Blekinge County

For the Riksdag constituency, see Blekinge County (Riksdag constituency).

Blekinge County (Swedish: Blekinge län) is a county or län in the south of Sweden. It borders the Counties of Skåne, Kronoberg, Kalmar and the Baltic Sea. The capital is Karlskrona. It is the smallest of the present administrative counties of Sweden, covering only 0,7% of the total area of the country. Princess Adrienne, the daughter of Princess Madeleine, is Duchess of Blekinge.

Blekinge County Blekinge län (Swedish)
County of Sweden
Karlshamn citadel
Flag Coat of arms
Blekinge County in Sweden
Location map of Blekinge County in Sweden
Coordinates: 56°14′36″N 14°22′52″E
Country	Sweden
Founded	1683
Capital	Karlskrona
Municipalities	5 Karlshamn Karlskrona Olofström Ronneby Sölvesborg
Government
• Governor	Ulrica Messing
• Council	Landstinget Blekinge
Area
• Total	3,039.4 km2 (1,173.5 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2023)[1]
• Total	157,973
• Density	52/km2 (130/sq mi)
GDP [2]
• Total	SEK 53 billion €5.649 billion (2015)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	SE-K
NUTS Region	SE221
Website	www.k.lst.se

Province

For history, geography and culture, see Blekinge.

Blekinge, the historical province Blekinge, has virtually the same boundaries as the current administrative entity, Blekinge County.

Administration

Blekinge County was a part of Kalmar County between 1680 and 1683, due to the foundation of the naval base at Karlskrona.

The main aim of the County Administrative Board is to fulfil the goals set in national politics by the Riksdag and the Government, 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 headed by a Governor. See List of Blekinge Governors.

Heraldry

The County of Blekinge inherited its coat of arms from the province of Blekinge. When it is shown with a royal crown it represents the County Administrative Board.

Politics

Main article: Blekinge County Council

Blekinge county council, or Region Blekinge, is a municipal entity that is independent of, but coterminous with, the County Administrative Board. Its main responsibilities lie in health care and public transportation issues for the county.

Riksdag elections

The table details all Riksdag election results of Blekinge 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	%	Votes	V	S	MP	C	L	KD	M	SD	NyD
1970[3]	85.4	95,576	4.2	50.2		18.7	15.2	1.6	9.9
1973[4]	90.8	98,425	4.1	49.6		22.9	9.4	1.8	12.0
1976[5]	92.0	103,248	3.3	49.5		22.0	10.5	1.5	12.6
1979[6]	91.2	103,037	3.9	49.9		16.5	11.3	1.4	16.6
1982[7]	91.5	103,262	4.0	52.7	1.2	15.6	5.6	1.9	18.8
1985[8]	89.9	102,751	4.4	51.6	1.3	12.4	12.4		17.6
1988[9]	86.0	98,424	4.8	52.2	5.3	11.3	9.6	2.8	13.8
1991[10]	87.5	99,208	4.1	46.0	2.8	9.0	7.5	6.2	18.1		4.6
1994[11]	87.6	100,235	6.5	52.9	4.4	7.6	5.2	3.3	18.5		1.1
1998[12]	82.3	93,756	13.1	42.4	3.9	5.3	3.6	11.0	19.2
2002[13]	82.3	94,558	8.3	45.7	3.8	6.1	11.1	8.8	13.2	2.8
2006[14]	83.1	95,781	5.4	42.1	3.7	7.2	6.4	5.2	22.0	6.2
2010[15]	85.8	100,162	5.1	36.5	5.3	5.8	5.4	4.0	27.3	9.8
2014[16]	86.8	102,225	4.7	37.2	4.9	5.7	3.9	3.4	19.4	18.5
2018[17]	88.5	104,514	5.5	31.4	2.9	6.8	4.0	5.7	17.3	25.2
2022[18]	86.1	104,846	4.4	31.1	2.9	4.8	3.5	5.5	17.9	28.5

Governors

Main article: List of governors of Blekinge County

The current governor of Blekinge County is Swedish Social Democratic Party politician Ulrica Messing, appointed on the 1st of October 2021.

Municipalities

Population as of 2009-12-31 Blekinge county total 152 591, 1.6% of the nation.

• Karlshamn 30 919
• Karlskrona 63 342
• Olofström 13 102
• Ronneby 28 416
• Sölvesborg 16 813

Localities in order of size

The five most populous localities of Blekinge County in 2020:^[19]

#	Locality	Population
1	Karlskrona	36,904
2	Karlshamn	20,228
3	Ronneby	12,803
4	Sölvesborg	8,832
5	Olofström	7,777

Villages

• Olsäng

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.^[20] The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.

Location	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	2019
Karlshamn	7.6	9.2	10.9	13.6	17.1	17.8
Karlskrona	7.1	9.0	12.5	13.3	16.2	16.5
Olofström	21.9	22.3	23.4	26.6	31.2	31.4
Ronneby	8.4	10.1	12.6	14.8	21.4	21.9
Sölvesborg	9.3	10.5	11.9	13.2	15.3	15.2
Total	9.0	10.6	13.0	14.8	18.5	18.9
Source: SCB [20]

References

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 17 December 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 17 December 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
18. "Valpresentation". resultat.val.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-01-26.
19. "Tätorter 2010 (Localities 2010)". Statistics Sweden (in Swedish). 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
20. "PxWeb - välj variabler och värden" (in Swedish). SCB. Retrieved 11 August 2020.

External links

• Blekinge County Administrative Board
• Blekinge County Council
• Regional Association of Blekinge

56°14′36″N 14°22′52″E