Jönköping County () is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

or ''

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

'' in southern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. 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, Skåne, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Br ...

, Västra Götaland,

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 41,388 inhabitants in 2020 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. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in September 2017. The capital and largest city is

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, 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 o ...

. 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 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 Scandinavia. ...

Provinces and administrative history

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

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

''(landskap)'' of

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, 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 la ...

, 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 (; ) 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 the city of V ...

in the south-west and

Kalmar County Kalmar County () is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg County, Kronoberg, Jönköping County, Jönköping, Blekinge County, Blekinge and Östergötland County, Östergötland. To the ...

in the east. Jönköping County was periodically united with neighbouring

in the single Jönköping and 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 () 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'' was amalgamated wit ...

and Mullsjö Municipality, 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. Vä ...

, are since the dissolution of

Skaraborg County Skaraborg County ( ) was a Counties of Sweden, 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 County, Gothenburg and Bohus and Älvsborg County, Älvs ...

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 is to fulfill the goals set in national politics by the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

and the

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

, 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 agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, s ...

headed by a Governor. The seat of residence for the Governor or ''Landshövding'' is the city of

. See the list of Jönköping Governors.

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. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

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

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

. 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 Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...

, leader of the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...

from 1969 to 1986, and twice

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister of Sweden (, "minister of state") is the head of government of the Sweden, Kingdom of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are subject to th ...

from 1969 to 1976 and from 1982 to 1986. Jönköping County is the strongest electoral region of the Christian Democrats, 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 social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

have historically been strong in mill towns and industrial districts of Jönköping County. In the 1922 prohibition referendum which would have banned the sale of alcohol in Sweden, Jönköping County at 81.5% had the strongest support for the ban.

Current representation in the
Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...
(2022–2026)

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...
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 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. 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 Governor ''(landshövding)'' of Jönköping County is Brittis Benzler .

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