Stockholm Municipality

Stockholm Municipality or the City of Stockholm (Swedish: Stockholms kommun or Stockholms stad) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is the largest of the 290 municipalities of the country in terms of population, but one of the smaller in terms of area, making it the most densely populated. It is also the most populous municipality in the Nordic countries.

Although legally a municipality with the official proper name Stockholms kommun, the municipal assembly (kommunfullmäktige) has decided to use the name Stockholms stad (City of Stockholm in English) whenever possible. This is purely nominal and has no effect on the legal status of the municipality.

Geography

Geographically, Stockholm Municipality comprises the central part of the capital (Innerstaden or Stockholm City Centre) as well as the southern and western suburban parts (Söderort or South Stockholm and Västerort or West Stockholm respectively). Of the municipal population, all but 200 people are considered living in the Stockholm urban area, a tätort further extending into ten other municipalities.

History

When the first local government acts came into force in Sweden in 1863, Stockholm was one of the then 89 cities of Sweden. A first City Council was elected. The area roughly corresponded with today's Innerstaden. Large areas were annexed in 1913, 1916 and 1949. The city was outside Stockholm County until 1968, having its own governor. The local government reform of 1971 made...
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