# Blekinge County

Blekinge County (Swedish: Blekinge län) is a county or län in the south of Sweden. It borders the Counties of Skåne, Kronoberg, Kalmar and the Baltic Sea. The capital is Karlskrona. It is the smallest of the present administrative counties of Sweden, covering only 0,7% of the total area of the country. Princess Adrienne, the daughter of Princess Madeleine, is Duchess of Blekinge.

## Province

Blekinge, the historical province Blekinge, has virtually the same boundaries as the current administrative entity, Blekinge County.

## Administration

Blekinge County was a part of Kalmar County between 1680 and 1683, due to the foundation of the naval base at Karlskrona.
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 Blekinge Governors.

## Heraldry

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

## Politics

Blekinge county council, or Region Blekinge, is a municipal entity that is independent of, but coterminous with, the County Administrative Board. Its main responsibilities lie in health care and public transportation issues for the county.

## Riksdag elections

The table details all Riksdag election results of Blekinge County since the unicameral era began in 1970. The blocs denote which party would support the Prime Minister or the lead opposition party towards the end of the elected parliament.
| Year | % | Votes | V | S | MP | C | L | KD | M | SD | NyD |
| 1970 | 85.4 | 95,576 | 4.2 | 50.2 | | 18.7 | 15.2 | 1.6 | 9.9 | | |
| 1973 | 90.8 | 98,425 | 4.1 | 49.6 | | 22.9 | 9.4 | 1.8 | 12.0 | | |
| 1976 | 92.0 | 103,248 | 3.3 | 49.5 | | 22.0 | 10.5 | 1.5 | 12.6 | | |
| 1979 | 91.2 | 103,037 | 3.9 | 49.9 | | 16.5 | 11.3 | 1.4 | 16.6 | | |
| 1982 | 91.5 | 103,262 | 4.0 | 52.7 | 1.2 | 15.6 | 5.6 | 1.9 | 18.8 | | |
| 1985 | 89.9 | 102,751 | 4.4 | 51.6 | 1.3 | 12.4 | 12.4 | | 17.6 | | |
| 1988 | 86.0 | 98,424 | 4.8 | 52.2 | 5.3 | 11.3 | 9.6 | 2.8 | 13.8 | | |
| 1991 | 87.5 | 99,208 | 4.1 | 46.0 | 2.8 | 9.0 | 7.5 | 6.2 | 18.1 | | 4.6 |
| 1994 | 87.6 | 100,235 | 6.5 | 52.9 | 4.4 | 7.6 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 18.5 | | 1.1 |
| 1998 | 82.3 | 93,756 | 13.1 | 42.4 | 3.9 | 5.3 | 3.6 | 11.0 | 19.2 | | |
| 2002 | 82.3 | 94,558 | 8.3 | 45.7 | 3.8 | 6.1 | 11.1 | 8.8 | 13.2 | 2.8 | |
| 2006 | 83.1 | 95,781 | 5.4 | 42.1 | 3.7 | 7.2 | 6.4 | 5.2 | 22.0 | 6.2 | |
| 2010 | 85.8 | 100,162 | 5.1 | 36.5 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 4.0 | 27.3 | 9.8 | |
| 2014 | 86.8 | 102,225 | 4.7 | 37.2 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 19.4 | 18.5 | |
| 2018 | 88.5 | 104,514 | 5.5 | 31.4 | 2.9 | 6.8 | 4.0 | 5.7 | 17.3 | 25.2 | |
| 2022 | 86.1 | 104,846 | 4.4 | 31.1 | 2.9 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 17.9 | 28.5 | |

## Governors

The current governor of Blekinge County is Swedish Social Democratic Party politician Ulrica Messing, appointed on the 1st of October 2021.

## Municipalities

Population as of 2009-12-31 Blekinge county total 152 591, 1.6% of the nation.
* Karlshamn 30 919
* Karlskrona 63 342
* Olofström 13 102
* Ronneby 28 416
* Sölvesborg 16 813

## Localities in order of size

The five most populous localities of Blekinge County in 2020:
| # | Locality | Population |
| 1 | Karlskrona | 36,904 |
| 2 | Karlshamn | 20,228 |
| 3 | Ronneby | 12,803 |
| 4 | Sölvesborg | 8,832 |
| 5 | Olofström | 7,777 |

## Villages

* Olsäng

## Demographics
### Foreign background

SCB have collected statistics on backgrounds of residents since 2002. These tables consist of all who have two foreign-born parents or are born abroad themselves. The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.
| Location | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Karlshamn | 7.6 | 9.2 | 10.9 | 13.6 | 17.1 | 17.8 |
| Karlskrona | 7.1 | 9.0 | 12.5 | 13.3 | 16.2 | 16.5 |
| Olofström | 21.9 | 22.3 | 23.4 | 26.6 | 31.2 | 31.4 |
| Ronneby | 8.4 | 10.1 | 12.6 | 14.8 | 21.4 | 21.9 |
| Sölvesborg | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.9 | 13.2 | 15.3 | 15.2 |
| Total | 9.0 | 10.6 | 13.0 | 14.8 | 18.5 | 18.9 |
| Source: SCB |||||||