Västernorrland County

This article is about the administrative county. For the Riksdag constituency, see Västernorrland County (Riksdag constituency).

Västernorrland County (Swedish: Västernorrlands län) is a county (län) in the north of Sweden. It is bordered by the counties of Gävleborg, Jämtland, Västerbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia.

Västernorrland County Västernorrlands län (Swedish)
County of Sweden
The County Governor residence in Härnösand
Flag Coat of arms
Västernorrland County in Sweden
Location map of Västernorrland County in Sweden
Country	Sweden
Founded	1634
Capital	Härnösand
Largest city	Sundsvall
Municipalities	7 Ånge Härnösand Kramfors Örnsköldsvik Sollefteå Sundsvall Timrå
Government
• Governor	Carin Jämtin
• Council	Landstinget Västernorrland
Area
• Total	21,683.8 km2 (8,372.2 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2023)[1]
• Total	242,148
• Density	11/km2 (29/sq mi)
GDP [2]
• Total	SEK 91 billion €9.761 billion (2015)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	SE-Y
NUTS Region	SE321
Website	www.y.lst.se

The name Västernorrland means "Western Norrland", as it was in the western part of the original Norrland (northern Sweden and northern Finland).

Province

For History, Geography and Culture, see: Ångermanland or Medelpad

Västernorrland County covers approximately the historical provinces of Ångermanland (Angermannia) and Medelpad.

Administration

The main aim of the county administrative board – a government agency headed by a governor – is to fulfil the goals set out in national politics by the Riksdag and the government, to coordinate the interests of the county, to promote the development of the county, to establish regional goals and safeguard the due process of law in the handling of each case. See List of Västernorrland governors.

Politics

The regional council of Västernorrland is the Region Västernorrland.

Riksdag elections

The table details all Riksdag election results of Västernorrland County since the unicameral era began in 1970. The blocs denote which party would support the Prime Minister or the lead opposition party towards the end of the elected parliament.

Year	Turnout	Votes	V	S	MP	C	L	KD	M	SD	NyD	Left	Right
1970[3]	89.1	177,619	6.6	52.2		23.0	9.5	2.5	5.9			58.8	38.4
1973[4]	92.1	178,788	6.3	50.7		27.7	5.6	2.4	6.7			57.0	40.1
1976[5]	92.7	186,498	5.0	50.4		28.4	6.8	1.8	7.3			55.4	42.5
1979[6]	92.0	185,794	5.4	51.2		23.6	6.5	1.8	10.8			56.6	40.9
1982[7]	92.2	186,181	5.3	53.7	1.4	20.9	3.8	2.3	12.4			59.0	37.1
1985[8]	90.5	183,019	5.4	53.2	1.3	17.6	10.0		12.2			58.6	39.8
1988[9]	86.6	173,568	6.0	51.6	5.1	14.9	8.8	3.6	9.4			62.7	33.1
1991[10]	86.8	173,566	5.1	47.9	3.1	11.3	7.3	7.1	13.0		4.7	53.0	38.7
1994[11]	87.1	173,210	6.7	55.0	4.8	9.2	6.0	3.9	13.0		0.7	66.6	32.1
1998[12]	81.6	157,892	14.8	45.1	4.1	6.6	3.6	10.2	13.7			64.0	34.1
2002[13]	79.5	150,966	9.9	49.3	3.8	9.6	9.3	7.6	8.5	0.8		63.0	35.0
2006[14]	81.5	153,417	6.7	46.0	3.8	10.6	5.4	5.7	17.2	2.2		56.5	38.8
2010[15]	84.6	159,975	6.0	44.0	5.5	7.0	5.2	4.4	21.6	4.5		55.5	38.1
2014[16]	86.1	162,112	5.7	46.3	4.4	6.7	3.4	3.8	15.9	10.8		56.3	29.8
2018[17]	87.8	163,001	8.2	39.8	2.7	9.9	3.4	5.4	13.7	15.6		60.5	38.1
2022[18]	85.2	160,500	5.8	39.4	3.4	7.5	2.7	5.4	14.0	20.1		56.1	42.2

Municipalities

Municipal location map

In Medelpad Province:

• Sundsvall
• Timrå
• Ånge

In Ångermanland Province:

• Härnösand
• Kramfors
• Sollefteå
• Örnsköldsvik

Demographics

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.^[19] The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.

