Vilhelmina Municipality

Vilhelmina Municipality (Swedish: Vilhelmina kommun; Southern Sami: Vualtjeren tjïelte) is a municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Vilhelmina.

Vilhelmina Municipality Vilhelmina kommun
Municipality
Looking across Volgsjön on a summer morning
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 64°37′N 16°39′E
Country	Sweden
County	Västerbotten County
Seat	Vilhelmina
Area [1]
• Total	8,740.5 km2 (3,374.7 sq mi)
• Land	8,047.87 km2 (3,107.30 sq mi)
• Water	692.63 km2 (267.43 sq mi)
	Area as of 1 January 2014.
Population  (31 December 2023)[2]
• Total	6,263
• Density	0.72/km2 (1.9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	SE
Province	Lapland
Municipal code	2462
Website	www.vilhelmina.se

History

In 1804 the parish of Volgsjö was renamed Vilhelmina in honour of Queen Frederica Dorothea Wilhelmina of Sweden.

In 1947 the locality Vilhelmina was detached from the rural municipality with the same name, forming the market town (köping) of Vilhelmina. The two entities were reunited in 1965.

Geography

Like the rest of northern Sweden (Norrland), it is scarcely populated due to its inhospitable conditions and cold climate, but is superb for those who like wildlife and untouched nature.

Localities

There is only one locality (or urban area) in Vilhelmina Municipality:^[3]

#	Locality	Population
1	Vilhelmina	3,633

Demographics

This is a demographic table based on Vilhelmina Municipality's electoral districts in the 2022 Swedish general election sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics.^[4]

In total there were 6,473 residents, including 5,093 Swedish citizens of voting age.^[4] 51.6% voted for the left coalition and 46.7% for the right coalition. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.

Location	Residents	Citizen adults	Left vote	Right vote	Employed	Swedish parents	Foreign heritage	Income SEK	Degree
			%	%
Baksjönäs	1,540	1,240	54.8	43.1	78	90	10	21,615	28
Dikanäs	366	343	57.7	40.6	82	96	4	18,250	21
Latikberg	518	388	45.8	52.8	86	95	5	24,353	32
Lövliden	1,086	721	57.5	39.7	81	80	20	23,213	27
Nästansjö	414	323	42.7	54.7	82	97	3	23,329	21
Skansholm	780	614	44.3	54.6	83	96	4	22,553	25
Vilhelmina C	1,330	1,084	52.7	45.7	80	91	9	22,176	25
Vilhelmina-Saxnäs	439	380	53.4	46.2	82	95	5	21,741	27
Source: SVT[4]

Culture

Every July the town of Vilhelmina holds a festival called Hembygdsdagarna Vilhelmina. In addition to popular and folk music performances, tradition holds that a local engaged couple is selected each year to get married during the festival. The bride and groom lead a parade of fiddlers and other traditionally dressed Swedes through town to the church where the marriage is performed in front of all who wish to attend. They are not always able to find a couple willing to get married, however, so some years they hold the parade without an engaged couple, and hold a public church service instead of a wedding.

References

1. "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 2014-01-01. Archived from the original (Microsoft Excel) on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
2. "Folkmängd och befolkningsförändringar - Kvartal 4, 2023" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
3. Statistics Sweden as of December 31, 2005
4. "Valresultat 2022 för Vilhelmina i riksdagsvalet" (in Swedish). SVT. 11 September 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.

External links

• Vilhelmina Municipality - Official site (in Swedish)
• Article Vilhelmina from Nordisk familjebok, 1921 (in Swedish)
• Vilhelmina – An Adventure - Tourism PDF file
• Live webcam in Vilhelmina