Blekinge County ( sv, Blekinge län) is a county or ''

län Län (Swedish, ), lääni (Finnish, ) and len (Norwegian, ) refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Finland and Norway. The provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010. In Norway, the term was in use betw ...

'' in the south of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. It borders the Counties of

Skåne Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne C ...

, Kronoberg, Kalmar and the Baltic Sea. The capital is

Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Swed ...

. It is the smallest of the present administrative counties of Sweden, covering only 0,7% of the total area of the country.

Province

Blekinge, the historical province ''Blekinge'', has virtually the same boundaries as the current administrative entity, Blekinge County.

Administration

Blekinge County was a part of

Kalmar County Kalmar County () is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg, Jönköping, Blekinge and Östergötland. To the east in the Baltic Sea is the island Gotland. The counties are mainly administrative units. Geo ...

between 1680 and 1683, due to the foundation of the naval base at

. The main aim of the County Administrative Board is to fulfil the goals set in national politics by the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

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 A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...

headed by a Governor. See List of Blekinge Governors.

Heraldry

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

Politics

Blekinge county council, or ''Region Blekinge'', is a municipal entity that is independent of, but coterminous with, the County Administrative Board. Its main responsibilities lie in health care and public transportation issues for the county.

Riksdag elections

The table details all

election results of Blekinge County since the unicameral era began in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

. The blocs denote which party would support the Prime Minister or the lead opposition party towards the end of the elected parliament.

Governors

The current governor of Blekinge County is

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-d ...

politician

Ulrica Messing Ulrica Messing (born 31 January 1968 in Hällefors) is a Swedish Social Democratic former politician. She was Minister for Communications and Regional Policy in the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications from 2000 to 2006. From Oc ...

, appointed on the 1st of October 2021.

Municipalities

Population as of 2009-12-31 Blekinge county total 152 591, 1.6% of the nation. * Karlshamn 30 919 *

63 342 * Olofström 13 102 *

Ronneby Ronneby is a locality and the seat of Ronneby Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden with 12,029 inhabitants in 2010. Ronneby is regarded as the heart of "the Garden of Sweden", and in 2005 the park "Brunnsparken" in Ronneby was voted Sweden's m ...

28 416 * Sölvesborg 16 813

Localities in order of size

The five most populous localities of Blekinge County in 2020:

Demographics

Foreign background

SCB have collected statistics on backgrounds of residents since 2002. These tables consist of all who have two foreign-born parents or are born abroad themselves. The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.

References

External links

Blekinge County Administrative Board

Blekinge County Council

Regional Association of Blekinge
{{Authority control Counties of Sweden County States and territories established in 1683 1683 establishments in Sweden