Karlstad Municipality

Template:Redirect Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox settlement

Karlstad Municipality (Template:Langx) is a municipality in Värmland County in west central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Karlstad.

The present municipality was established in 1971 when the former City of Karlstad was amalgamated with a number of surrounding rural municipalities.

Localities

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name=KarlstadVal2022>Template:Cite web</ref>

In total there were 95,290 residents, including 74,827 Swedish citizens of voting age.<ref name=KarlstadVal2022/> 52.5% voted for the left coalition and 46.4% for the right coalition. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.

Location

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style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" |

%

Alster N

1,977

1,547

47.0

51.9

86

94

6

30,665

53

Alster S

1,158

834

50.7

49.0

88

93

7

31,655

53

Bellevue-Bergvik

2,342

1,853

50.3

48.8

85

89

11

29,599

55

Edsvalla

1,354

976

44.1

54.6

78

84

16

25,037

31

Färjestad

2,116

1,749

45.5

53.1

84

87

13

29,113

52

Färjestad-Rud

2,051

1,681

55.1

44.1

79

85

15

24,641

52

Grava

1,748

1,315

38.6

60.5

85

95

5

29,211

43

Gruvlyckan

1,963

1,398

64.8

31.7

65

53

47

18,670

35

Haga

1,784

1,617

52.4

46.6

82

90

10

26,230

54

Hagalund

2,153

1,608

56.6

42.4

87

81

19

29,528

57

Herrhagen 1

1,795

1,537

54.6

44.8

77

84

16

22,821

55

Herrhagen 2

1,711

1,512

50.8

48.2

81

87

13

27,741

56

Herrhagen 3

1,853

1,539

55.9

42.9

80

88

12

25,714

60

Hultsberg

1,986

1,543

53.2

46.4

88

90

10

31,425

63

Inre Hamn

1,471

1,278

41.4

58.0

87

85

15

30,618

61

Klara

1,698

1,510

46.7

52.7

86

88

12

28,675

63

Kronoparken C

1,594

1,082

66.3

32.0

45

39

61

9,136

43

Kronoparken S

1,971

1,309

65.4

31.5

58

39

61

15,475

35

Kronoparken V

2,249

1,513

56.1

41.9

46

59

41

11,304

50

Kronoparken Ö

1,561

1,075

71.3

26.3

56

48

52

16,215

47

Kroppkärr

1,808

1,370

55.7

44.0

88

92

8

32,136

65

Kvarnberget

1,847

1,525

60.1

38.6

76

81

19

24,867

54

Lorensberg

1,643

1,204

59.6

40.1

90

91

9

32,234

63

Marieberg-Sommarro

1,954

1,570

56.6

42.8

83

89

11

29,735

68

Molkom

1,792

1,374

50.8

47.1

75

87

13

21,616

37

Norrstrand C

1,438

1,190

56.0

43.0

77

85

15

23,797

52

Norrstrand N

1,613

1,431

50.5

48.5

82

91

9

26,574

59

Norrstrand S

1,200

1,096

56.6

42.4

72

86

14

20,968

40

Norrstrand-Sjöstad

1,525

1,329

54.0

44.1

80

89

11

24,457

53

Nyed

2,018

1,632

43.8

55.5

81

92

8

24,682

35

Orrholmen

1,935

1,480

61.9

36.1

71

70

30

21,628

44

Romstad-Strand

1,929

1,467

50.2

49.7

85

89

11

31,584

63

Rud N

1,939

1,333

60.7

36.5

62

61

39

18,041

31

Rud S

1,761

1,372

60.5

37.7

66

67

33

18,476

41

Råtorp S

1,518

1,149

48.6

50.7

88

90

10

32,941

68

Råtorp-Älvåker

1,741

1,290

51.5

47.9

89

93

7

33,226

64

Skattkärr

1,755

1,282

47.2

51.7

84

93

7

28,319

47

Skåre

1,261

959

52.9

46.2

85

92

8

27,577

48

Soldattorpet

1,883

1,285

55.2

44.2

90

93

7

33,379

70

Stockfallet

2,491

1,670

53.3

46.6

