On 31 December 1951 there were 93 local government units on the island of Gotland, among them one city, one market town, one county council and a lot of rural municipalities, many of them with less than 100 inhabitants. Twenty years later the situation was totally different. The first of the two nationwide local government reforms in Sweden during the 20th century was implemented on 1 January 1952. From that date on, the rural municipalities on the island were regrouped into twelve new enlarged municipalities, which together with Visby, Slite and the Gotland County Council formed the new administrative pattern. After ten years it was clear that this reform had not been radical enough and the work began preparing for the next one. On 1 January 1971 the second and last local government reform was implemented in Sweden. All administrative and judicial differences between rural and urban areas were abolished. Only one type of municipality existed from that date on. In the case of Gotland all the former entities were united into one single unit. As there was only one municipality in the county, also the County Council was abolished and merged into the new unitary municipality. As the municipality has both local and regional functions, normally provided by the Municipalities of Sweden and the County councils of Sweden respectively, Gotland has a special status as a municipality and is officially called Region Gotland as of 2011.
Localities
There are 16 urban areas in Gotland Municipality. In the table the localities are listed according to the size of the population. The municipal seat is in bold characters.
These are the results of the elections to the Riksdag held in Gotland since 1973. The results only include parties that have won representation in the Riksdag assembly at least once during this timeframe. The results of the Sweden Democrats were not listed at a municipal level by the SCB between 1988 and 1998 due to the party's small size at the time.
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
90.2
34,168
39.0
59.6
0.0
1.4
98.6
1976
90.7
36,105
40.3
59.0
0.0
0.7
99.3
1979
90.0
36,585
42.9
56.1
0.0
1.0
99.0
1982
90.6
37,646
45.8
50.7
0.0
3.5
96.5
1985
88.9
37,766
45.5
51.8
0.0
2.7
97.3
1988
85.8
36,362
51.9
46.3
0.0
1.7
98.3
1991
85.9
36,458
40.0
49.0
0.0
11.0
95.6
1994
86.1
37,009
55.4
40.4
0.0
4.2
95.8
1998
79.8
34,201
51.3
46.3
0.0
2.4
97.6
2002
79.0
34,376
54.7
43.9
0.0
1.4
98.6
2006
81.4
35,750
47.2
49.1
0.0
3.7
96.3
2010
84,9
38,640
47.8
47.3
3.2
1.7
98.3
2014
86.5
39,655
45.2
41.3
8.2
5.3
94.7
Local
Election results:
Region
When Gotland was made into a single municipality in the 1970s, the county council was abolished and its responsibilities transferred to the municipality, making it a unitary authority. During a trial period some of the authority normally held by the Gotland County Administrative Board, an agency of the national government, has also been devolved to the Gotland Municipality, as well as to two mainland councils. The municipality of Gotland is therefore in this respect also a region. It has responsibility for the public healthcare system and public transport.
Events organised by the municipality
The municipality coordinates the annual Almedalen Week, an important meetingplace for everyone involved in Swedish politics. During the week, representatives from the political parties in the Riksdag take turns to hold speeches in the Almedalen park in Visby.
