1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Country
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A country is a region that is identified as a distinct national entity in political geography. Sometimes the word countries is used to both to sovereign states and to other political entities, while other times it refers only to states. The word country comes from Old French contrée, itself derived from Vulgar Latin contrata and it most likely entered the English language after the Franco-Norman invasion during the 11th century. Areas much smaller than a state may be called by names such as the West Country in England, the Black Country, Constable Country. In many European countries the words are used for sub-divisions of the territory, as in the German Bundesländer. The modern Italian contrada is a word with its meaning varying locally, the term country is frequently used to refer to sovereign states. There is no agreement on the number of countries in the world. There are 206 sovereign states, of which 193 states are members of the United Nations, all are defined as states by declarative theory of statehood and constitutive theory of statehood. The latest proclaimed state is South Sudan in 2011, the Kingdom of Denmark, a sovereign state, comprises Metropolitan Denmark and two nominally separate countries—the Faroe Islands, and Greenland—which are almost fully internally self-governing. The Kingdom of the Netherlands, a state, comprises four separate countries, Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao. The degree of autonomy of non-sovereign countries varies widely, some are possessions of sovereign states, as several states have overseas territories, with citizenry at times identical and at times distinct from their own
3.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
4.
Provinces of Sweden
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The provinces of Sweden are historical, geographical and cultural regions. Sweden has 25 provinces and they have no function, but remain historical legacies. Dialects and folklore rather follows the borders than the borders of the counties. Several of them were subdivisions of Sweden until 1634, when they were replaced by the counties of Sweden, some were conquered later on from Denmark–Norway. Others, like the provinces of Finland, were lost, Lapland is the only province acquired through colonization. In some cases, the administrative counties correspond almost exactly to the provinces, as is Blekinge to Blekinge County and Gotland, which is a province, county, while not exactly corresponding with the province, Härjedalen Municipality is beside Gotland the only municipality named after a province. In other cases, they do not, which enhances the cultural importance of the provinces. Since 1884 all the provinces are also ceremonial duchies, but as such have no administrative or political functions, the provinces of Sweden are still used in colloquial speech and cultural references, and can therefore not be regarded as an archaic concept. The main exception is Lapland where the see themselves as a part of Västerbotten or Norrbotten. Two other exceptions are Stockholm and Gothenburg, where the see themselves as living in the city. English and other languages occasionally use Latin names as alternatives to the Swedish names, the name Scania for Skåne predominates in English. Some purely English exonyms, such as the Dales for Dalarna, East Gothland for Östergötland, Swedish Lapland for Lappland, swedes writing in English have long used Swedish-language name forms only. The origins of the provincial divisions lay in the petty kingdoms that became more and more subjected to the rule of the Kings of Sweden during the consolidation of Sweden. Until the country law of Magnus Ericson in 1350, each of these still had its own laws with its own assembly. The historical provinces were considered duchies, but newly conquered provinces added to the kingdom either received the status of a duchy or a county, after the separation from the Kalmar Union in 1523 the Kingdom incorporated only some of its new conquests as provinces. Other foreign territories were ruled as Swedish Dominions under the Swedish monarch, Norway, in personal union with Sweden from 1814 to 1905, never became an integral part of Sweden. The division of Västerbotten that took place with the cession of Finland caused Norrbotten to emerge as a county and it was granted a coat of arms as late as in 1995. Some scholars suggest that Sweden revived the concept in the 19th century
5.
Halland
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Halland is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden, on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat, the provinces of Sweden serve no administrative function. Instead, that function is served by the Counties of Sweden, as of December 31,2009, Halland had a population of 303,895. Of these,287,668 lived in Halland County,13,980 lived in Västra Götaland County, during the Danish era until 1658, the province had no coat of arms and no seal. In Sweden, however, every province had been represented by heraldic arms since 1560, when Charles X Gustav of Sweden suddenly died in 1660 a coat of arms had to be created for the newly acquired province. Each province was to be represented by its arms at the royal funeral, there are several theories about the choice of a lion. Bengt Algotsson, duke of Halland and Finland in the 14th century, blazon, Azure, a Lion rampant Argent langued, armed and dente Gules. The same coat of arms was granted for the administrative Halland County. The rivers of Lagan, Ätran, Nissan and Viskan flow through the province, Halland is well known for its fertile soil and as an agricultural district. The Bronze Age was probably a period of prosperity in Halland. This is shown in the number of new settlements and the archaeological remains. Over 1,100 tumuli and grave mounds have been found, the end of the Bronze Age witnessed an over-consumption of resources. This might have been a result of a demand for charcoal in smelting gold or bronze among the local elites. The worsening climate at the beginning of the Iron Age meant that the local elites no longer could obtain bronze to the extent as before. As a result, the structures collapsed. The early Iron Age social structures seem to have been relatively egalitarian and this is likely to have been a distant influence from the growing Roman Empire. During the 5th and 6th century large free-standing farms were created, an example of such a farm can be found in Slöinge. It was not just the structure that changed, so too did the settlement structure
6.
