Counties of Sweden
| This article is part of the Subdivisions of Sweden series |
| Counties |
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| Administrative Boards |
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A County, or LÃÂän, is an administrative and political subdivision of Sweden. Sweden is divided into 21 counties, and in each county there is a County Administrative Board as well as a County Council. The County Administrative Board, or LÃÂänsstyrelse, is appointed by the Government to coordinate administration with national political goals for the County. The County Council on the other hand is a regional government, i.e. a political assembly appointed by the electorate to deliberate on the "municipal" affairs of the County, primarily regarding the public health care system.
Each county is further divided into a total of 290 Municipalities or Kommuner (2004).
Establishment
The Counties were established in 1634 on count Axel Oxenstierna's initiative, superseding the Provinces of Sweden to introduce a modern administration. The most significant change to the county system took place when Sweden, after the Finnish War, was forced to cede the Eastern counties to Russia in the Treaty of Fredrikshamn (1809). Despite this the county reform survived in Finland until 1997 and is still in force in Sweden today.
Abolished counties include Gothenburg and Bohus County, Skaraborg County, ÃÂÃÂlvsborg County, MalmÃÂöhus County, Kristianstad County, Norrland County, HÃÂärnÃÂösand County, Hudiksvall County and ÃÂÃÂland County.
RiksomrÃÂÃÂ¥den
The European Union is divided into a Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), where the counties in Sweden correspond the third level of division. For the purpose of creating regions corresponding to the second level, counties has been grouped into eight , or National Areas: Stockholm, East Middle Sweden, North Middle Sweden, Middle Norrland, Upper Norrland, SmÃÂÃÂ¥land and the islands, West Sweden and South Sweden.
Historical subdivisions
The Provinces of Sweden, or Landskap, and the Lands of Sweden, or Landsdelar, lack political importance today but are culturally of great significance. The division into the lands of GÃÂötaland, Svealand and Norrland is commonly used as a geographical reference.