Location	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	2019
Härnösand	5.9	7.7	9.1	12.7	17.4	17.7
Kramfors	5.3	6.5	8.2	11.1	15.3	15.8
Sollefteå	5.0	6.1	7.9	11.1	14.9	14.2
Sundsvall	7.4	8.4	10.1	11.9	13.9	14.4
Timrå	6.4	7.8	9.5	11.0	12.2	12.2
Ånge	4.0	5.2	6.4	7.8	10.0	9.7
Örnsköldsvik	5.0	6.0	7.2	8.3	11.1	11.5
Total	6.1	7.3	8.8	10.8	13.5	13.9
Source: SCB [19]

History

Västernorrland County was formed in 1634, when counties were introduced, replacing the older provinces. Västernorrland then included parts of Sweden north of the city of Gävle, except Jämtland and Härjedalen – which belonged to Norway – and except Finland.

The county grew and shrank significantly since its creation. The boundary adjustments:

• Västerbotten County was separated in 1637.
• Jämtland and Härjedalen joined in 1657, but they both separated as Jämtland County in 1810.
• Gävleborg County separated in 1762.
• Other minor changes have taken place.

Västernorrland was in the west of Norrland

Even though the name Västernorrland literally means "Western Norrland", it is today situated on the eastern coast of Swedish Norrland. The "west" in its name (väster) arose due to the fact that, at the time, Norrland was a much larger region, including northern Finland as well. Västernorrland was therefore the part of Norrland that lay west of the Baltic Sea, which used to be a Swedish inland sea.

Heraldry

The arms for the County of Västernorrland are a combination of those of Ångermanland and Medelpad. When it is shown with a royal crown, it represents the county administrative board. Blazon: "Parted per pale, the arms of Angermannia and the arms of Medelpad."

Miscellaneous topics

Local public transport in the county is provided by Din Tur.

See also

• Rutberget, a 342m high mountain
• Västernorrland County Museum

References and notes

1. "Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 31 december 2023 och befolkningsförändringar 2023". Statistics Sweden. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
2. Regions and Cities > Regional Statistics > Regional Economy > Regional GDP per Capita, OECD.Stats. Accessed on 16 November 2018.
3. "Riksdagsvalet 1970" (PDF). SCB. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
4. "Riksdagsvalet 1973" (PDF) (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
5. "Riksdagsvalet 1976" (PDF) (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
6. "Riksdagsvalet 1979" (PDF) (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
7. "Riksdagsvalet 1982" (PDF) (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
8. "Riksdagsvalet 1985" (PDF) (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
9. "Riksdagsvalet 1988" (PDF) (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
10. "Riksdagsvalet 1991" (PDF) (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
11. "Riksdagsvalet 1994" (PDF) (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
12. "Riksdagsvalet 1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
13. "Valresultat Riksdag 2002" (in Swedish). Valmyndigheten. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
14. "Allmänna val 17 september 2006" (in Swedish). Valmyndigheten. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
15. "Röster - Val 2010" (in Swedish). Valmyndigheten. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
16. "Röster - Val 2014" (in Swedish). Valmyndigheten. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
17. "Röster - Val 2018" (in Swedish). Valmyndigheten. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
18. "Valpresentation". resultat.val.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-01-26.
19. "PxWeb - välj variabler och värden" (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 11 August 2020.

External links

• Västernorrland County Administrative Board
• Västernorrland County Council
• Regional Association of Local Authorities in Västernorrland

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