# Salem Municipality

Salem Municipality (Salems kommun) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The name traces its origins from Slæm in the 13th century, but was changed to Salem in the 17th century, inspired by the Biblical name of Jerusalem. Its seat is located in Salem.

## History

Like the rest of the areas around Lake Mälaren, Salem has a significant amount of ancient remains, as far back as the Stone Age. The church of Salem traces its foundation to the 12th century. The oldest historical monument in Salem is a church that dates back to the early 12th century.
Just like its eastern municipal neighbour Botkyrka, Salem traces its history back to the legendary Saint Botvid, who lived in the area sometime between 1050-1120. In the medieval tradition, a spring would always be found in connection to the death of a saint. According to legend, when the remains of Saint Botvid were transported to the church in today's Botkyrka, the casket was temporarily put down near the shore of Lake Bornsjön, where a spring poured up. It continues to provide clear water to this day. The parish name "Slaem" was mentioned for the first time in a letter written by King Magnus Ladulås in 1283. The current name (inspired by the one in the Bible) of the municipality became commonly used during the 17th century, although it was referenced 50 years earlier.

## Today

Salem was united with the municipality of Botkyrka during the Swedish municipal reform between 1971-1974. However, in 1983, after energetic protests, they were split apart, and Salem became the 14th smallest municipality by area in the country.
Salem is served by one station, Rönninge, on the commuter train line between Södertälje and Märsta via Stockholm. There are also a good network of bus lines.
The number of people in Salem is about 30% less during day time due to that it has the biggest percentage of people in Stockholm county that work outside own municipal.

## Demography
### 2022 population by district

This is a demographic table based on Salem Municipality's electoral districts in the 2022 Swedish general election sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics.
Residents include everyone registered as living in the district, regardless of age or citizenship status. Valid voters indicate Swedish citizens above the age of 18 who therefore can vote in general elections. Left vote and right vote indicate the result between the two major blocs in said district in the 2022 general election. Employment indicates the share of people between the ages of 20 and 64 who are working taxpayers. Foreign background is defined as residents either born abroad or with two parents born outside of Sweden. Median income is the received monthly income through either employment, capital gains or social grants for the median adult above 20, also including pensioners in Swedish kronor. The section about college graduates indicates any degree accumulated after high school.
In total there were 17,219 residents, including 11,967 Swedish citizens of voting age. 44.3% voted for the left coalition and 54.2% for the right coalition. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.
| Location | Residents | Citizen adults | Left vote | Right vote | Employed | Swedish parents | Foreign heritage | Income SEK | Degree |
| Location | | | % | % | | | | | |
| 1 Rönninge N | 1,907 | 1,322 | 41.7 | 57.0 | 86 | 81 | 19 | 35,072 | 58 |
| 2 Rönninge SÖ | 1,639 | 1,165 | 50.5 | 48.4 | 90 | 82 | 18 | 39,458 | 65 |
| 3 Salem V | 1,996 | 1,356 | 45.1 | 53.6 | 82 | 65 | 35 | 27,711 | 36 |
| 4 Salem C | 1,904 | 1,462 | 45.5 | 53.2 | 81 | 65 | 35 | 23,967 | 33 |
| 5 Salem N | 1,900 | 1,302 | 40.2 | 58.4 | 80 | 56 | 44 | 28,133 | 37 |
| 6 Rönninge C | 1,559 | 1,199 | 45.8 | 52.7 | 86 | 73 | 27 | 29,770 | 49 |
| 7 Salem S | 2,221 | 1,458 | 46.3 | 51.4 | 75 | 53 | 47 | 24,609 | 34 |
| 8 Salem Ö | 2,493 | 1,595 | 37.7 | 60.9 | 83 | 61 | 39 | 29,836 | 41 |
| 9 Rönninge SV | 1,600 | 1,108 | 48.6 | 51.1 | 87 | 84 | 16 | 39,164 | 65 |
| Source: SVT ||||||||||

### Residents with a foreign background

In 2017 the number of people with a foreign background (persons born outside of Sweden or with two parents born outside of Sweden) was 4 643, or 27.86% of the population (16 665 in 2017). In 2002 the number of residents with a foreign background was (per the same definition) 2 468, or 17.79% of the population (13 875 in 2002). In 2017 there were 16 665 residents in Salem, of which 3 270 people (19.62%) were born in a country other than Sweden. Divided by country in the table below - the Nordic countries as well as the 12 most common countries of birth outside of Sweden for Swedish residents have been included, with other countries of birth bundled together by continent by Statistics Sweden.
Country of birth :
| 31 December 2017 |||
| 1 | Sweden | 13,395 |
| 2 | Finland | 425 |
| 3 | European Union: Other countries | 417 |
| 4 | Asia: Other countries | 358 |
| 5 | Syria | 358 |
| 6 | Iraq | 326 |
| 7 | Poland | 231 |
| 8 | South America | 211 |
| 9 | Africa: Other countries | 156 |
| 10 | Europe outside of the EU: other countries | 124 |
| 11 | Germany | 95 |
| 12 | Thailand | 87 |
| 13 | North America | 69 |
| 14 | Afghanistan | 67 |
| 15 | Yugoslavia/ Yugoslavia SFR Yugoslavia/ Serbia and Montenegro | 64 |
| 16 | Turkey | 58 |
| 17 | Eritrea | 50 |
| 18 | Norway | 43 |
| 19 | Iran | 40 |
| 20 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 35 |
| 21 | Denmark | 30 |
| 22 | Somalia | 15 |
| 23 | Oceania | 7 |
| 24 | Iceland | 2 |
| 25 | Soviet Union | 2 |