Östersund Municipality
Encyclopedia
Östersund Municipality is a municipality
in Jämtland County
in northern Sweden
. Its seat
is located in Östersund
, which is also the county seat of Jämtland County.
The present municipality was formed in 1971 by the amalgamation of the City of Östersund with five surrounding municipalities.
(or urban areas) in Östersund Municipality:
The municipal seat in bold
(kommunfullmäktige
) are held every four years, parallel to the general election
s.
in the end of the 1910s and a more parliament
arian election system was introduced. Östersund continued to be governed by the burghers, unlike Sweden nationally. The dominating parties were the conservatives
, the freeminded
and the social democrats
. The latter did become the single largest party in 1938 but due to a strong centre-right majority it remained in opposition. The only other party present in Östersund was the communists
, though they had little support in the city, having entered the city council in 1922 and lost representation completely in 1930. The conservatives was by far the largest party and had a majority of its own with 18 seats in 1922. After the municipal elections of 1950 the situation had changed. The conservatives was the smallest party with 10 seats, the liberals (now represented by the Liberal People's party
) had 11 and the social democrats 19. This was in contrast to the turnout on a national level, where the social democrats had been the dominant party for over a decade gaining e.g. 46 percent of the votes in the general elections of 1948
. In 1952 a social democrat was appointed chairman of Östersund's governing body, due to the lack of political blocs and the strive for mutual agreements.
A majority for the social democrats was achieved first in 1962. The political scene was shortly afterwards altered, in 1966, when the agrian and rural
Centre Party
(previously known as Peasant's League) got into the city council, after broadening its scope to include non-farmers, alongside the Christian Democrats
(though not present on the national political scene) and the communists returning after a 40 year period of absence. The burghers was thus back in power. Following the rise of Swedish welfare
the small municipalities could not cope with their assigned duties. As a result large municipality blocks were introduced and Östersunds stad was heavily enlarged and several districts kilometres away from the city were included in the new Östersund Municipality.
The first election for the new municipality was held in 1970 and it was a large success for the Centre Party, both locally in Östersund and nationally due to its opposition towards centralisation. Having entered in 1966 with 4 seats it now possessed one fourth of the total number of seats (which was mainly due to support from the city, not the newly included rural areas). Block politics formation became prominent and the Centre Party became the leading party for the centre-right block, whilst the Social Democrats came to dominate the left block. The Social Democrats regained power in 1980 and has since governed Östersund Municipality until present day (excluding a brief period in the 1990s) supported by the communists (after 1991 knows an the Left Party) and occasionally the Green Party
. The Green Party has been in the municipal council since 1982.
as Alliance for Östersund. The Green Party did not want to pick a side between the Alliance and the ruling left block. This later gave the Green Party the opportunity to support either side. After negotiations the party chose to support the left block, just like it did 1998-2002. Jens Nilsson from the Social Democratic Party is the mayor
of Östersund and has been so since 1997.
Municipalities of Sweden
The municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...
in Jämtland County
Jämtland County
Jämtland County is a county or län in the middle of Sweden consisting of the provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen, along with minor parts of Hälsingland and Ångermanland, plus two tiny uninhabited strips of Lapland and Dalarna. Jämtland County constitutes 12 percent of Sweden's total area, and is...
in northern Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Its seat
Administrative centre
An administrative centre is a term often used in several countries to refer to a county town, or other seat of regional or local government, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located....
is located in Östersund
Östersund
Östersund is an urban area in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth largest lake, Storsjön, opposite the island Frösön, and is the only city in Jämtland. Östersund is the...
, which is also the county seat of Jämtland County.
The present municipality was formed in 1971 by the amalgamation of the City of Östersund with five surrounding municipalities.
Localities
There are ten localitiesUrban areas in Sweden
Urban area is a common English translation of the Swedish term tätort. The official term in English, used by Statistics Sweden, is, however, locality. There are 1,940 localities in Sweden . They could be compared with census-designated places in the United States.A tätort in Sweden has a minimum of...
