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.[3] Its seat is located in Salem.

Salem Municipality
Salems kommun
Municipality
Coat of arms of Salem Municipality
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 59°12′N 17°46′E
CountrySweden
CountyStockholm County
SeatSalem
Area
[1]
 • Total71.09 km2 (27.45 sq mi)
 • Land54.09 km2 (20.88 sq mi)
 • Water17 km2 (7 sq mi)
 Area as of 1 January 2014.
Population
 (31 December 2021)[2]
 • Total17,252
 • Density240/km2 (630/sq mi)
DemonymsSalemite
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeSE
ProvinceSödermanland
Municipal code0128
Websitewww.salem.se
Density is calculated using land area only.

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.

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.

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.[4]

Demography

Population development
Population development in Salem Municipality 1970–2019
Year Population
1970
11,951
1975
12,703
1980
12,879
1985
12,370
1990
12,478
1995
12,871
2000
13,766
2005
14,334
2010
15,391
2015
16,426
2017
16,665
2019
16,750

Source: SCB - Folkmängd efter region och år.

Residents with a foreign background

On the 31st of December 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 on the 31st of December 2017). On the 31st of December 2002 the number of residents with a foreign background was (per the same definition) 2 468, or 17.79% of the population (13 875 on the 31st of December 2002).[5] On 31 December 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.[6]

References
  1. "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 2014-01-01. Archived from the original (Microsoft Excel) on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  2. "Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 31 december 2021" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. February 22, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  3. Wahlberg, Mats, ed. (2003). Svenskt ortnamnslexikon (PDF) (in Swedish) (1st ed.). Uppsala: Swedish Institute for Dialectology, Onomastics and Folklore Research. p. 267. ISBN 91-7229-020-X. SELIBR 8998039. Archived from the original (PDF, 79.4 MB) on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  4. Stockholm County Administrative Board May 2013
  5. Antal personer efter region, utländsk/svensk bakgrund och år (Read 4 januari 2019)
  6. Statistiska centralbyrån: Utrikes födda efter län, kommun och födelseland 31 december 2017 (XLS-fil) Läst 4 januari 2019
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