Olofström Municipality


Olofström Municipality is the only inland municipality in Blekinge County in South Sweden in southern Sweden. It borders to Osby Municipality, Kristianstad Municipality, Bromölla Municipality, Sölvesborg Municipality, Karlshamn Municipality, Tingsryd Municipality, and Älmhult Municipality. The town of Olofström is the seat of the municipality.
The amalgamation of the former units in this area took place in 1967 when the market town Olofström was merged with Kyrkhult and Jämshög.
Notable person that Olofström counts as theirs is Nobel Prize winning author Harry Martinson who was born in Jämshög within the municipality.

Urban areas

There are 5 localities classified as urban areas in Olofström Municipality. In addition to that, there is one more recognized locality.
In the table the urban areas and localities are listed according to the size of the population as of December 31, 2006. The municipal seat is in bold characters.
#LocalityPopulation
1Olofström7,425
2Jämshög1,605
3Kyrkhult1,016
4Vilshult327
5Gränum208
6Hemsjö73

Parishes

The municipality is covered with forests and lakes. It labels itself "The southernmost wildlife in Sweden", probably because there are scarcely any forests or lakes south of the Blekinge province.
The highest point in the province and county of Blekinge, Rävabacken, is located in the northern part of the municipality.

Industry

The increased use of cars in the 1950s and 60's was the great boost for the municipality. Today the car industry, dominated by Volvo Cars, is the largest employer in Olofström with 2,400 employees, and some more working in other companies connected to this industry. The Volvo industry, with related production, is probably the main reason that the municipality's commuting surplus is almost 2,000 a day, with many workers coming from the neighboring municipalities of a.o. Bromölla, Karlshamn and Sölvesborg.
Vilshult is a small village within the municipality, situated 10 km north of the central locality of Olofström. It is recognised for a photovoltaics modules factory that has been located there since 2001.