Vilhelmina Municipality

Municipality in Västerbotten County, Sweden

Vilhelmina Municipality Vilhelmina kommun
Municipality
Looking across Volgsjön on a summer morning
Coat of arms

Coordinates: 64°37′N 16°39′E / 64.617°N 16.650°E / 64.617; 16.650
Country	Sweden
County	Västerbotten County
Seat	Vilhelmina
Area ^[1]
• Total	8,740.5 km² (3,374.7 sq mi)
• Land	8,047.87 km² (3,107.30 sq mi)
• Water	692.63 km² (267.43 sq mi)
	Area as of 1 January 2014.
Population (31 December 2023)^[2]
• Total	6,263
• Density	0.72/km² (1.9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	SE
Province	Lapland
Municipal code	2462
Website	www.vilhelmina.se

Vilhelmina Municipality (Swedish: Vilhelmina kommun; Southern Sami: Vualtjeren tjïelte) is a municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Vilhelmina.

History

In 1804 the parish of Volgsjö was renamed Vilhelmina in honour of Queen Frederica Dorothea Wilhelmina of Sweden.

In 1947 the locality Vilhelmina was detached from the rural municipality with the same name, forming the market town (köping) of Vilhelmina. The two entities were reunited in 1965.

Geography

Like the rest of northern Sweden (Norrland), it is scarcely populated due to its inhospitable conditions and cold climate, but is superb for those who like wildlife and untouched nature.

Localities

There is only one locality (or urban area) in Vilhelmina Municipality:^[3]

#	Locality	Population
1	Vilhelmina	3,633

Demographics

This is a demographic table based on Vilhelmina Municipality's electoral districts in the 2022 Swedish general election sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics.^[4]

In total there were 6,473 residents, including 5,093 Swedish citizens of voting age.^[4] 51.6% voted for the left coalition and 46.7% for the right coalition. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.

Location

Residents

Citizen
adults

Left vote

Right vote

Employed

Swedish
parents

Foreign
heritage

Income
SEK

Degree

Baksjönäs

1,540

1,240

54.8

43.1

21,615

Dikanäs

366

343

57.7

40.6

18,250

Latikberg

518

388

45.8

52.8

24,353

Lövliden

1,086

721

57.5

39.7

23,213

Nästansjö

414

323

42.7

54.7

23,329

Skansholm

780

614

44.3

54.6

22,553

Vilhelmina C

1,330

1,084

52.7

45.7

22,176

Vilhelmina-Saxnäs

439

380

53.4

46.2

21,741

Source: SVT^[4]

Culture

Every July the town of Vilhelmina holds a festival called Hembygdsdagarna Vilhelmina. In addition to popular and folk music performances, tradition holds that a local engaged couple is selected each year to get married during the festival. The bride and groom lead a parade of fiddlers and other traditionally dressed Swedes through town to the church where the marriage is performed in front of all who wish to attend. They are not always able to find a couple willing to get married, however, so some years they hold the parade without an engaged couple, and hold a public church service instead of a wedding.

References

^ "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 2014-01-01. Archived from the original (Microsoft Excel) on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
^ "Folkmängd och befolkningsförändringar - Kvartal 4, 2023" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
^ Statistics Sweden as of December 31, 2005
^ ^a ^b ^c "Valresultat 2022 för Vilhelmina i riksdagsvalet" (in Swedish). SVT. 11 September 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.