Falkenberg Municipality (''Falkenbergs kommun'') is a

municipality 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 ...

Halland County Halland County ( sv, Hallands län, link=no, ) is a county ('' län'') on the western coast of Sweden. It corresponds roughly to the cultural and historical province of Halland. The capital is Halmstad. It borders the counties of Västra Göta ...

on the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

west coast. The town

Falkenberg Falkenberg is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran (river), Ätra ...

is the municipal seat. The municipality was created in 1971 when the ''City of Falkenberg'' was amalgamated with six rural municipalities (themselves formed by the 1952 local government reform) and part of a seventh. There are 24 original entities within the area. Today, Falkenberg holds a strong position in the food and

beverage industry The drink industry (or drinks industry, also known as the beverage industry) produces drinks, in particular ready to drink products. Drink production can vary greatly depending on the product being made. ManufacturingDrinks.com explains that "bott ...

with companies such as

Arla Foods , industry = Dairy , predecessor = ArlaMD Foods , founded = , founder = , location_city = Viby , location_country = Denmark , area_served = Worldwide , key_people = Peder Tub ...

, Carlsberg and SIA Glass having plants in the city. In the inland

Gekås Gekås Ullared AB is a Swedish superstore in Ullared, Sweden, founded in 1963 by Göran Karlsson as ''Ge-kås Manufaktur''. It had an annual turnover of SEK 4.2 billion in 2010, with a total store area of over in addition to a storage area ...

, a major department store, draws visitors from all over the country. Falkenberg is also a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

city, mainly for its many beaches.

Economy

The main income for the Municipality is tourism from around Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Holland and Norway. The food industry is important. Here has

Carlsberg Brewery Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. T ...

a plant with 570 employees and Arla Foods who makes cheese has a factory with 400 employees. Other important workplaces is the Gekås shoppingcentre in Ullared which has more than 1,100 employees. The centre is a "Mecka" for low-price shoppers and the company earns more than 2 700 000 000 (340 500 000 US Dollars) kronor each year.World News - WN.Co
Falkenberg Municipality
Retrieved 2020-01-18 The shoppingcentre in Wal-Mart style (almost without food)company has 3,800,000 visitors each year which makes it Sweden's most visited place.

Politics

The Right Party was the major party until 1931, when the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

gained that position. The municipality has, however, been a stronghold for the

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

, whose parties have led the municipality thereafter, except for the period between 1994-1998 and 2018-. The current mayor is Per Svensson (Socialdemokratic Party) and the deputy mayor is Annelie Andelén (Centre).

Localities

There are 17

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

s (also called a ''tätort'', or locality) in Falkenberg Municipality. In the table the localities are listed according to the size of the population as of 31 December 2005. The municipal seat is in bold characters.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

The municipality is twinned with: *

Borgarfjörður Borgarfjörður () is a fjord in the west of Iceland near the town of Borgarnes. Although the waters of Borgarfjörður appear calm, the fjord has significant undercurrents and shallows. The many flat islands lying in the fjord are for the most ...

, Iceland *

Gniezno Gniezno (; german: Gnesen; la, Gnesna) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. One of the Piast dynasty's chief cities, ...

, Poland *

Leirvík Leirvík ( da, Lervig) is a town on the Faroe Islands and was an important regional ferry harbour at the east coast of the second-largest island Eysturoy. Leirvík has a population of 1,048 (2022). It was the only town in the municipality of Lei ...

, Faroe Islands *

Pieksämäki Pieksämäki () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, about north of Mikkeli, east of Jyväskylä and south of Kuopio. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The ...

, Finland *

Ullensaker Ullensaker is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality i ...

, Norway

Notable natives

Pär Zetterberg Pär Johan Zetterberg (; born 14 October 1970) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is best remembered for his time with R.S.C. Anderlecht, but also represented Falkenbergs FF, Charleroi, and Olympiacos duri ...

, football player *

Niclas Alexandersson Jens Niclas Alexandersson (born 29 December 1971) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a right winger and right back. Beginning his career with Halmstads BK in 1989, he went on to represent IFK Göteborg, Sheffield Wednesday ...

, football player * Magnus Svensson, football player * Stellan Bengtsson, former world champion, table tennis * Per-Gunnar Andersson, race driver * Lizzy DeVine, former lead singer of

Vains Of Jenna Vains of Jenna was a Swedish sleaze rock/metal band formed in Falkenberg in 2005. They later moved to Los Angeles, though most of the band members now reside back in Sweden. In January 2012, the band confirmed on Facebook and MySpace that th ...

* J.P White, former bassist of Vains Of Jenna * Nicki Kin, former guitarist of Vains Of Jenna * Jacki Stone, former drummer Vains Of Jenna

References

Statistics Sweden

External links

Falkenberg Municipality
- Official site
Falkenberg racetrack
{{authority control Municipalities of Halland County