thumb|260px|right|Counties before 1997.
Skåne County (, ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania ( ) in English, is the southernmost county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional province of Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronoberg and Blekinge and connects to Capital Region, Denmark by the Öresund Bridge across the Øresund strait. The seat of residence for the Skåne Governor is the city of Malmö. The headquarters of Skåne Regional Council are located in both Kristianstad and Malmö.
The present county was created in 1997 when Kristianstad County and Malmöhus County were merged; it covers around 3% of Sweden's total area, while its population of 1.3 million comprises 13% of Sweden's total population.
Endonym and exonym
When the new county was established in 1997, it was named Skåne län as its borders coincide with those of the province Skåne. In English, the county as well as the province are sometimes known as Scania, but the name Skåne is more frequently used, e.g. by the county administrative board.
Heraldry
The coat of arms for Skåne County is the same as for the province of Skåne, only with the tinctures reversed and the crown, beak and tongue of the griffin in the same color. When the arms are shown with a royal crown, it represents the County Administrative Board, which is the regional presence of (royal) government authority. Blazon: "Gules, a Griffin's head erased Or, crowned and armed the same."
Provinces
Skåne County is the administrative equivalent of the province of Skåne, but it also includes an insignificant part of the province of Halland.
Administration
Skåne County is administered by Region Skåne, one of the 20 county councils of Sweden. Its main responsibilities are for the public healthcare system and public transport. In addition, it has for a trial period assumed certain tasks from the County Administrative Board. The two former administrative county councils of the province of Skåne shown on the map, Kristianstad County and Malmöhus County, which were established in 1719, were merged in 1997, forming the present county with boundaries that are almost identical to the boundaries of the province.
The seat of residence for the Governor (landshövding) is the city of Malmö. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a Governor. See List of Skåne Governors.
County council
Region Skåne is an evolved County Council, which was established in 1999 when the County Councils of the former counties were amalgamated.
Its county or regional assembly is the region's highest political body, and its members are elected by the electorate, as opposed to the county administrative board, that guards the national interests in the county under the chairmanship of the county governor (landshövding in Swedish).
Municipalities
thumb|right|300px|Municipalities of Skåne