(or urban areas) in Östersund Municipality:
| # | Locality | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Östersund Östersund Östersund is an urban area in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth largest lake, Storsjön, opposite the island Frösön, and is the only city in Jämtland. Östersund is the... (part of) |
43,359 |
| 2 | Brunflo Brunflo Brunflo is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,916 inhabitants in 2005. It is situated some 15 km south-east of Östersund.... |
3,916 |
| 3 | Lit Lit, Sweden Lit is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 1,051 inhabitants in 2005.... |
1,051 |
| 4 | Ope Ope Ope is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 441 inhabitants in 2005.... |
441 |
| 5 | Tandsbyn Tandsbyn Tandsbyn is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 396 inhabitants in 2005.... |
396 |
| 6 | Häggenås Häggenås Häggenås is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 351 inhabitants in 2005.... |
351 |
| 7 | Orrviken Orrviken Orrviken is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 239 inhabitants in 2005.... |
239 |
| 8 | Optand Optand Optand is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 238 inhabitants in 2005.... |
238 |
| 9 | Marieby Marieby Marieby is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 218 inhabitants in 2005.... |
218 |
| 10 | Fåker Fåker Fåker is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 209 inhabitants in 2005.... |
209 |
The municipal seat in bold
Emphasis (typography)
In typography, emphasis is the exaggeration of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text—to emphasize them.- Methods and use :...
Politics and governance
Swedish municipalities are responsible for government-mandated duties, and elections for the municipal councilMunicipal council
A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...
(kommunfullmäktige
Municipal assembly (Sweden)
A municipal assembly is the decision-making body governing each of the 290 municipalities of Sweden. Though the Swedish Local Government Act uses the term "municipal assembly" in the English translation of the Act, "municipal council" and even "city council" are used as well, even in official...
) are held every four years, parallel to the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
s.
Political history
Östersund gained a city council (stadsfullmäktige) in 1863, known as Östersunds stad, and each member was elected through a single-winner voting system. Sweden was democratizedDemocratization
Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...
in the end of the 1910s and a more parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
arian election system was introduced. Östersund continued to be governed by the burghers, unlike Sweden nationally. The dominating parties were the conservatives
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League by a group of conservatives in the Swedish parliament...
, the freeminded
Liberalism and centrism in Sweden
This article gives an overview of liberalism and centrism in Sweden. It is limited to liberal and centrist parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme...
and the social democrats
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
. The latter did become the single largest party in 1938 but due to a strong centre-right majority it remained in opposition. The only other party present in Östersund was the communists
Left Party (Sweden)
The Left Party is a socialist and feminist political party in Sweden, from 1967 to 1990 known as the Left Party – The Communists .On welfare issues, the party opposes privatizations...
, though they had little support in the city, having entered the city council in 1922 and lost representation completely in 1930. The conservatives was by far the largest party and had a majority of its own with 18 seats in 1922. After the municipal elections of 1950 the situation had changed. The conservatives was the smallest party with 10 seats, the liberals (now represented by the Liberal People's party
Liberal People's Party (Sweden)
The Liberal People's Party is a political party in Sweden. The party advocates social liberalism and is part of the governing centre-right coalition The Alliance, which achieved a majority in the general election of 17 September 2006...
) had 11 and the social democrats 19. This was in contrast to the turnout on a national level, where the social democrats had been the dominant party for over a decade gaining e.g. 46 percent of the votes in the general elections of 1948
Swedish general election, 1948
Elections to the second chamber of the Riksdag held 19 September 1948. Freshman Prime Minister and Social Democratic leader Tage Erlander managed to debauch the Liberal-led opposition under Bertil Ohlin, despite a furious campaign fuelled by the majority of the Swedish press, and could withhold his...
. In 1952 a social democrat was appointed chairman of Östersund's governing body, due to the lack of political blocs and the strive for mutual agreements.
A majority for the social democrats was achieved first in 1962. The political scene was shortly afterwards altered, in 1966, when the agrian and rural
Nordic Agrarian parties
The Nordic agrarian parties, or Nordic Centre parties, are agrarian political parties that belong to a political tradition peculiar to the Nordic countries...
Centre Party
Centre Party (Sweden)
The Centre Party is a centrist political party in Sweden. The party maintains close ties to rural Sweden and describes itself as "a green social liberal party". The ideology is sometimes called agrarian, but in a European context, the Centre Party can perhaps best be characterized as social...
(previously known as Peasant's League) got into the city council, after broadening its scope to include non-farmers, alongside the Christian Democrats
Christian Democrats (Sweden)
The Christian Democrats ) is a political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1964 but did not enter parliament until 1985 in an electoral cooperation with the Centre Party and on the Christian Democrats' own accord in 1991. The leader since April 3, 2004 is Göran Hägglund. He succeeded Alf...
(though not present on the national political scene) and the communists returning after a 40 year period of absence. The burghers was thus back in power. Following the rise of Swedish welfare
Swedish welfare
Social welfare in Sweden is made up of several organizations and systems dealing with welfare. It is mostly funded by taxes, and executed by the public sector on all levels of government as well as private organisations...
the small municipalities could not cope with their assigned duties. As a result large municipality blocks were introduced and Östersunds stad was heavily enlarged and several districts kilometres away from the city were included in the new Östersund Municipality.
