The present county was created in 1997 whenKristianstad County andMalmöhus County were merged; it covers around 3% of Sweden's total area, while its population of 1.3 million comprises 13% of Sweden's total population.
When the new county was established in 1997, it was namedSkåne län as its borders coincide with those of the provinceSkåne. In English, the county as well as the province are sometimes known asScania, but the name Skåne is more frequently used, e.g. by the county administrative board.[5][6]
The coat of arms for Skåne County is the same as for the province of Skåne, only with thetinctures reversed and the crown, beak and tongue of thegriffin in the same color. When the arms are shown with a royal crown, it represents the County Administrative Board, which is the regional presence of (royal) government authority. Blazon: "Gules, a Griffin's head erased Or, crowned and armed the same."
Skåne County is the administrative equivalent of theprovince ofSkåne, but it also includes an insignificant part of the province ofHalland.[citation needed]
Skåne County is administered byRegion Skåne, one of the 20county councils of Sweden. Its main responsibilities are for the public healthcare system and public transport. In addition, it has for a trial period assumed certain tasks from the County Administrative Board. The two former administrative county councils of the province of Skåne shown on the map,Kristianstad County andMalmöhus County, which were established in 1719, were merged in 1997, forming the present county with boundaries that are almost identical to the boundaries of the province.
Region Skåne is an evolvedCounty Council, which was established in 1999 when the County Councils of the former counties were amalgamated.
Its county or regional assembly is the region's highest political body, and its members are elected by the electorate,[7] as opposed to thecounty administrative board, that guards the national interests in the county under the chairmanship of thecounty governor (landshövding in Swedish).
The table details allRiksdag elections held in the area currently constituting Skåne County since the unicameral era began in1970. Although both were rounded to 49.3 under one decimal, the leftist bloc had 49.33 to 49.25% for the centre-right bloc in the 1970 election.
The county is divided into four parliamentary constituencies orelectoral districts, electing 47 of the 349 members of theRiksdag. Each district is made up of one or more municipalities.
In the2018 general election, theSweden Democrats performed particularly well in Skåne County, getting the highest number of votes in 21 out of the county's 33 municipalities.[24]
Swedish born and foreign born in Skåne county in 2022
SCB have collected statistics on backgrounds of residents since 2002. These tables consist of all who have two foreign-born parents or are born abroad themselves.[28] The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.
Themotorway built between Malmö and Lund in 1953 was the firstmotorway in Sweden. With the opening of theÖresund Bridge betweenMalmö andCopenhagen (the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe) in 2000, the Swedish motorways were linked withEuropean route E20 in Denmark, and the two countries' railway systems were physically connected. Before the bridge was built there weretrain ferries operated between Helsingborg and Helsingør. There are also train ferries to and fromGermany andPoland.
Skåne has three major public airports,Malmö Airport,Ängelholm–Helsingborg Airport andKristianstad Airport. One of the oldest airports in the world still in use is located in Skåne, namelyLjungbyhed Airport, in operation since 1910. Starting in 1926, theSwedish Air Force used the airport for flight training, and up until the military school was moved to the nearby Ängelholm F10 Wing in 1997, the airport was extremely busy. In the late 1980s, it was Sweden's busiest airport, with a record high of more than 1,400 take-offs and landings per day.[29]
