Olofström Municipality
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olofströms kommun | |
|---|---|
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| County | Blekinge County |
| Province | Blekinge |
| Seat | Olofström |
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| Population • Total |
167th of 290 13,355 inhabitants |
| Area • Total area • Land area • Water area |
211th of 290 415.43 km² 391.90 km² |
| Density • Total |
122nd of 290 34.1 inhabitants/km² |
| Municipal code | 1060[1] |
| Website | www.olofstrom.se |
| Area and population as of December 31, 2006 | |
Olofström Municipality (Olofströms kommun) is the only inland municipality of Blekinge County in southern Sweden. It borders to Osby Municipality, Kristianstad Municipality, Bromölla Municipality, Sölvesborg Municipality, Karlshamn Municipality, Tingsryd Municipality, and Älmhult Municipality. The town of Olofström is the seat of the municipality.
The amalgamation of the former units in this area took place in 1967 when the market town Olofström (itself detached from Jämshög in 1941) was merged with Kyrkhult and Jämshög.
Notable person that Olofström counts as theirs is Nobel Prize winning author Harry Martinson (1904-1978; prize in 1974) who was born in Jämshög within the municipality.
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[edit] Urban areas
There are 5 localities classified as urban areas (tätort in Swedish) in Olofström Municipality. In addition to that, there is one more recognized locality.
In the table the urban areas and localities are listed according to the size of the population as of December 31, 2006.[2] The municipal seat is in bold characters.
| # | Locality | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olofström | 7,425 |
| 2 | Jämshög | 1,605 |
| 3 | Kyrkhult | 1,016 |
| 4 | Vilshult | 327 |
| 5 | Gränum | 208 |
| 6 | Hemsjö | 73 |
[edit] Parishes
[edit] Geography
The municipality is covered with forests and lakes. It labels itself "The southernmost wildlife in Sweden", probably because there are scarsely any forests or lakes south of the Blekinge province.
The highest point in the province and county of Blekinge, Rävabacken (189,65 m), is located in the northern part of the municipality.
[edit] Industry
The increased use of cars in the 1950s and 60's was the great boost for the municipality. Today the car industry, dominated by Volvo Cars, is the largest employer in Olofström with 2,400 employees, and some more working in other companies connected to this industry.[2] The Volvo industry, with related production, is probably the main reason that the municipality's commuting surplus (as of 2005) is almost 2,000 a day, with many workers coming from the neighboring municipalities of a.o. Bromölla, Karlshamn and Sölvesborg.[2]
Vilshult is a small village within the municipality, situated 10 km north of the central locality of Olofström. It is recognised for a PV (photovoltaic) modules factory that has been located there since 2001. In May, 2005, it was reported that Olofström plans on building solar cells on the roofs of seven of its apartment houses. They would, if granted, form the largest solar cell park among the Nordic Countries and produce between 70,000-100,000 kilowatt hours yearly. [1]
[edit] References
- ^ Statistics Sweden
- ^ a b c Olofström Municipality, statistics (in Swedish) Retrieved on 2008-04-13
[edit] External links
- Olofström - Official site
- Tourism Olofström - International
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