The first election for the new municipality was held in 1970 and it was a large success for the Centre Party, both locally in Östersund and nationally due to its opposition towards centralisation. Having entered in 1966 with 4 seats it now possessed one fourth of the total number of seats (which was mainly due to support from the city, not the newly included rural areas). Block politics formation became prominent and the Centre Party became the leading party for the centre-right block, whilst the Social Democrats came to dominate the left block. The Social Democrats regained power in 1980 and has since governed Östersund Municipality until present day (excluding a brief period in the 1990s) supported by the communists (after 1991 knows an the Left Party) and occasionally the Green Party
Green Party (Sweden)
-External links:**...
. The Green Party has been in the municipal council since 1982.
2006 elections
In preparation for the 2006 municipal elections the centre-right parties in the opposition were joined, following the example done nationally with Alliance for SwedenAlliance for Sweden
The Alliance , formerly Alliance for Sweden , is a political alliance in Sweden. It consists of the four centre-right parties in the Riksdag...
as Alliance for Östersund. The Green Party did not want to pick a side between the Alliance and the ruling left block. This later gave the Green Party the opportunity to support either side. After negotiations the party chose to support the left block, just like it did 1998-2002. Jens Nilsson from the Social Democratic Party is the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Östersund and has been so since 1997.
| Summary of the 2006 municipal elections in Östersund | ||||||||||||||||
| Parties | Votes | Seats | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | +/− % | # | +/− | ||||||||||||
| Social Democratic Party Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889... (S) |
13 924 | 39.19 | +0.82 | 27 | +1 | |||||||||||
| Centre Party Centre Party (Sweden) The Centre Party is a centrist political party in Sweden. The party maintains close ties to rural Sweden and describes itself as "a green social liberal party". The ideology is sometimes called agrarian, but in a European context, the Centre Party can perhaps best be characterized as social... (C) |
7 628 | 21.47 | −2.58 | 15 | −1 | |||||||||||
| Moderate Party Moderate Party The Moderate Party is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League by a group of conservatives in the Swedish parliament... (M) |
5 704 | 16.06 | +6.29 | 11 | +4 | |||||||||||
| Left Party Left Party (Sweden) The Left Party is a socialist and feminist political party in Sweden, from 1967 to 1990 known as the Left Party – The Communists .On welfare issues, the party opposes privatizations... (V) |
2 618 | 7.37 | −3.12 | 4 | −4 | |||||||||||
| Liberal People's Party Liberal People's Party (Sweden) The Liberal People's Party is a political party in Sweden. The party advocates social liberalism and is part of the governing centre-right coalition The Alliance, which achieved a majority in the general election of 17 September 2006... (FP) |
1 949 | 5.49 | −1.30 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Green Party Green Party (Sweden) -External links:**... (MP) |
1 897 | 5.34 | +0.61 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Christian Democrats Christian Democrats (Sweden) The Christian Democrats ) is a political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1964 but did not enter parliament until 1985 in an electoral cooperation with the Centre Party and on the Christian Democrats' own accord in 1991. The leader since April 3, 2004 is Göran Hägglund. He succeeded Alf... (KD) |
1 145 | 3.22 | −0.38 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Others | 661 | 1.85 | −0.35 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Alliance for Östersund (C, M, FP, KD) | 16 426 | 46.24 | +2.03 | 32 | +3 | |||||||||||
| Left block (S, V) | 16 542 | 46.56 | −2.30 | 31 | −3 | |||||||||||
| Green block (MP) | 1 897 | 5.34 | +0.61 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Valid votes total | 35 526 | 97.33 | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| Invalid votes | 976 | 2.67 | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| Total | 36 502 | 78.20 | — | 67 | — | |||||||||||
See also
- List of governors of Jämtland County
- Swedish Armed ForcesSwedish Armed ForcesThe Swedish Armed Forces is a Swedish Government Agency responsible for the operation of the armed forces of the Realm. The primary task of the agency is to train, organize and to deploy military forces, domestically and abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the Realm in the...
- Swedish Air ForceSwedish Air ForceThe Swedish Air Force is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.-History:The Swedish Air Force was created on July 1, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalating international tension during the 1930s the Air Force was reorganized and expanded...
- Biathlon World ChampionshipsBiathlon World ChampionshipsThe first Biathlon World Championships was held in 1958, with individual and team contests for men. The number of events has grown significantly over the years. Beginning in 1984, women biathletes had their own World Championships, and finally, from 1989, both genders have been participating in...
External links
- Östersund Municipality - Official site