Vetlanda Municipality

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This page deals with both Vetlanda Municipality and the urban area (tätort) Vetlanda

**Vetlanda Municipality (*Kommun*)**
Vetlanda in south-east Jönköping County Map outlining the municipalities of Sweden	Coat of arms
	Municipal facts
	Seat	Vetlanda
	{{{locationReadable}}}
	County	Jönköping County
	Province	Småland
	Area Rank	1,509 km² 61st of 290
	Population Rank (2005)	26,531 x of 290
	Population density	17.5/km²

Vetlanda Municipality is a municipality in Jönköping County, in southern Sweden where the town Vetlanda (pop. 12,000) is seat.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Notable natives
4 Urban areas
5 Sports
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Vetlanda municipality is the largest municipality in Jönköping County. It borders Eksjö Municipality and the town of Mariannelund in the north, Växjö Municipality in the south, Sävsjö Municipality with Målilla in the west and east respectively.

The municipality is situated on the Smalandian highlands, an area situated some 250 meter above sea level and also includes the municipalities of Eksjö and Nässjö. It is a sight worthy nature that is visited by tourists for the scenery alone.

The distance to any of the three largest Swedish cities Malmö (south-west), Göteborg (west) and Stockholm (north-east) is rather similar; about 300 km.

[edit] History

The history of Vetlanda goes back to at least the medieval age when it was the seat for the regional assembly called þing (thing). According to the imaginations of Petter Rudebeck (1660–1710), Vetlanda was before that known as Vitala, and the centre of a mythological kingdom. However, all later archeological research have failed in finding any evidence of it. But the myth was popular during the 18th and 19th century, which displays in the naming of several companies and locations around the municipality.

Vetlanda was still nothing more than a village for several centuries. With the 1840s population boom in Småland, and the industrial revolution winning grounds in Sweden, the industry expanded and people settled in the village. With the railroads lain through Vetlanda in the late 19th century the population further blossomed, and Vetlanda was granted its city charter on New Year's Day 1920, at which time its population amounted to 3,015. The coat of arms was selected as an ear of wheat, a derivation of the arms for the old jurisdiction Östra Härad, wherein Vitala was rumoured to have been the centre, that depicted three ears of wheat. The present spelling Vetlanda did not come into use until the 1920's, before that it was known as Hvetlanda, a name that can be found in several companies and organizations.

Vetlanda became a centre of railroad in the 19th century. Today it is no longer so; the mainline railway has been relocated. There is a narrow-gauge railway to Målilla.

In the 19th century, wood industry got a stronghold in Vetlanda, a seat it still has today. Manufacturing is large in Vetlanda, besides wood industries there is also a strong metal industries and other factories.