Falkenberg Municipality


Falkenberg Municipality is a municipality in Halland County on the Swedish west coast. The town Falkenberg is the municipal seat.
The municipality was created in 1971 when the City of Falkenberg was amalgamated with six rural municipalities and part of a seventh. There are 24 original entities within the area.
Today, Falkenberg holds a strong position in the food and beverage industry with companies such as Arla Foods, Carlsberg and SIA Glass having plants in the city. In the inland Gekås, a major department store, draws visitors from all over the country. Falkenberg is also a tourist city, mainly for its many beaches.

Economy

The main income for the Municipality is tourism from around Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Holland and Norway. The food industry is important. Here has Carlsberg Brewery a plant with 570 employees and Arla Foods who makes cheese has a factory with 400 employees. Other important workplaces is the Gekås shoppingcentre in Ullared which has more than 1,100 employees. The centre is a "Mecka" for low-price shoppers and the company earns more than
2 700 000 000 kronor each year. The shoppingcentre in Wal-Mart style company has 3,800,000 visitors each year which makes it Sweden's most visited place.

Politics

was the major party until 1931, when the Social Democratic Party gained that position. The municipality has, however, been a stronghold for the centre-right, whose parties have led the municipality thereafter, except for the period between 1994-1998. The current mayor is Per Svensson and the deputy mayor is Annelie Andelén.

Localities

There are 17 urban areas in Falkenberg Municipality.
In the table the localities are listed according to the size of the population as of 31 December 2005. The municipal seat is in bold characters.
#LocalityPopulation
1Falkenberg18,972
2Skogstorp2,180
3Slöinge974
4Ullared820
5Skrea789
6Vessigebro774
7Glommen687
8Vinberg598
9Långås516
10Älvsered475
11Heberg463
12Ätran400
13Ringsegård383
14Bergagård265
15Årstad258
16Morup248
17Vinbergs kyrkby216

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

The municipality is twinned with: