Botkyrka Municipality ( ) 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 ...

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm ...

in east 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 ...

, not far from the capital

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba. In 1971 ''Grödinge'' was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 ''Salem'' was added. The Salem part was split off again in 1983, and a new

Salem Municipality Salem Municipality (''Salems kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The name traces its origins from ''Slæm'' in the 13th century, but was changed to Salem in the 17th century, inspired by the Biblical name of Jeru ...

was formed. Botkyrka has an estimated population of 91,925.

History

The municipality is named after

Saint Botvid Saint Botvid was a Christian missionary in Sweden during the 11th and early 12th centuries. Biography Botvid, who was born in Södermanland, Sweden, went on a trade trip to England where he came into contact with Christianity and was converted to ...

, a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

during the 12th century. Saint Botvid is shown on the seal and

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of Botkyrka Municipality, where he carries an axe and a fish. Another remnant of Botkyrka's Christian

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

history is the Botkyrka church, made of stone. Politically the municipality is primarily

Social Democratic 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 soci ...

, that has governed Botkyrka for a long period except 3 years in the early 1990s. However, with fewer seats the party now governs together with The Green Party, and

The Left Party The Left (german: Die Linke; stylised as and in its logo as ), commonly referred to as the Left Party (german: Die Linkspartei, links=no ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of th ...

. There have also been several local parties. For a long period a local party called Botkyrkapartiet (The Botkyrka Party) has held several seats. A party was also active from mid 1980s to mid 1990s with only one purpose - to prevent the exploitation of the small airfield, F18, in

Tullinge Tullinge is a suburb of Greater Stockholm, Sweden. It is located in the eastern part of Botkyrka Municipality, on the border to the Flemingsberg part of Huddinge Municipality. It had approximately 20,000 inhabitants in 2011.Tullinge Tullinge is a suburb of Greater Stockholm, Sweden. It is located in the eastern part of Botkyrka Municipality, on the border to the Flemingsberg part of Huddinge Municipality. It had approximately 20,000 inhabitants in 2011.hip hop group The Latin Kings raps about life in Botkyrka in several of their songs. In its December 2015 report,

Police in Sweden The Swedish Police Authority ( sv, Polismyndigheten) is the national police force (''Polisen'') of the Kingdom of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under loc ...

placed the Hallunda and Norsborg districts in the most severe category of urban areas with high crime rates. In its 2017 report,

added the Alby and

Fittja Fittja is a part of Botkyrka Municipality and the name of the Stockholm metro station in the area. It was settled during the 1970s and consists mostly of rental apartments. As of 2008, there were 7,458 people living in Fittja; 64.7% of them were o ...

districts to the

category Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses * Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) *Categories (Peirce) * ...

Demographics

The northern and eastern parts of the municipality are in the contiguous

Stockholm urban area The Stockholm urban area ( sv, Stockholms tätort) is the largest and most populous of the statistical localities or urban areas in Sweden. It has no administrative function of its own, but constitutes a continuous built-up area, which extends int ...

. Tumba forms a locality ('' tätort'') of its own (which partly is in

). Vårsta is in the central part. The southern half of the municipality is mostly rural.

Residents with a foreign background

Botkyrka, particularly Northern Botkyrka, has one of the highest percentages of first and second generation

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

s in Sweden. 56.4% of the population has at least one parent born in another country. This makes the municipality a multi-cultural community with for example a big

Syriac Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascus ...

Hallunda Hallunda is a part of Botkyrka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. Hallunda and Norsborg Norsborg is a part of Botkyrka Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden. Norsborg consists of the residential areas Hallunda, Eriksberg and S ...

and a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

. In 2017, Botkyrka was one of three municipalities in Sweden with a population majority of foreign background. On the 31st of December 2017 the number of people with a foreign background (persons born outside of Sweden or with two parents born outside of Sweden) was 53 827, or 58.56% of the population (91 925 on the 31st of December 2017). On the 31st of December 2002 the number of residents with a foreign background was (per the same definition) 35 384, or 47.04% of the population (75 216 on the 31st of December 2002).Antal personer efter region, utländsk/svensk bakgrund och år
(Read 4 januari 2019) On 31 December 2017 there were 91 925 residents in Botkyrka, of which 38 130 people (41.48%) were born in a country other than Sweden. Divided by country in the table below – the Nordic countries as well as the 12 most common countries of birth outside of Sweden for Swedish residents have been included, with other countries of birth bundled together by continent by

Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( sv, Statistiska centralbyrån ; SCB) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsib ...

.Statistiska centralbyrån: Utrikes födda efter län, kommun och födelseland 31 december 2017
(XLS-fil) Läst 4 januari 2019

Public transportation

Botkyrka is served by the Stockholm

public transport system 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, typica ...

Stockholm metro The Stockholm metro ( sv, Stockholms tunnelbana) is a rapid transit system in Stockholm, Sweden. The first line opened in 1950, and today the system has 100 stations in use, of which 47 are underground and 53 above ground. There are three colou ...

has four and

Stockholm commuter rail Stockholm commuter rail ( sv, Stockholms pendeltåg) is the commuter rail system in Stockholm County, Sweden. The system is an important part of the public transport in Stockholm, and is controlled by Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. The tracks are ...

two stations within the municipality. There is also an extensive SL

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

network.

Companies

Botkyrka is a municipality with several world-famous companies. *

Alfa Laval Alfa Laval AB is a Sweden, Swedish corporation, company, founded in 1883 by Gustaf de Laval and :sv:Oscar Lamm, Oscar Lamm. The company, which started in providing centrifugal separation solutions for dairy (see Separator (milk)), now deals in th ...

, a leading producer of specialized products and solutions used to heat, cool, separate and transport products including oil, water, chemicals, beverages, foodstuffs, starch and pharmaceuticals. The company also owns significant land in Botkyrka used for development of its agricultural division. *

DeLaval Delaval is the surname of a family of gentry/aristocracy in Northumberland, England, from the 11th century to the 19th century. Their main estate was the manor of Seaton Delaval. The 18th century Delavals are noteworthy for their colourful life ...

, a leading producer of dairy and farming machinery. * Crane AB, a banknote design and paper production company. Notably,

Lars Magnus Ericsson Lars Magnus Ericsson (; 5 May 1846 – 17 December 1926) was a Swedish inventor, entrepreneur and founder of telephone equipment manufacturer Ericsson ( incorporated as ''Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson''). Lars Magnus was born in Värmskog, ...

who founded the LM Ericsson company (now known as

Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informat ...

) also had properties in Botkyrka, including Hågelby gård which today is used for conferences and as an excursion place with gardens, animals, stone age village and more. Hagelby Gard

Districts

* Alby *

Norsborg Norsborg is a part of Botkyrka Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden. Norsborg consists of the residential areas Hallunda, Eriksberg and Slagsta. Norsborg and Hallunda are contiguous suburbs. History Norsborg was previously a country esta ...

* Eriksberg * Tumba *

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Botkyrka: *

Arameiska-Syrianska Botkyrka IF Arameisk-Syrianska IF is a Swedish based football club in Botkyrka, a suburb of Stockholm. The club was formed as Arameiska-Syrianska KIF by Syriacs (Arameans) in 1980 and has advanced through the league system, currently (2017) playing in the ...

* Konyaspor KIF * Assyriska Botkyrka FF *

IFK Tumba FK IFK Tumba FK is a Swedish football club located in Tumba. Background IFK Tumba FK currently plays in Division 4 Stockholm Södra which is the sixth tier of Swedish football. They play their home matches at the Storvretens BP in Tumba. The club ...

References

External links

Botkyrka Municipality
- Official site in English
Botkyrka Municipality Facts
- Official facts {{authority control Municipalities of Stockholm County Metropolitan Stockholm Stockholm urban area