Lysekil Municipality

Lysekil Municipality
Lysekils kommun
Municipality

Coat of arms
Country Sweden
County Västra Götaland County
Seat Lysekil
Area[1]
 • Total 695.41 km2 (268.50 sq mi)
 • Land 208.45 km2 (80.48 sq mi)
 • Water 486.96 km2 (188.02 sq mi)
  Area as of January 1, 2014.
Population (June 30, 2016)[2]
 • Total 14,530
 • Density 21/km2 (54/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code SE
Province Bohuslän
Municipal code 1484
Website www.lysekil.se
Postcard from Fiskebäckskil around 1900.
Slävik, Härnäset.

Lysekil Municipality (Lysekils kommun) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Lysekil.

The present municipality was formed in 1971, when the City of Lysekil (instituted as such in 1903) was amalgamated with Stångenäs and the island of Skaftö.

Geography

Lysekil Municipality borders to the municipalities of Sotenäs (in the north-west), Munkedal (north) and Uddevalla (east). The city of Lysekil is located on the southern tip of the municipality, by the Kattegatt strait.

The bay to the east, marking the border to Uddevalla, is called Gullmarsfjorden, or Gullmarn. It is Sweden's only true fjord. It is 25 km long, between 1-3 km wide, with a maximum depth of 118.5 meters. The depth at the mouth is only 20-40 meters on average, leading to a distinctive marine life in the fjord. Gullmaren is currently Sweden's only marine nature preservation area, and is home to several marine research institutes due to it being an easily studied microclimate.

Some of the municipal islets are considered part of the Gothenburg archipelago. Many islets are like small communities by themselves, with interesting histories of trading, fishing and stone quarrying in addition to their scenic nature.

History

Due to its geographical location, the industry has always been dominated by fishing, which also shows on its coat of arms. Lysekil was mainly known as a bathing location in Sweden in the 19th century, due to its popular bathing house dating from 1847.

Today tourism plays an important part in the economy of the municipality.

Localities

Government and politics

Distribution of the 41 seats in the municipal council after the 2010 election:

Results of the Swedish general election, 2010 in Lysekil:

Things to do

In Lysekil you can do quite a lot as a tourist in the summer. You can visit "Havets Hus" ("The House of the Ocean"), which is an aquatic museum that has most of the different ocean animals and plants living around the coast.

If you are the beach type, you can go to Pinnevik, a nice local beach, which offers a good sand beach that is child friendly.

You can take a walk in Stångehuvud, a nature park located not far from Pinnevik. On these rocks grows an amazing amount of different plants. In the summer there is even a guide.

Sister cities

Lysekil Municipality has three sister cities:

It also has one village it sponsors:

References

  1. ↑ "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (Microsoft Excel) (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  2. ↑ "Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 30 juni 2016" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2016.

Coordinates: 58°17′N 11°26′E / 58.283°N 11.433°E / 58.283; 11.433

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