Skåne County contains 33 municipalities (), the largest by population being Malmö Municipality (340,000 inhabitants), Helsingborg Municipality (145,000), Lund Municipality (123,000 inhabitants) and Kristianstad Municipality (85,000 inhabitants). The municipalities have municipal governments, similar to city commissions, and are further divided into parishes. The parish division is traditionally used by the Church of Sweden, but also serves as a divisioning measure for Swedish census and elections.
Elections
Riksdag
The table details all Riksdag elections held in the area currently constituting Skåne County since the unicameral era began in 1970. Although both were rounded to 49.3 under one decimal, the leftist bloc had 49.33 to 49.25% for the centre-right bloc in the 1970 election.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
! Year
! Votes
! V
! S
! MP
! C
! L
! KD
! M
! SD
! NyD
! Left
! Right
|-
| 1970
| 617,147
| 2.1
| 47.2
|
| 20.0
| 15.3
| 1.2
| 14.0
|
|
| 49.3
| 49.3
|-
| 1973
| 641,980
| 2.8
| 45.0
|
| 26.5
| 7.7
| 1.0
| 16.7
|
|
| 47.8
| 50.9
|-
| 1976
| 676,741
| 2.6
| 43.0
|
| 22.8
| 11.2
| 0.8
| 19.3
|
|
| 45.6
| 53.3
|-
| 1979
| 677,896
| 3.2
| 42.7
|
| 15.3
| 11.4
| 0.7
| 25.9
|
|
| 45.9
| 52.6
|-
| 1982
| 688,331
| 3.3
| 45.0
| 1.6
| 13.8
| 6.0
| 1.0
| 29.0
|
|
| 48.2
| 48.9
|-
| 1985
| 687,808
| 3.1
| 43.3
| 1.5
| 10.4
| 14.0
|
| 27.1
|
|
| 46.5
| 51.6
|-
| 1988
| 667,533
| 3.5
| 43.3
| 5.8
| 9.6
| 11.0
| 1.7
| 23.8
|
|
| 52.5
| 44.4
|-
| 1991
| 680,256
| 2.7
| 35.9
| 3.0
| 6.6
| 8.0
| 5.9
| 28.0
|
| 6.9
| 38.6
| 48.4
|-
| 1994
| 693,113
| 3.7
| 45.5
| 4.0
| 6.3
| 6.1
| 3.0
| 27.4
|
| 1.7
| 53.3
| 42.9
|-
| 1998
| 653,092
| 8.2
| 37.3
| 3.6
| 4.0
| 4.4
| 10.2
| 27.8
|
|
| 49.0
| 46.4
|-
| 2002
| 665,232
| 6.0
| 39.8
| 3.8
| 4.3
| 13.8
| 7.8
| 18.1
| 3.6
|
| 49.6
| 44.0
|-
| 2006
| 707,231
| 3.9
| 33.7
| 4.5
| 6.0
| 8.4
| 5.0
| 29.6
| 5.7
|
| 42.0
| 48.9
|-
| 2010
| 761,223
| 3.9
| 26.7
| 6.7
| 5.1
| 7.6
| 4.2
| 34.5
| 9.0
|
| 37.3
| 51.3
|-
| 2014
| 797,657
| 4.4
| 28.3
| 6.8
| 4.7
| 5.7
| 3.4
| 24.7
| 17.9
|
| 39.5
| 38.5
|-
| 2018
| 840,110
| 6.4
| 25.2
| 4.3
| 6.8
| 5.7
| 5.3
| 21.4
| 23.4
|
| 42.7
| 55.7
|}
Regional
thumb|right|200px|The electoral districts of Skåne County for national parliamentary elections
The county is divided into four parliamentary constituencies or electoral districts, electing 47 of the 349 members of the Riksdag. Each district is made up of one or more municipalities.
In the 2018 general election, the Sweden Democrats performed particularly well in Skåne County, getting the highest number of votes in 21 out of the county's 33 municipalities.
Overall representation in the Riksdag during the 2018–2022 mandate period was as follows:
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
! colspan=2| Party !! Seats !! ±
|-
|bgcolor= | || align=left | Social Democratic || 12 || −1
|-
|bgcolor= | || align=left | Sweden Democrats || 11 || +2
|-
|bgcolor=| || align=left | Moderate Party || 9 || −4
|-
|bgcolor=| || align=left | Centre Party || 4 || +2
|-
|bgcolor=| || align=left | Liberals ||4 || –
|-
|bgcolor=| || align=left | Christian Democrats || 3 || +1
|-
|bgcolor=| || align=left | Left Party || 2 || +1
|-
