- Salem Municipality
Infobox_Kommun2
fullname=Salems kommun
county=Stockholm County
province=Södermanland
capital=Salem
arearank=277th
area=71.53
arealand=54.32
populationrank=150th
population=14,715
densityrank=24th
populationdensity=270.9
website=http://www.salem.se/
footnotes=Area & population from SCB as of December 31, 2006Salem Municipality ("Salems kommun") is a municipality in
Stockholm County in east centralSweden . The name traces its origins from "Slaem" in the16th century , but was later changed to Salem, the Biblical name ofJerusalem . Its seat is located in Salem.History
Like the rest of the areas around Lake Mälaren, Salem has a significant amount of ancient remains, as far back as the
Stone Age . The church of Salem traces its foundation to the12th century .Just like its eastern municipal neighbour Botkyrka, Salem traces its history back to the legendary
Saint Botvid , who lived in the area sometime between1050 -1120 . In the medieval tradition, a spring would always be found in connection to the death of a saint. According to legend, when the remains of Saint Botvid were transported to the church in today's Botkyrka, the casket was temporarily put down near the shore of Lake Bornsjön, where a spring poured up. It is still today providing clear water.Today
Salem was united with the municipality of Botkyrka during the Swedish municipal reform between
1971 -1974 . However, in1983 , after energetic protests, they were split apart, and Salem became the 14th smallest municipality by area in the country.External links
* [http://www.salem.se/ Salem Municipality] - Official site
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