Lidingö Municipality

Lidingö kommun
Municipality

Coat of arms
Country Sweden
County Stockholm County
Seat Lidingö
Area[1]
  Total 51.05 km2 (19.71 sq mi)
  Land 30.8 km2 (11.9 sq mi)
  Water 20.25 km2 (7.82 sq mi)
  Area as of January 1, 2014.
Population (March 31, 2015)[2]
  Total 45,598
  Density 890/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code SE
Province Uppland
Municipal code 0186
Website www.lidingo.se
Density is calculated using land area only.

Lidingö Municipality (Lidingö kommun semi-officially named as Lidingö stad) is a municipality east of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located on the island of Lidingö. The municipality is a part of Metropolitan Stockholm.

It is chiefly located on the island Lidingö, but also incorporates a few smaller islands in the surroundings, most notably the islets Fjäderholmarna within the Stockholm archipelago.

Being an island municipality it has not been amalgamated with any other entities. The small island of Tranholmen has, however, been transferred to Danderyd Municipality. The rural municipality was made a market town (köping) in 1910, a city in 1926 and a unitary municipality in 1971.

The municipality always refers to itself as Lidingö stad ("the City of Lidingö"). This was a decision taken by the municipal assembly (kommunfullmäktige) in 1992.

Geography

The two bridges connecting Lidingö with Stockholm. Old bridge to the right. View towards Ropsten.

The island Lidingö is connected to the city of Stockholm by the two bridges of Lidingöbron. One is for cars and one for the Lidingöbanan suburban tramway and pedestrians. The bridges lead directly to Ropsten, a station on the Stockholm Metro.

Lidingö is for statistical purposes divided into three localities: Lidingö, Brevik and Sticklinge udde. Because of the strait Lilla Värtan separating the island Lidingö from central Stockholm, Lidingö statistically is not counted as a part of Stockholm.

History

Lidingö traces its history to at least 600 BC, from when remains have been found.[3] According to legend, Lidingö was a place where the Vikings would gather before setting sails to eastern areas, however no proof have been found to confirm that theory. When the city arms was to be chosen in 1928 a Viking ship became the motif, in the colors of the Swedish flag. Lidingö was first mentioned in writing in 1328, called Lydhingö when the entire island and the farms were owned by Bo Johnsson Grip. On a map from 1661 the island is called Lijdingeöö.

Industry

Dalénum where AGA have the head office since 1912.

The island itself hosts very few industries, a relatively well-known one being AGA AB, which started production on the island in 1912.

Much of the populated land area is built with one-family houses; a total of 36% of the population, or 17,020 people (2006), live in such houses and, to a large extent, commute to work in Stockholm or other municipalities of Greater Stockholm.

There are also quite a number of conference mansions in the northern parts of the island, providing a part of the industry of Lidingö.

Lidingö is one of the wealthiest municipalities in Sweden.

The members of the famous Swedish pop group ABBA used to reside on Lidingö.

Politics

The island's politics has traditionally been dominated by the centre-right Moderate Party. They currently run the municipality in coalition with the Liberal People's Party.

Chairman of the municipal executive board is Paul Lindquist from the Moderate Party.

Election results

Election results 2006
Moderate Party 43,24%
Liberal People's Party 13,31%
Social Democrats 12,97%
Lidingö Party 12,06%
Centre Party 6,14%
Christian Democrats 4,66%
Green Party 4,00%
Left Party 2,77%

Population

Year Population
1970
 
36 174
1975
 
36 727
1980
 
37 390
1985
 
38 271
1990
 
38 399
1995
 
39 042
2000
 
40 584
2005
 
41 892
2010
 
44 017
Source: Statistics Sweden

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

In 1942, Lidingö created a committee to provide support for the people in Lohja (Swedish: Lojo) in the southern part of Finland who suffered badly during World War II. An orphanage was opened in Lidingö and money was collected and sent to Lohja. The orphanage was closed in 1943 as most of the children then had returned to Finland. The money that was left over was used to provide food for the children in Lohja. Lidingö and Lohja still maintain a close relationship.

Another sister city is Alameda, California. The initiative came from Alameda in 1959 and was part of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's people-to-people-movement. The purpose was to develop better understanding between people from different countries after World War II. Both Alameda and Lidingö are islands with a bridge connecting them to a big city.

As the Baltic states were liberated from the Soviet Union in 1990-1991, Lidingö looked for a new sister city in the area. Saldus in Latvia was selected. During the years, a number of environmental, cultural and other projects have been accomplished.

Major sporting events

Culture

Millesgården art museum.

Millesgården is an art museum and sculpture garden, located on the island of Lidingö, created by Carl and his wife Olga Milles.

See also

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 mars 2015" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  3. Runic inscription on Lidingö.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Lidingö.

Coordinates: 59°22′N 18°09′E / 59.367°N 18.150°E / 59.367; 18.150

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