Salem Municipality (''Salems 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 ...

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

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Its seat is located in Salem.

History

Like the rest of the areas around

Lake Mälaren A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, Salem has a significant amount of ancient remains, as far back as the Stone Age. The church of Salem traces its foundation to the 12th century. Just like its eastern municipal neighbour

Botkyrka Botkyrka Municipality ( ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba. In 1971 ''Grödinge'' was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 ''Salem'' was added. ...

, Salem traces its history back to the legendary

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 ...

, who lived in the area sometime between 1050-1120. In the

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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

tradition, a spring would always be found in connection to the death of a saint. According to legend, when the remains of Saint Botvid were transported to the church in today's Botkyrka, the casket was temporarily put down near the shore of Lake Bornsjön, where a spring poured up. It continues to provide clear water to this day.

Today

Salem was united with the municipality of Botkyrka during the Swedish municipal reform between 1971-1974. However, in 1983, after energetic protests, they were split apart, and Salem became the 14th smallest municipality by area in the country. Salem is served by one station, Rönninge, on the commuter train line between

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea through the lock in the ...

and

Märsta Märsta () is a suburb of Metropolitan Stockholm, a locality and the seat of Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 27,034 inhabitants in 2015. The town is situated close to Stockholm's main international airport, Arlanda. Even though ...

via Stockholm. There are also a good network of bus lines. The number of people in Salem is about 30% less during day time due to that it has the biggest percentage of people in Stockholm county that work outside own municipal.

Demography

Population development

Residents with a 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 4 643, or 27.86% of the population (16 665 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) 2 468, or 17.79% of the population (13 875 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 16 665 residents in Salem, of which 3 270 people (19.62%) 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.Statistiska centralbyrån: Utrikes födda efter län, kommun och födelseland 31 december 2017
(XLS-fil) Läst 4 januari 2019

References

External links

Salem Municipality
- Official site {{Authority control Municipalities of Stockholm County Metropolitan Stockholm