Varberg

Coat of Arms Halland County

Varberg Municipality (Varbergs kommun) is a municipality in Halland County, in southwest Sweden. Its seat is in Varberg.

It was formed in 1971 through the amalgamation of the City of Varberg and the surrounding rural municipalities. There are 25 original local government entities included in the municipality.

5,000 people are commuting out from the municipality, mainly to Gothenburg and Falkenberg. 3,200 people are commuting into Falkenberg.

Localities

There are 16 urban areas (also called a Tätort or locality) in Varberg Municipality.

In the table the localities are listed according to the size of the population as of December 31, 2005. The municipal seat is in bold characters.
# Locality: Population
1 Varberg: 26,041
2 Tvååker: 2,390
3 Veddige: 2,192
4 Träslövsläge: 1,985
5 Bua: 1,792
6 Trönninge: 847
7 Skällinge: 603
8 Södra Näs: 600
9 Väröbacka: 521
10 Rolfstorp: 502
11 Tångaberg: 445
12 Åsby: 429
13 Kungsäter: 360
14 Tofta: 350
15 Himle: 259
16 Löftaskog: 226

Web References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varberg_Municipality

Halland County

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.

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 Parliament 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)

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.

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.

Web References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halland_County