Blekinge County (, ) is a county or län in the south of Sweden. It borders the Counties of Skåne, Kronoberg, Kalmar and the Baltic Sea. The capital is Karlskrona. It is the smallest of the present administrative counties of Sweden, covering only 0.7% of the total area of the country. Princess Adrienne, the daughter of Princess Madeleine, is Duchess of Blekinge.

Province

Blekinge, the historical province Blekinge, has virtually the same boundaries as the current administrative entity, Blekinge County.

Administration Blekinge County was a part of Kalmar County between 1680 and 1683, due to the foundation of the naval base at Karlskrona.

The main aim of the County Administrative Board is to fulfil the goals set in national politics by the Riksdag and the Government, to coordinate the interests and promote the development of the county, to establish regional goals and safeguard the due process of law in the handling of each case. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a Governor. See List of Blekinge Governors.

Heraldry The County of Blekinge inherited its coat of arms from the province of Blekinge. When it is shown with a royal crown it represents the County Administrative Board.

Politics

Blekinge county council, or Region Blekinge, is a municipal entity that is independent of, but coterminous with, the County Administrative Board. Its main responsibilities for the county lie in the areas of health care and public transport.

Riksdag elections The table details all Riksdag election results of Blekinge County since the unicameral era began in 1970. The blocs denote which party would support the Prime Minister or the lead opposition party towards the end of the elected parliament.

Year % Votes V S MP C L KD M SD NyD 1970 85.4 95,576 4.2 50.2 18.7 15.2 1.6 9.9 1973 90.8 98,425 4.1 49.6 22.9 9.4 1.8 12.0 1976 92.0 103,248 3.3 49.5 22.0 10.5 1.5 12.6 1979 91.2 103,037 3.9 49.9 16.5 11.3 1.4 16.6 1982 91.5 103,262 4.0 52.7 1.2 15.6 5.6 1.9 18.8 1985 89.9 102,751 4.4 51.6 1.3 12.4 12.4 17.6 1988 86.0 98,424 4.8 52.2 5.3 11.3 9.6 2.8 13.8 1991 87.5 99,208 4.1 46.0 2.8 9.0 7.5 6.2 18.1 4.6 1994 87.6 100,235 6.5 52.9 4.4 7.6 5.2 3.3 18.5 1.1 1998 82.3 93,756 13.1 42.4 3.9 5.3 3.6 11.0 19.2 2002 82.3 94,558 8.3 45.7 3.8 6.1 11.1 8.8 13.2 2.8 2006 83.1 95,781 5.4 42.1 3.7 7.2 6.4 5.2 22.0 6.2 2010 85.8 100,162 5.1 36.5 5.3 5.8 5.4 4.0 27.3 9.8 2014 86.8 102,225 4.7 37.2 4.9 5.7 3.9 3.4 19.4 18.5 2018 88.5 104,514 5.5 31.4 2.9 6.8 4.0 5.7 17.3 25.2 202286.1104,8464.431.12.94.83.55.517.928.5

Governors

The current governor of Blekinge County is Swedish Social Democratic Party politician Ulrica Messing, appointed on the 1st of October 2021.

Municipalities

Population as of 2009-12-31 Blekinge county total 152 591, 1.6% of the nation.

Karlshamn 30 919 Karlskrona 63 342 Olofström 13 102 Ronneby 28 416 Sölvesborg 16 813

Localities in order of size The five most populous localities of Blekinge County in 2020:

# Locality Population 1 Karlskrona 36,904 2 Karlshamn 20,228 3 Ronneby 12,803 4 Sölvesborg 8,832 5 Olofström 7,777

Villages

Bräkne-hoby Olsäng

Demographics

Foreign background SCB have collected statistics on backgrounds of residents since 2002. These tables consist of all who have two foreign-born parents or are born abroad themselves. The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.

Location200220062010201420182019Karlshamn 7.6 9.2 10.9 13.6 17.1 17.8Karlskrona 7.1 9.0 12.5 13.3 16.2 16.5Olofström 21.9 22.3 23.4 26.6 31.2 31.4Ronneby 8.4 10.1 12.6 14.8 21.4 21.9Sölvesborg 9.3 10.5 11.9 13.2 15.3 15.2Total9.0 10.6 13.0 14.8 18.5 18.9 Source: SCB

References

External links

Blekinge County Administrative Board Blekinge County Council Regional Association of Blekinge