Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings 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 southern

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

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömsebro ...

, Västra Götaland, Östergötland,

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

and

Kronoberg Kronoberg County (; sv, Kronobergs län) is a county or ''län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the counties of Skåne, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, and Blekinge. Its capital is t ...

. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in September 2017. The capital and largest city is

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipali ...

. About one quarter of the total county population lives in the combined Jönköping-Huskvarna urban area around the southern point of Lake

Vättern Vättern ( , ) is the second largest lake by surface area in Sweden, after Vänern, and the sixth largest lake in Europe. It is a long, finger-shaped body of fresh water in south central Sweden, to the southeast of Vänern, pointing at the tip of ...

Provinces and administrative history

Despite being commonly used to indicate the geographical, cultural and historical region, the larger historical

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

''(landskap)'' of

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

, which most of Jönköping County is part of, has no administrative or political significance today. Jönköping County has existed as an administrative division since the 17th century, and constitutes the north-western part of Småland, the other parts being

Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; sv, Kronobergs län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the counties of Skåne, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, and Blekinge. Its capital is ...

in the south-west and

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. G ...

in the east. Jönköping County was periodically united with neighbouring

in the single

Jönköping and Kronoberg County Jönköping and Kronoberg County, or ''Jönköpings och Kronobergs län'' was a county of the Swedish Empire in several periods from 1634 to 1687. It was ultimately split into the Jönköping County and the Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; ...

until 1687. Until the 18th century the administration was housed in the Renaissance fortress at Jönköping Castle, which was demolished in the 19th century; the former site of the castle is still the site of the County Administrative Board building and the Governor's residence.

Habo Municipality Habo Municipality ( sv, Habo kommun) is a municipality in Jönköping County, southern Sweden, where the locality of Habo is seat. The present municipality was formed in 1974 when a part of the dissolved rural municipality of ''Fågelsås'' wa ...

and

Mullsjö Municipality Mullsjö Municipality ( sv, Mullsjö kommun) is a municipality in Jönköping County, southern Sweden. Its seat is in the locality of Mullsjö. The municipality was formed in 1952 by the amalgamation of four former entities. In 1998 it was tran ...

, from the south-eastern part of the historical province of

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

, are since the dissolution of

Skaraborg County Skaraborg County ( sv, Skaraborgs län ) was a county of Sweden from 1634 until 1997. It was disestablished at the end of 1997 when it was merged with the counties of Gothenburg and Bohus and Älvsborg to form Västra Götaland County. The count ...

in 1998 also part of Jönköping County; both municipalities joined Jönköping County as the results of local referendums in 1997.

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 fulfill 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. The seat of residence for the Governor or ''Landshövding'' is the city of

. See the

list of Jönköping Governors A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

Politics

The main responsibilities of 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 Jönköping, or ''Landstinget i Jönköpings län'', are the regional public healthcare system and

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

. The County Council Assembly ''(landstingsfullmäktige)'', which is the elected body for regional municipal issues, is elected every four years concurrently with the

elections. The county's best-known parliamentary representative was the late Olof Palme, leader of the

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 ...

from 1969 to 1986, and twice

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subj ...

from 1969 to 1976 and from 1982 to 1986. Jönköping County is the strongest electoral region of the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

, who traditionally have a large following among members of evangelical churches in the region. The County Council Assembly and most of the municipalities in the county are governed by liberal-conservative, center-right coalitions. The

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

have historically been strong in mill towns and industrial districts of Jönköping County.

Current representation in 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 ...
(2018–2022)

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 ...
elections

The table details all

election results of Jönköping 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.

Governor

The present ''acting'' Governor ''(landshövding)'' of Jönköping County is

Anneli Wirtén Anneli is a female given name common in Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Norway. It originated as a variation of the name Anna. It is listed by the Finnish Population Register Centre as one of the top 10 most popular female given names ever. No ...

Municipalities

Localities in order of size

The ten most populous localities of Jönköping County in 2020:

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

Jönköping County was formally granted its arms in 1942. By custom it used a combination of the lesser state arms of Sweden and the arms for the town of Jönköping. Blazon for the town of Jönköping: "Gules, a Castle with three towers Argent massoned windowed and gated Sable issuant from a Base wavy Azure".

References and notes

External links

County Administrative Board of Jönköping County Council of Jönköping Regional Development Council of Jönköping County
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonkoping County Counties of Sweden Småland Västergötland States and territories established in 1687 1687 establishments in Sweden