Skövde

Submitted by editor on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 22:23

Skövde

Skövde

Coat of arms
Skövde is located in Sweden
Skövde
Coordinates: 58°23′N 13°51′E / 58.383°N 13.85°E / 58.383; 13.85Coordinates: 58°23′N 13°51′E / 58.383°N 13.85°E / 58.383; 13.85
Country Sweden
Province Västergötland
County Västra Götaland County
Municipality Skövde Municipality
Area
 - Total 19.78 km2 (7.6 sq mi)
Population (2005-12-31)
 - Total 34 446
 - Density 1,674/km2 (4,335.6/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Skövde is a locality and the seat of Skövde Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 34 446 inhabitants (2010-12-31).

Skövde is situated some 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between Sweden's two largest lakes, Vänern and Vättern. It sits on the eastern slope of a low mountain ridge Billingen (299 m), which cuts through the plain between the lakes. The western main railway (Västra Stambanan) was built through Skövde in the 1890s, which gave the town a dramatic industrial and population boost.

Contents

History

Skövde traces its history back to the medieval age. In its city arms is the image of Saint Helena who allegedly was a pious woman from Skövde. She was born about 1101, and was canonized in 1165 by Pope Alexander III and Archbishop Stefan of Sweden.

Of the medieval houses nothing remains, as a fire in 1759 burned down the entire city except for some houses called Helensgården. After the fire, the city was rebuilt according to a grid pattern. The city still only had a small population until the railroad between Stockholm and Gothenburg was laid through the city, leading to an industrial and population boost.

Industry

AB Volvo and Volvo Cars jointly operate one of the world’s largest automotive foundries in Skövde, with more than 5,000 workers. The plant is known world-wide for producing the most industrial diesel engines in the world for AB Volvo and also for producing compact inline 5 cylinder petrol engines for Volvo Cars. The boxy cars take after the city's architecture which is also boxy.

Military

The armoured corps regiment Skaraborgs regemente (P4) and the logistics corps regiment Trängregementet (TrängR) are both located in Skövde, as is the Army Combat schools.

Education

  • The Skövde University College has over 8,000 students and six faculties.
  • SRTC, Swedish Rescue Training Centre [1] (earlier Räddningsverkets övningsfält), offers a broad variety of education and exercises within the risk and safety sector.

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Skövde:

Airport

Skövde Airport is located approximately 10 km from Skövde. Currently there are no scheduled flights, however there is an active flying club, gliding club and at least one corporate jet is based at Skövde.

See also

  • Swedish Army

  1. ^ a b c "Tätorter 2010" (in Swedish) (pdf). Statistics Sweden. http://www.scb.se/statistik/MI/MI0810/2010A01/MI0810_2010A01_SM_MI38SM1101.pdfhttp://www.scb.se/statistik/MI/MI0810/2010A01/MI0810_2010A01_SM_MI38SM1101.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-03. 
Murkrona.svg Skövde is one of 133 places with the historical city status in Sweden.
Localities in Skövde Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden
Localities:
Igelstorp  · Lerdala  · Skultorp  · Skövde (seat)  · Stöpen  · Tidan  · Timmersdala  · Ulvåker  · Väring  · Värsås
Municipalities and seats of Västra Götaland County
Municipalities
Ale · Alingsås · Åmål · Bengtsfors · Bollebygd · Borås · Dals-Ed · Essunga · Falköping · Färgelanda · Götene · Gothenburg · Grästorp · Gullspång · Härryda · Herrljunga · Hjo · Karlsborg · Kungälv · Lerum · Lidköping · Lilla Edet · Lysekil · Mariestad · Mark · Mellerud · Mölndal · Munkedal · Öckerö · Orust · Partille · Skara · Skövde · Sotenäs · Stenungsund · Strömstad · Svenljunga · Tanum · Tibro · Tidaholm · Tjörn · Töreboda · Tranemo · Trollhättan · Uddevalla · Ulricehamn · Vänersborg  · Vara · Vårgårda
 Coat of arms of Västra Götaland County
Municipal seats
Alingsås · Åmål · Bengtsfors · Bollebygd · Borås · Ed · Falköping · Färgelanda · Götene · Gothenburg · Grästorp · Gullspång and Hova · Henån · Herrljunga · Hjo · Karlsborg · Kinna · Kungälv · Kungshamn · Lerum · Lidköping · Lilla Edet · Lysekil · Mariestad · Mellerud · Mölndal · Mölnlycke · Munkedal · Nödinge-Nol · Nossebro · Öckerö · Partille · Skara · Skärhamn · Skövde · Stenungsund · Strömstad · Svenljunga · Tanumshede · Tibro · Tidaholm · Töreboda · Tranemo · Trollhättan · Uddevalla · Ulricehamn · Vänersborg  · Vara · Vårgårda
Counties of Sweden · Sweden
30 most populous cities of Sweden
as of 2005, according to Statistics Sweden [2]
1. Stockholm 1,252,000
2. Gothenburg 510,500
3. Malmö 258,000
4. Uppsala 144,839
5. Västerås 107,000
6. Örebro 98,200
7. Linköping 97,400
8. Helsingborg 91,500
9. Jönköping 84,400
10. Norrköping 83,600
11. Lund 76,200
12. Umeå 75,600
13. Gävle 68,700
14. Borås 63,400
15. Södertälje 60,300
16. Eskilstuna 60,200
17. Täby 58,600
18. Karlstad 58,500
19. Halmstad 55,700
20. Växjö 55,600
21. Sundsvall 49,300
22. Luleå 45,500
23. Trollhättan 44,500
24. Östersund 43,800
25. Borlänge 39,400
26. Falun 36,400
27. Upplands Väsby 36,000
28. Tumba 35,300
29. Kalmar 35,200
30. Skövde 33,100
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