89

85

15

32,076

64

Stodene

2,122

1,541

54.5

44.7

91

94

6

30,989

62

Sundsta

1,450

1,260

43.0

56.1

81

90

10

28,738

59

Tingvalla

1,711

1,769

45.6

53.4

77

80

20

24,958

51

Tingvallastaden

1,554

1,449

47.1

52.4

78

88

12

27,711

61

Torrmestad

1,411

1,188

56.0

43.0

79

87

13

26,485

55

Tullholmsviken

1,537

1,370

44.5

54.7

85

84

16

30,656

60

Universitetet

1,645

1,280

61.0

37.3

62

69

31

21,645

57

Viken

1,593

1,478

55.4

43.5

76

87

13

22,673

52

Vålberg

1,932

1,453

47.1

51.8

74

83

17

23,369

26

Vålberg-Nor

1,879

1,457

43.5

55.8

70

81

19

22,141

30

Våxnäs N

1,990

1,324

61.1

36.4

63

55

45

18,948

33

Våxnäs S

1,605

1,216

61.9

37.0

66

58

42

19,214

30

Väse

2,006

1,581

46.3

52.7

85

93

7

25,260

37

Östra Fågelvik

1,269

977

41.6

57.5

87

94

6

30,396

47

Source: SVT<ref name=KarlstadVal2022/>

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.

Year	Turnout	Votes	V	S	MP	C	L	KD	M	SD	ND
1973<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	92.0	47,969	4.2	45.0	0.0	24.3	10.1	0.8	15.0	0.0	0.0
1976<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	92.6	50,261	3.8	41.8	0.0	22.6	12.1	0.5	18.8	0.0	0.0
1979<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	91.6	51,435	4.8	43.5	0.0	16.1	10.0	0.6	24.2	0.0	0.0
1982<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	92.2	52,341	5.0	46.4	1.8	13.2	5.7	1.0	26.9	0.0	0.0
1985<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	90.5	52,538	4.8	45.2	1.9	9.2	14.6	0.0	24.3	0.0	0.0
1988<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	85.8	50,120	5.2	44.4	5.2	10.4	12.6	1.8	20.1	0.0	0.0
1991<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	87.5	51,742	4.2	37.5	3.3	7.2	9.5	7.0	23.7	0.0	7.0
1994<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	88.0	52,738	6.4	44.4	4.9	6.3	8.3	3.8	24.3	0.0	1.1
1998<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	82.8	50,206	12.7	36.4	4.9	4.1	4.7	12.0	23.2	0.0	0.0
2002<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	82.0	51,272	7.9	39.9	4.8	5.7	14.2	8.6	15.2	1.4	0.0
2006<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	83.6	53,554	6.0	36.8	5.5	7.5	7.7	6.5	25.2	2.3	0.0
2010<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	86.1	57,709	5.5	32.9	8.0	5.5	7.5	5.3	29.9	4.2	0.0
2014<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	87.7	61,111	5.5	34.7	7.8	5.7	5.3	4.5	23.3	9.6	0.0
2018<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	89.0	63,334	7.9	31.7	4.8	8.5	5.7	6.4	19.5	14.1	0.0

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.

Year	Turnout	Votes	Left	Right	SD	Other	Elected
1973	92.0	47,969	49.2	49.4	0.0	1.4	98.6
1976	92.6	50,261	45.6	53.5	0.0	0.9	99.1
1979	91.6	51,435	48.3	50.3	0.0	1.4	98.6
1982	92.2	52,341	51.4	45.8	0.0	2.8	97.2
1985	90.5	52,538	50.0	48.1	0.0	1.9	98.1
1988	85.8	50,120	54.8	43.1	0.0	2.1	97.9
1991	87.5	51,742	41.7	47.4	0.0	11.9	96.1
1994	88.0	52,738	55.7	42.7	0.0	1.6	98.4
1998	82.8	50,206	54.0	44.0	0.0	2.0	98.0
2002	82.0	51,272	52.6	43.7	0.0	3.7	96.3
2006	83.6	53,554	48.3	46.9	0.0	4.8	95.2
2010	86.1	57,709	46.4	48.2	4.2	1.2	98.8
2014	87.7	61,111	48.0	38.8	9.6	3.6	96.4
2018	89.0	63,334	44.5	40.1	14.1	1.5	98.5

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,[1] 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