Olofström Municipality

Olofström Municipality (Olofströms kommun) is the only landlocked municipality in Blekinge County, South 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.

Olofström Municipality

Olofströms kommun
Municipality
Coat of arms
CountrySweden
CountyBlekinge County
SeatOlofström
Area
 • Total413.43 km2 (159.63 sq mi)
 • Land389.79 km2 (150.50 sq mi)
 • Water23.64 km2 (9.13 sq mi)
 Area as of 1 January 2014.
Population
 (31 December 2019)[2]
 • Total13,426
 • Density32/km2 (84/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeSE
ProvinceBlekinge
Municipal code1060
Websitewww.olofstrom.se

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.

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.[3] The municipal seat is in bold characters.

#LocalityPopulation
1Olofström7,425
2Jämshög1,605
3Kyrkhult1,016
4Vilshult327
5Gränum208
6Hemsjö73

Parishes
  • Jämshög Parish
  • Kyrkhult Parish

Geography

The municipality is covered with forests and lakes. It labels itself "The southernmost wildlife in Sweden", probably because there are scarcely 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.

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.[3] 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.[3]

Vilshult is a small village within the municipality, situated 10 km north of the central locality of Olofström. It is recognised for a photovoltaics (PV) modules factory that has been located there since 2001.

References
  1. "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 2014-01-01. Archived from the original (Microsoft Excel) on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  2. "Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 31 december 2019" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  3. Olofström Municipality, statistics (in Swedish) Archived 2010-08-23 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2008-04-13

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