Skåne County (Skåne län) is the southernmost county or län, of Sweden, basically corresponding to the historical province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronoberg and Blekinge. The seat of residence for the Skåne Governor is the town of Malmö. The headquarters of Region Skåne is the town of Kristianstad.[2] The present county was created in 1997 when Kristianstad County and Malmöhus County were merged. Skåne County covers around 3% of Sweden's total area, but its population of 1,200,000 comprises 13% of Sweden's total population.
HeraldryThe coat of arms for Skåne County is the same as for the province of Scania only with the tinctures reversed and the crown, beak and tongue of the Griffin in the same color. When the arms is 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". ProvincesSkåne County is the administrative equivalent of the province of Scania, but it also includes an insignificant part of the province Halland. AdministrationThe seat of residence for the Governor or Landshövding is the town of Malmö. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a Governor. See List of Skåne Governors. The two administrative counties of the province of Scania, Kristianstad County and Malmöhus County, which were established in 1719 were merged together in 1997, forming the present county with boundaries that are almost identical to the boundaries of the province. County councilSkåne Regional Council (Region Skåne) is an evolved County Council. 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. In 1999, a regional council (Region Skåne in Swedish) was established for the overall political organisation. Its county or regional assembly is the highest political body in the region and its members are elected by the Scanians themselves[3], as opposed to the county administrative council that guards the interest of the state in the region under the chairmanship of the county governor (landshövding in Swedish). MunicipalitiesSkåne County is subdivided into 33 municipalities[4] (kommuner in Swedish), the largest being Malmö Municipality (280,000 inhabitants), Helsingborg Municipality (124,000), Lund Municipality (103,000 inhabitants) and Kristianstad Municipality (75,000 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. Localities in order of sizeBelow is a list of localities (tätorter) in Skåne County with a population greater than 2,000 (as of 2000). In those cases when municipal borders cross through a town, it's counted to the municipality the largest part belongs to. Municipalities are noted in parenthesis, except when the municipality carry the name of the town.
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