This is a list of cities in modern Sweden that once enjoyed city privileges, thus were entitled to call themselves town (, plural ). The year indicates the year they were established or when they were granted a royal charter. The county indicates the county (län) of Sweden they are located in. The list does not include towns in Finland established during Swedish rule.
Overview Legally and administratively, the term is not used in Sweden since the municipal reform of 1971, when the municipality (kommun) became the only existing form of local government. Before the reform there were 132 urban centres (133 to 1966) that had the title of .
The urban centres of these municipalities are still called in daily speech and 14 of the municipalities have chosen to continue to call themselves in marketing situations, although several of them now encompass large rural areas following the merger of Swedish municipalities in the 1970s and 1980s. These 14 are: Borås Municipality, Gothenburg Municipality, Haparanda Municipality, Helsingborg Municipality, Landskrona Municipality, Lidingö Municipality, Malmö Municipality, Mölndal Municipality, Solna Municipality, Stockholm Municipality, Sundbyberg Municipality, Trollhättan Municipality, Vaxholm Municipality and Västerås Municipality.
The decision to call themselves has been taken purely for image and marketing reasons. In legal situations the word kommun (municipality) must be included in the municipality's name and governmental authorities will only refer to them by their legal names.
List CityCharterCountyAlingsås1619Västra GötalandArboga1200Västmanland Arvika1911VärmlandAskersund1643ÖrebroAvesta1641–1686, 1919DalarnaBoden1919NorrbottenBollnäs1942GävleborgBorgholm1816KalmarBorlänge1944DalarnaBorås1622Västra GötalandDjursholm1914StockholmEksjö1400JönköpingEnköping1300UppsalaEskilstuna1659SödermanlandEslöv1911SkåneFagersta1944VästmanlandFalkenberg1558HallandFalköping1200Västra GötalandFalsterbo1200SkåneFalun1641DalarnaFilipstad1611-1694, 1835VärmlandFlen1949SödermanlandGothenburg1619Västra GötalandGränna1652JönköpingGävle1446 (before)GävleborgHagfors1950VärmlandHalmstad1200HallandHaparanda1848NorrbottenHedemora1446 (before)DalarnaHelsingborg1085SkåneHjo1400Västra GötalandHudiksvall1582GävleborgHuskvarna1911JönköpingHärnösand1585VästernorrlandHässleholm1914SkåneHöganäs1936SkåneJönköping1284JönköpingKalmar1100KalmarKarlshamn1664BlekingeKarlskoga1940ÖrebroKarlskrona1680BlekingeKarlstad1584VärmlandKatrineholm1917SödermanlandKiruna1948NorrbottenKramfors1947VästernorrlandKristianstad1622SkåneKristinehamn1582–1584, 1642VärmlandKumla1942ÖrebroKungsbacka1400HallandKungälv1100Västra GötalandKöping1474VästmanlandLaholm1200HallandLandskrona1413SkåneLidingö1926StockholmLidköping1446Västra GötalandLindesberg1643ÖrebroLinköping1287ÖstergötlandLjungby1936KronobergLudvika1919DalarnaLuleå1621NorrbottenLund0990SkåneLycksele1946VästerbottenLysekil1903Västra GötalandMalmö1250SkåneMariefred1605SödermanlandMariestad1583Västra GötalandMarstrand1200Västra GötalandMjölby1922ÖstergötlandMotala1881ÖstergötlandMölndal1922Västra GötalandNacka1949StockholmNora1643ÖrebroNorrköping1384ÖstergötlandNorrtälje1622StockholmNybro1932KalmarNyköping1187SödermanlandNynäshamn1946StockholmNässjö1914JönköpingOskarshamn1856KalmarOxelösund1950SödermanlandPiteå1621NorrbottenRonneby1387–1680, 1882BlekingeSala1624VästmanlandSandviken1943GävleborgSigtuna0980StockholmSimrishamn1300SkåneSkanör1200SkåneSkanör med Falsterbo1754SkåneSkara0988Västra GötalandSkellefteå1845VästerbottenSkänninge1200ÖstergötlandSkövde1400Västra GötalandSollefteå1917VästernorrlandSolna1943StockholmStockholm1250StockholmSträngnäs1336SödermanlandStrömstad1672Västra GötalandSundbyberg1927StockholmSundsvall1624VästernorrlandSäffle1951VärmlandSäter1642DalarnaSävsjö1947JönköpingSöderhamn1620GävleborgSöderköping1200ÖstergötlandSödertälje1000StockholmSölvesborg1445BlekingeTidaholm1910Västra GötalandTorshälla1317SödermanlandTranås1919JönköpingTrelleborg1200SkåneTrollhättan1916Västra GötalandTrosa1300SödermanlandUddevalla1498Västra GötalandUlricehamn1400Västra GötalandUmeå1622VästerbottenUppsala1286UppsalaVadstena1400ÖstergötlandVarberg1100HallandVaxholm1652StockholmVetlanda1920JönköpingVimmerby1400KalmarVisby1000GotlandVänersborg1644Västra GötalandVärnamo1920JönköpingVästervik1200KalmarVästerås0990VästmanlandVäxjö1342KronobergYstad1200SkåneÅmål1643Västra GötalandÄngelholm1516SkåneÖrebro1200ÖrebroÖregrund1491UppsalaÖrnsköldsvik1894VästernorrlandÖstersund1786JämtlandÖsthammar1300Uppsala
Notes Skanör and Falsterbo were joined administratively in 1754 by the name Skanör med Falsterbo; they merged into a single urban area in the 1960s, still keeping their separate identities as two towns.
Today Most of the former towns are today urban centres (tätorter) and seats of their municipalities. Two seats/former towns and municipalities have a different name: Djursholm is the seat of Danderyd Municipality and Visby is the seat of Gotland Municipality.
A number of suburban towns have grown together with neighbours and are nowadays seldom considered as separate towns: Huskvarna (part of Jönköping) Mölndal (part of Gothenburg urban area) Djursholm, Nacka, Solna, Sundbyberg (part of Stockholm urban area) Lidingö (separated from Stockholm by water, but anyhow often counted to its urban area although according to Statistics Sweden, Lidingö is an urban area of its own)
The following are not seats of their municipalities: Gränna and Huskvarna (in Jönköping Municipality) Mariefred (in Strängnäs Municipality) Marstrand (in Kungälv Municipality) Sigtuna (in Sigtuna Municipality where the seat is Märsta) Skanör med Falsterbo (in Vellinge Municipality) Skänninge (in Mjölby Municipality) Torshälla (in Eskilstuna Municipality) Öregrund (in Östhammar Municipality)
See also Stad (Sweden) Municipalities of Sweden List of urban areas in Sweden by population List of cities List of cities in Europe
References
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