Upplands-Bro Municipality

Upplands-Bro kommun
Municipality

Coat of arms
Country Sweden
County Stockholm County
Seat Kungsängen
Area[1]
  Total 325.23 km2 (125.57 sq mi)
  Land 235.47 km2 (90.92 sq mi)
  Water 89.76 km2 (34.66 sq mi)
  Area as of January 1, 2014.
Population (June 30, 2016)[2]
  Total 26,214
  Density 81/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code SE
Province Uppland
Municipal code 0139
Website www.upplands-bro.se
Density is calculated using land area only.

Upplands-Bro Municipality (Upplands-Bro kommun) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Kungsängen.

The municipality was formed in 1952 through the amalgamation of five rural municipalities in Uppsala County. In 1971 it was transferred to Stockholm County.

Geography

Situated by Lake Mälaren it is distinguished by its nature. The overwhelming majority of the population are located to one of the three towns Kungsängen (pop. 7,500), Bro (6,200) and Brunna (4,000), and most of the remaining area is taken up by countryside, a substantial part of it being agricultural.

Public transportation

The municipality is served by the Stockholm public transport system operated by SL. The municipal seat Kungsängen used to be the north-western terminus of the Stockholm commuter rail network, but in 2000 this line was extended to Bålsta in Uppsala County and a new station was built in Bro. A new depot for commuter trains has recently been built in the municipality. There is also a bus network.

History

As apparent from its coat of arms, Upplands-Bro takes pride in its pre-historic history, and boasts some of the oldest ancient remains in Sweden. From the Iron Age, about 4,000 burial places have been found, and the remains from the Viking Age include 20 runestones.

Every one of the six parishes also hosts a medieval church, built between 1100–1400.

In the 15th century, the fortress Almarestäket was built in the municipality, just east to the present location of Kungsängen. It was the seat of the Swedish archbishop until the Archbishop Gustav Trolle besieged himself there in 1517, leading to the demolition of the fortress in 1519. The ruins can still be visited.

Since 1970, the main base of the combined cavalry/infantry regiment Livgardet is located in Upplands-Bro. The regiment trains conscript companies of mechanized infantry, Royal Guards and military police. It is also the home of the Swedish Armed Forces International Centre (Swedint).

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: 59°29′N 17°45′E / 59.483°N 17.750°E / 59.483; 17.750

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.