, Denmark

Jõgeva, Estonia[7] Ljubljana, Slovenia Moss, Norway

Nokia, Finland

See also

• Da Buzz
• Swedish Rescue Services Agency
• Swedish Rally
• Klarälven
• Karlstad Hundred
• Färjestads BK

References

1. "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (Microsoft Excel) (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
2. "Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 31 december 2015" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
3. "Karlstad röstar som Sverige | Forskning & Framsteg | Populärvetenskapligt magasin". Fof.se. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
4. "Som Ljungby röstar – röstar inte Sverige – Statistiska centralbyrån". Scb.se. 2006-03-06. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
5. "Valresultat 2010". Karlstad.se. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
6. http://www.karlstad.se/apps/symfoni/karlstad/karlstad.nsf/$all/9A40A50D6915C543C125743A004A06E6
7. "Välissuhted" (in Estonian). Jõgeva linn. Retrieved 2011-07-23.

External links

• Karlstad Municipality - Official site
• Karlstad University

Coordinates: 59°23′N 13°32′E / 59.383°N 13.533°E