Dalarna County ( sv, Dalarnas län) is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

or '' län'' in central

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 ...

(

Svealand Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, T ...

). It borders on the counties of

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

, Jämtland, Gävleborg,

Västmanland Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''västerm ...

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

and

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are ''Va ...

. It also borders on the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

counties of

Hedmark Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged int ...

and

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

to the west. It was formerly known as ''Kopparberg County'' ( sv, Kopparbergs län) until the name was changed to that of the provincial region on 1 January 1997. The province of Dalarna is slightly larger than the county, as the westernmost part of

Ljusdal Municipality Ljusdal Municipality (''Ljusdals kommun'') is one of Sweden's 290 municipalities within Gävleborg County. Its seat is Ljusdal. The municipality was formed in 1971 by the amalgamation of the market town (''köping'') of Ljusdal (instituted in ...

belongs to it. The term Dalarna County is mainly used for administrative purposes; it is further divided into

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

(kommuner). Dalarna County encompasses nearly all of the cultural and historical province of

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland Värmland () also known a ...

(literally, "the valleys"). For the most part sparsely populated and with extensive tracts of wilderness, Dalarna County is almost as large as

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in terms of land area.

History

In older times, Dalarna was periodically part of the territory ruled by the governor of

Västerås Castle Västerås Castle (''Västerås slott'') is situated at Västerås in the province of Västmanland, Sweden. History The castle was originally built during the 12th century and in 1540-1544 it was rebuilt. During the latter part of the 17th ce ...

. The 1634 Instrument of Government led to the creation of a county covering Dalarna with its own County Governor. The ''Kopparbergs län'' (literally ''Copper Mountain County'') was finally created by royal decree in 1647. In 1997, the name of the county was changed to Dalarna County.

Administration

The main aim of the

County Administrative Board A county administrative board ( sv, länsstyrelse) is a Swedish Government Agency in each of the counties of Sweden, led by a vice-regal governor ( sv, landshövding) appointed by the government for a term of six years. The lists of gubernatorial o ...

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 A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, 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 Dalarna Governors.

Politics

The

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

of Dalarna or ''Region Dalarna'' primarily handles health care and public transportation. After the Swedish county council election in 2018, the following

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

are represented in the Dalarna county council:

Riksdag elections

The table details all

election results of the Kopparberg and Dalarna counties 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

Municipalities

''In

Province:'' *

Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the lit ...

* Borlänge *

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabitan ...

Gagnef Gagnef () is the second largest locality situated in Gagnef Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 1,049 inhabitants in 2010. Gagnef consists of several small villages: The Church Village, Kyrkbyn, The Station Village, Stationsbyn, Moje, Moje ...

Hedemora Hedemora is a town in Dalarna County and the seat of Hedemora Municipality, Sweden, with 7,273 inhabitants in 2010. Despite its small population, Hedemora is for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''city'', and as such the oldes ...

Leksand Leksand () is a locality and the seat of Leksand Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,934 inhabitants in 2010. Sport Leksand is famous for the Leksands IF ice hockey team, who have won 4 Swedish Championships, although the team is curre ...

Ludvika Ludvika () is a bimunicipal city and the seat of Ludvika Municipality, Dalarna County within the country of Sweden, with 14,498 inhabitants in 2010. Overview The conurbation of Ludvika extends over the border of Smedjebacken Municipality, where ...

* Malung-Sälen *

Mora Mora may refer to: People * Mora (surname) Places Sweden * Mora, Säter, Sweden * Mora, Sweden, the seat of Mora Municipality * Mora Municipality, Sweden United States * Mora, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Mora, Minnesota, a city * M ...

* Orsa *

Rättvik Rättvik is a locality on the eastern shore of the lake Siljan and the seat of Rättvik Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 4,686 inhabitants in 2010. Its bandy club IFK Rättvik has reached the highest division Elitserien and has bu ...

Säter Säter is a locality and the seat of Säter Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 11,161 inhabitants in 2020. Säter is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''city''. Statistics Sweden, howeve ...

Smedjebacken Smedjebacken is a locality and the seat of Smedjebacken Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,100 inhabitants in 2010. Geographically, the town Smedjebacken is situated by the lake Barken, with an area of , which in turn belongs to the K ...

Vansbro Vansbro () is a locality in Dalarna and the seat of Vansbro Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden. It had 2,026 inhabitants in 2010, out of a total municipal population of 7,000. The town is situated by the end of the rivulet Vanån (Van River), th ...

Älvdalen Älvdalen (Elfdalian: ''Övdaln'' or ''Tjyörtjbynn''; literally meaning ''The River Valley'') is a locality and the seat of Älvdalen Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 1,810 inhabitants in 2010. The parish is widely known for being th ...

Locations by population

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.

Heraldry

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

Notes and references

External links

County Administrative Board of DalarnaCounty Council of Dalarna
*Regional Association of Dalarna {{Authority control Counties of Sweden

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

1634 establishments in Sweden States and territories established in 1634