Botkyrka Municipality

Botkyrka Municipality

Coat of arms
Country Sweden
County Stockholm County
Seat Tumba
Area[1]
 • Total 222.32 km2 (85.84 sq mi)
 • Land 194.17 km2 (74.97 sq mi)
 • Water 28.15 km2 (10.87 sq mi)
  Area as of January 1, 2014.
Population (December 31, 2016)[2]
 • Total 90,675
 • Density 410/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code SE
Province Södermanland
Municipal code 0127
Website www.botkyrka.se
Density is calculated using land area only.

Botkyrka Municipality (Botkyrka kommun) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba.

In 1971 Grödinge was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 Salem was added. The Salem part was already in 1983 split off again and a new Salem Municipality was formed.

Botkyrka church

History

The municipality is named after Saint Botvid, a Christian missionary during the 12th century. Saint Botvid is shown on the seal and coat of arms of Botkyrka Municipality, where he carries an axe and a fish. Another remnant of Botkyrka's Christian medieval history is the Botkyrka church, made of stone.

Botkyrka, particularly Northern Botkyrka, has one of the highest percentages of first and second generation immigrants in Sweden. 56.4% the population has at least one parent born in another country.[3] This gives the municipality a multi-cultural atmosphere with for example a big Syriac Orthodox Church in Hallunda and a mosque in Fittja.

Politically the municipality is primarily Social Democratic, that has governed Botkyrka for a long period except 3 years in the early 1990s. However, with fewer seats the party now governs together with The Green Party, and The Left Party. There have also been several local parties. For a long period a local party called Botkyrkapartiet (The Botkyrka Party) has held several seats. A party was also active from mid 1980s to mid 1990s with only one purpose - to prevent the exploitation of the small airfield, F18, in Tullinge to become a commercial airport in the 1980s. In the election 2010 a local party for the area of Tullinge got 6 seats on the agenda of separating Tullinge from Botkyrka as a separate municipality.

Botkyrka has two local, weekly, newspapers called "Mitt i Botkyrka"(Middle of Botkyrka) and "Södra Sidan"(South side). They are delivered free of charge to all households.

The Swedish hip hop group The Latin Kings raps about life in Botkyrka in several of their songs.

Localities

The northern and eastern parts of the municipality are in the contiguous Stockholm urban area. Tumba forms a locality (tätort) of its own (which partly is in Salem Municipality). Vårsta is in the central part. The southern half of the municipality is mostly rural.

Public transportation

Botkyrka is served by the Stockholm public transport system. Stockholm metro has four and Stockholm commuter rail two stations within the municipality. There is also an extensive SL bus network.

Companies

Botkyrka is a municipal with several world-famous companies.

Notably, Lars Magnus Ericsson who founded the LM Ericsson company (now known as Ericsson) also had properties in Botkyrka, including Hågelby gård which today is used for conferences and as an excursion place with gardens, animals, stone age village and more.

Hågelby Gård

Districts

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Botkyrka:

References

  1. ↑ "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (Microsoft Excel) (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  2. ↑ "Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 31 december 2016" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. February 21, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  3. ↑ - Area statistics for Botkyrka

Coordinates: 59°12′N 17°49′E / 59.200°N 17.817°E / 59.200; 17.817

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