Botkyrka Municipality

Infobox_Kommun2
fullname=Botkyrka kommun


county=Stockholm County
province=Södermanland
capital=Tumba


arearank=251st
area=210.26
arealand=194.83
populationrank=23rd
population=77,553
densityrank=19th
populationdensity=398.1
website=http://www.botkyrka.se/
footnotes=Area & population from SCB as of December 31, 2006

Botkyrka Municipality ("Botkyrka kommun") is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba.

In 1971 "Grödinge" was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 "Salem" was added. The Salem part was already in 1983 split off again and a new Salem Municipality was formed.

The municipality is named after Saint Botvid, a Christian missionary during the 12th century. Saint Botvid is shown on the seal and coat of arms of Botkyrka Municipality, where he carries an axe and a fish. Another remnant of Botkyrka's Christian medieval history is the Botkyrka church, made of stone.

Botkyrka, particularly Northern Botkyrka, has one of the highest percentages of first and second generation immigrants in Sweden. Nearly half the population has at least one parent born in another country. In some areas, like Fittja, 64.5% belong to this group, of which 25.7% is of a foreign nationality. [ [http://www.usk.stockholm.se/internet/omrfakta/tabellappl.asp?omrade=BOKD3&appl=Omradesjmf&resultat=Andel&Kommun=B Educational and statistics office Stockholm] - Area statistics for Fittja] This gives the municipality a multi-cultural atmosphere with for example a big Syriac Orthodox Church in Hallunda and the construction of a mosque in progress in Fittja.

Politically the municipality is primarily Social Democratic. There is also a local party called Botkyrkapartiet (The Botkyrka Party) which was originally formed to prevent the exploitation of the small airfield, F18, in Tullinge to become a commercial airport in the 1980s.

The local weekly newspaper is called "Mitt i Botkyrka" and is delivered free of charge to all inhabitants.

The Swedish hip hop group The Latin Kings raps about life in Botkyrka in several of their songs.

Localities

The northern and eastern parts of the municipality are in the contigous Stockholm urban area. Tumba forms a locality ("tätort") of its own (which partly is in Salem Municipality). Vårsta is in the central part. The southern half of the municipality is mostly rural.

Public transportation

Botkyrka is served by the Stockholm public transport system. Stockholm metro has four and Stockholm commuter rail two stations within the municipality. There is also an extensive SL bus network.

Districts

*Fittja
*Alby
*Hallunda
*Norsborg
*Eriksberg
*Tumba
*Tullinge
*Vårsta

External links

* [http://www.botkyrka.se/eng Botkyrka Municipality] - Official site
* [http://www.botkyrka.se/eng/thisisbotkyrka/factsonbotkyrka Botkyrka Municipality Facts] - Official facts

References