Counties of Sweden
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The counties of Sweden are the top-level geographic subdivisions of Sweden. Sweden is today divided into 21 counties, however, the numbers of counties has varied over time, due to territorial gains/losses, at that time, they were what the translation of län into English literally means, fiefdoms. The county borders often follow the borders, but the Crown often chose to make slight relocations to suit its purposes. In every county except Gotland there is a county administrative board headed by a governor, appointed by the government, the county council is the elected regional political assembly for the municipal affairs of the county, primarily regarding public healthcare, public transport and culture. A number of other government agencies are organised on a county basis, including the main bodies of the police, employment, social insurance. With county codes, which were official until 1974, each county region contains a number of municipalities, the existence of which is partly at the discretion of the central government. Since 2004 their number has been 290, thus an average of 13.8 municipalities per county. Until 1968, the City of Stockholm had its own county code A, which is used interchangeably with AB in some contexts. L was for Kristianstad County and M was for Malmöhus County but since they were merged to form Skåne County, O used to stand for Gothenburg and Bohus County but has been used for Västra Götaland County since it was merged with Skaraborg County and Älvsborg County. Swedens provinces, or landskap, and the lands, or landsdelar, the provinces had their own laws and justice systems and could have large cultural and religious differences. Note that the province of Småland historically was several provinces with its own laws, here burial tradition in the era before the Viking age could differ significantly from province to province. The province of Norrbotten is a recent creation, it was part of Västerbotten which extended all the way to Österbotten into todays Finland before 1809. Finnish and Swedish Lappland was also one province until 1809, historically, the provinces were grouped in three lands, Götaland, being southern and western Sweden, Svealand being eastern and south-eastern, and Norrland being the entire northern half. The names of the first two refer to ancient tribes, and the third is a geographical reference and they are still commonly used as geographical references. The boundaries have changed over time, with the most significant in 1658 and 1812, in 1812 some provinces were moved from Götaland to Svealand. After the Finnish War, Sweden was forced to cede the counties in Finland to Russia following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in, however, the counties were upheld in Finland until a reform in 1997. They are still in use in Sweden,370 years later, the counties in Finland established in 1634 were, Turku and Pori County, Nyland and Tavastehus County, Viborg and Nyslott County, Ostrobothnia County and Kexholm County. Over time the number of subdivisions in Finland increased to twelve, until a reorganization in 1997 reduced their number to six provinces, the counties in Finland were abolished in 2010
7.
Halland County
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Halland County is a county on the western coast of Sweden. It corresponds roughly to the cultural and historical province of Halland and it borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Skåne and the sea of the Kattegat. The County of Halland inherited its coat of arms from the province of Halland, when it is shown with a royal crown it represents the County Administrative Board. Counties mainly serve administrative purposes in Sweden, the culture and history of the area is to be found in its provincial counterpart Halland. The county was designed with virtually the same boundaries as the province, the major exception is a part of Hylte Municipality, which belongs to the province of Småland. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a governor, among the main responsibilities of the Halland County Council are public health care issues. Swedens counties are entities for Swedens municipalities, responsible for things as child care, education, street planning. They are working long-term, but their preliminary reports suggest a reduction of the number of counties in Sweden. Halland county is there proposed to be divided in two halves, both to be combined with neighbouring large counties, Halland County Administrative Board Halland County Council Regional Association of Local Authorities in Halland Hotels in Halland
8.
Municipalities of Sweden
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The municipalities of Sweden are its lower-level local government entities. There are 290 municipalities which are responsible for a proportion of local services, including schools, emergency services. The Local Government Act of 1991 specifies several responsibilities for the municipalities and it also regulates a process through which any citizen can appeal the decisions of a local government to a county court. Municipal government in Sweden is similar to city government and cabinet-style council government. The assembly in turn appoints an executive committee from its members. The executive committee is headed by its chairman, the chairman is often referred as Municipal Commissioner. The first local government acts were implemented on January 1,1863, there were two acts, one for the cities and one for the countryside. The total number of municipalities was about 2,500, the rural municipalities were based on the old parishes and the then 89 cities/towns were based on the old chartered cities. There was also a type, köping or market town. The status of these was somewhere between the municipalities and the cities. There were only eight of them in 1863, rising to a peak of 96 in 1959, up until 1930, when the total number of municipalities reached its peak, there were more partitions than amalgamations. After years of preparations the first of the two nationwide municipal reforms of the 20th century was implemented in 1952, the number of rural municipalities was reduced from 2,281 to 816. Rather soon it was established that the reform of 1952 was not radical enough, a new commission,1959 års indelningssakkunniga concluded that the next municipal reform should create new larger mixed rural/urban municipalities. The Riksdag decided in 1962 that the new reform should be implemented on a voluntary basis, the process started in January 1964, when all municipalities were grouped in 282 kommunblock. The co-operation within the blocks should ultimately lead to amalgamations, the amalgamations within the blocks started in 1965 and more were accomplished in 1967 and 1969, when the number of municipalities dropped from 1006 to 848. The Riksdag, however, found the process too slow. In 1971 the unitary municipality was introduced and the number of entities went down to 464, in one case the process was not accomplished until 1977. Most of the municipalities were soon consolidated, but in cases the antagonism within the new unities was so strong that it led to divorces
9.
Halmstad Municipality
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Halmstad Municipality is a municipality in Halland County on the Swedish west coast, in which the city Halmstad is the seat. The 1971 local government reform was implemented gradually in the area, in 1967 the rural municipality Simlångsdalen was amalgamated into the City of Halmstad. The city was converted into a municipality of unitary type in 1971, there are 21 urban areas in Halmstad Municipality. In the table the localities are listed according to the size of the population as of 31 December 2005, the municipal seat is in bold characters. University College of Halmstad Hallandsposten Swedish Army Swedish Air Force Statistics Sweden Halmstad Municipality - Official site
10.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
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Halmstad travel guide from Wikivoyage
