Karlstad Municipality

Localities

• Alster
• Blombacka
• Karlstad (seat)
• Killstad
• Molkom
• Skattkärr
• Skåre
• Slängserud
• Vallargärdet
• Väse

Politics

Municipalities are responsible for government-mandated duties, and elections for the Municipal council are held every four years, parallel to the general elections.

Until the 2010s inhabitants of Karlstad had a tendency to vote close to the national results at the general elections, making it the generally accepted bellwether town of Sweden. In 2022 this had decisively changed, with the winning right coalition performing seven points better overall than it did in Karlstad, with the bellwether municipalities instead being previous Social Democrats-dominated post-industrial towns in Bergslagen a bit northeast of Karlstad.

Demographics

This is a demographic table based on Karlstad Municipality's electoral districts in the 2022 Swedish general election sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics.

In total there were 95,290 residents, including 74,827 Swedish citizens of voting age. 52.5% voted for the left coalition and 46.4% for the right coalition. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.

Elections

Riksdag

These are the local results of the Riksdag elections since the 1972 municipality reform. The results of the Sweden Democrats were not published by SCB between 1988 and 1998 at a municipal level to the party's small nationwide size at the time. "Votes" denotes valid votes, whereas "Turnout" denotes also blank and invalid votes.

Blocs

This lists the relative strength of the socialist and centre-right blocs since 1973, but parties not elected to the Riksdag are inserted as "other", including the Sweden Democrats results from 1988 to 2006, but also the Christian Democrats pre-1991 and the Greens in 1982, 1985 and 1991. The sources are identical to the table above. The coalition or government mandate marked in bold formed the government after the election. New Democracy got elected in 1991 but are still listed as "other" due to the short lifespan of the party. "Elected" is the total number of percentage points from the municipality that went to parties who were elected to the Riksdag.

Notable natives

• Bengt Alsterlind, TV host ("Hajk")
• Zarah Leander, singer
• Sven-Erik Magnusson, singer/dance band artist (Sven-Ingvars)
• Christer Sjögren, rock/dansband singer (Vikingarna)
• Ulf Sterner, ice hockey player (first Swede to play in the National Hockey League)
• Fabian Zetterlund, ice hockey forward for the San Jose Sharks
• Elgen Helge, local hero (Most handsome moose around)

Sites of interest

• Alsters herrgård, the manor house where Gustaf Fröding was born
• Karlstad Church, built in 1730
• An indoor ice rink and event arena, Löfbergs Arena, expanded in 2002 to host the Ice Hockey World Championships*
• Sweden's only indoor speed skating arena, Tingvalla isstadion. It is constructed in a world unique way. While normally it consists of a bandy field and two ice hockey rinks,https://skeid-bandy.no/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TIngvalla-isstadion-2021.jpg on occasion the boards are dismantled in order to make room for the speed skating oval.
• Botanical gardens
• The masonic lodge where the negotiations for the dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway were held in 1905
• A runestone Vr 2, one of four known in Värmland
• A history museum
• A nature museum

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Sweden

Twin towns – sister cities

The municipality is twinned with:

• ISL Blönduós, Iceland
• TUR Gaziantep, Turkey
• DEN Horsens, Denmark
• EST Jõgeva, Estonia
• NOR Moss, Norway
• FIN Nokia, Finland

References

References

1. "Karlstad röstar som Sverige | Forskning & Framsteg | Populärvetenskapligt magasin". Fof.se.
2. (6 March 2006). "Som Ljungby röstar – röstar inte Sverige – Statistiska centralbyrån". Scb.se.
3. (11 September 2022). "Valresultat 2022 för Karlstad i riksdagsvalet". [[Swedish Television.
4. "Riksdagsvalet 1973 (page 166)". SCB.
5. "Riksdagsvalet 1976 (page 161)". SCB.
6. "Riksdagsvalet 1979 (page 185)". SCB.
7. "Riksdagsvalet 1982 (page 186)". SCB.
8. "Riksdagsvalet 1985 (page 187)". SCB.
9. "Riksdagsvalet 1988 (page 167)". SCB.
10. "Riksdagsvalet 1991 (page 29)". SCB.
11. "Riksdagsvalet 1994 (page 43)". SCB.
12. "Riksdagsvalet 1998 (page 40)". SCB.
13. "Valresultat Riksdag Karlstads kommun 2002". Valmyndigheten.
14. "Valresultat Riksdag Karlstads kommun 2006". Valmyndigheten.
15. "Valresultat Riksdag Karlstads kommun 2010". Valmyndigheten.
16. "Valresultat Riksdag Karlstads kommun 2014". Valmyndigheten.
17. "Valresultat Riksdag Karlstads kommun 2018". Valmyndigheten.
18. "Karlstads kommun samarbetar med kommuner i andra länder".