|bgcolor=| || align=left | Green Party || 2 || −2
|-
! colspan=2 | Total !! 47 !! −1
|}
Localities in order of size
The ten most populous localities of Skåne County in 2020 were:
The ten largest municipalities of the county by total area are:
Demographics
thumb|Skåne county population pyramid
Foreign background
thumb|Swedish born and foreign born in Skåne county in 2022
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.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:right
!Location
!2002
!2006
!2010
!2014
!2018
!2019
|-
|align=left|Bjuv
| 18.3
| 20.8
| 24.7
| 26.1
| 31.9
| 32.9
|-
|align=left|Bromölla
| 9.8
| 10.8
| 12.9
| 15.6
| 20.1
| 20.7
|-
|align=left|Burlöv
| 24.8
| 30.0
| 36.2
| 39.5
| 44.3
| 45.4
|-
|align=left|Båstad
| 8.3
| 9.1
| 11.0
| 13.0
| 14.2
| 16.4
|-
|align=left|Eslöv
| 14.7
| 16.3
| 17.3
| 20.3
| 24.3
| 25.0
|-
|align=left|Helsingborg
| 20.2
| 22.6
| 25.9
| 29.1
| 34.2
| 35.2
|-
|align=left|Hässleholm
| 9.9
| 12.0
| 14.6
| 16.9
| 20.7
| 21.2
|-
|align=left|Höganäs
| 9.9
| 10.9
| 12.4
| 13.7
| 16.4
| 17.0
|-
|align=left|Hörby
| 7.8
| 9.7
| 12.0
| 13.5
| 15.9
| 15.9
|-
|align=left|Höör
| 9.6
| 11.0
| 12.5
| 13.0
| 14.8
| 14.9
|-
|align=left|Klippan
| 11.5
| 13.2
| 16.3
| 17.6
| 22.6
| 23.3
|-
|align=left|Kristianstad
| 11.5
| 14.0
| 17.6
| 21.2
| 24.0
| 24.8
|-
|align=left|Kävlinge
| 8.3
| 9.2
| 10.0
| 11.0
| 13.2
| 13.5
|-
|align=left|Landskrona
| 24.9
| 28.4
| 31.6
| 33.9
| 36.5
| 36.8
|-
|align=left|Lomma
| 7.7
| 8.0
| 9.2
| 9.8
| 12.0
| 12.5
|-
|align=left|Lund
| 17.1
| 18.3
| 21.5
| 23.4
| 26.9
| 27.7
|-
|align=left|Malmö
| 32.0
| 35.9
| 40.2
| 42.6
| 45.9
| 46.7
|-
|align=left|Osby
| 8.8
| 10.5
| 13.3
| 15.8
| 20.6
| 20.9
|-
|align=left|Perstorp
| 16.7
| 18.3
| 22.7
| 24.6
| 30.6
| 31.5
|-
|align=left|Simrishamn
| 7.0
| 8.5
| 9.7
| 11.7
| 15.2
| 15.3
|-
|align=left|Sjöbo
| 6.1
| 8.1
| 9.7
| 11.0
| 12.7
| 12.9
|-
|align=left|Skurup
| 8.7
| 10.8
| 12.4
| 13.4
| 16.4
| 16.8
|-
|align=left|Staffanstorp
| 10.6
| 11.6
| 13.6
| 15.0
| 17.8
| 19.1
|-
|align=left|Svalöv
| 11.5
| 12.7
| 14.7
| 17.6
| 21.7
| 22.7
|-
|align=left|Svedala
| 8.3
| 9.6
| 11.0
| 11.6
| 14.9
| 15.7
|-
|align=left|Tomelilla
| 6.8
| 8.3
| 10.4
| 12.1
| 15.4
| 16.1
|-
|align=left|Trelleborg
| 15.2
| 16.7
| 18.4
| 19.9
| 22.5
| 23.0
|-
|align=left|Vellinge
| 6.5
| 7.5
| 8.8
| 9.6
| 11.4
| 11.4
|-
|align=left|Ystad
| 8.0
| 8.9
| 9.7
| 10.6
| 12.9
| 13.0
|-
|align=left|Åstorp
| 17.8
| 21.1
| 24.9
| 27.8
| 33.3
| 33.8
|-
|align=left|Ängelholm
| 9.0
| 9.9
| 11.5
| 13.1
| 15.7
| 16.0
|-
|align=left|Örkelljunga
| 11.3
| 13.4
| 15.9
| 17.8
| 21.6
| 22.4
|-
|align=left|Östra Göinge
| 8.0
| 9.2
| 10.1
| 14.5
| 22.9
| 23.5
|-
|align=left|Total
|17.6
|19.9
|23.1
|25.4
|29.0
|29.7
|-
|align=left colspan=7|Source: SCB
The major ports of Skåne are Trelleborg, Ystad, Åhus, Copenhagen Malmö Port, Landskrona Harbour and Helsingborg Harbour. Ferry connections across the Baltic Sea operate from several smaller ports as well.
References
External links
- Skåne County official website
- Skåne County Administrative Board