Amunicipal council (Swedish:Kommunfullmäktige) is the decision-making body governing each of the 290municipalities of Sweden. Though theSwedish Local Government Act (Swedish:Kommunallagen) uses the term "municipal assembly" in an English translation of the Act,[1] "municipal council" and even "city council" are used as well, even in official contexts in English by several of Sweden's largest municipalities, includingStockholm,[2]Malmö,[3] andGothenburg.[4]
This system of administrative division was established with the municipal reform of 1971. Prior to this reform, municipal governance in Sweden was conducted by either akommunalfullmäktige (municipal council in rural areas) or astadsfullmäktige (city council in urban areas).[citation needed]
The number of members in each assembly can range from 21 to 101, depending on the population of the municipality in question. Members of the assemblies are chosen to serve for four-year terms through elections using aparty-list proportional representation system. Thesemunicipal elections are held on the second Sunday of September, the same day asSwedish parliamentary elections.
The termkommunfullmäktige is also used bySwedish-speakers in Finland, where it corresponds to thekunnanvaltuusto with the same meaning.