Halland County

Halland Hallands län
County of Sweden
Coat of arms
Country	Sweden
Capital	Halmstad
Government
• Governor	Lars-Erik Lövdén
• Council	Landstinget Halland
Area
• Total	5,454 km2 (2,106 sq mi)
Population  (September 30 2011)
• Total	301,122
• Density	55/km2 (140/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	SE-N
GDP/ Nominal	SEK 61,339 million (2004)
GDP per capita	SEK 221,000
NUTS Region	SE231

Halland County (Hallands län) is a county (län) on the western coast of Sweden. It corresponds roughly to the cultural and historical province of Halland. The capital is Halmstad.

It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Skåne and the sea of the Kattegat.

Heraldry

The County of Halland inherited its coat of arms from the province of Halland. When it is shown with a royal crown it represents the County Administrative Board.

Province

Counties mainly serve administrative purposes in Sweden. The culture and history of the area is to be found in its provincial counterpart Halland. The county was designed with virtually the same boundaries as the province. The major exception is a part of Hylte Municipality, which belongs to the province of Småland.

Administration

The main aim of the County Administrative Board is to fulfil the goals set in national politics by the Riksdag and the Government, to coordinate the interests and promote the development of the county, to establish regional goals and safeguard the due process of law in the handling of each case. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a Governor. See List of Halland Governors.

Politics

Among the main responsibilities of the Halland County Council (Landstinget Halland) are public health care issues.

Municipalities

Sweden's counties are entities for Sweden's municipalities, responsible for such things as child care, education, street planning, etc. Municipalities in Halland County are, from north to south:

• Kungsbacka (69,352 inhabitants)
• Varberg (54,676)
• Falkenberg (39,595)
• Hylte (10,377)
• Halmstad (87,900)
• Laholm (23,039)

(Population as of June 30, 2005)

Culture

Music groups

• Gyllene Tider
• Roxette
• Isildurs Bane
• Sonic Syndicate

Localities in order of size

The five most populous localities of Halland County as defined by Statistics Sweden 2005:

#	Locality	Population
1	Halmstad	55 688
2	Varberg	26 041
3	Falkenberg	18 972
4	Kungsbacka	17 784
5	Onsala	11 375

Future

There is an investigation committee appointed by the government, investigating the best future division and responsibitites of the counties of Sweden, called Ansvarskommittén. They are working long-term, but their preliminary reports suggest a large reduction of the number of counties in Sweden. Halland county is there proposed to be divided in two halves, both to be combined with neighbouring large counties.

External links

• Halland County Administrative Board
• Halland County Council
• Regional Association of Local Authorities in Halland
• Hotels in Halland