Jönköping, Småland Province, Sweden

🇸🇪 Jönköping is a city in southern Sweden. Jönköping is situated at the southern end of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipality, which is Småland's most populous municipality. Jönköping is also the seat of Jönköping County. Jönköping is the seat of a district court and a court of appeal as well as the Swedish National Courts Administration. It is the seat of the Swedish Board of Agriculture.

History Jönköping is an old trading centre (Köping) situated at a natural crossroads for routes following the rivers Nissan and Lagan, and the road connecting the provinces of Östergötland and Västergötland, a result of the town's geographical position at the southern end of lake Vättern, which divides the two provinces.

On 18 May 1284 Jönköping became the first City in Sweden to be granted its rights by king Magnus Ladulås, who ruled mostly from Vättern's largest island Visingsö. The first part of the city's name, "Jön", is derived from a creek, "Junebäcken", in Talavid, in what is now the western part of the city. The second part of the name "köping", is, as mentioned above, an old word for a trading centre or market place.

The geographical position of the city also left it vulnerable to attack via the river routes that led south, mainly from Danes. At that time the provinces of what is today southern Sweden – Scania, Halland and Blekinge – belonged to Denmark. The city was plundered and burned several times until it was fortified during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Jönköping was known for its matchstick industry between 1845 and 1970. The phosphorus match was invented in 1831, and these matches became very popular because one could strike it against any surface to ignite it. However, the problem was that they ignited too easily, caused a lot of accidents and were toxic. In 1844, Swedish professor Gustav Erik Pasch patented a new invention, "Safety matches – Strike against the box only". To prevent the matches from igniting so easily, Gustav Erik Pasch separated the chemicals in the match head and placed the phosphorus on a separate surface on the outside of the box for striking ignition. Johan Edvard and Carl Frans Lundström took Pasch's patent and improved it. Later, they manufactured their new Safety matches in their factory in Jönköping. Today it is an important Nordic logistical centre, with many companies' central warehouses (such as Elkjøp, IKEA, Electrolux and Husqvarna) situated there.

The area of the present municipality consists of more than 20 original municipal entities, among them three former cities. In 1952 the number of units was reduced to 13. The present municipality was created in connection with the nationwide local government reform of 1971.

Present The urban area of Jönköping today includes the eastern industrial town of Huskvarna, with which it has grown together.

County government The Jönköping municipality has its headquarters in a place called rådhuset. Rådhuset is an important component of the function of the municipality as it works as a state office for different departments of and in Jönköping. Rådhuset is dependent on the municipality but is its own entity, the head of the rådhuset has political power but is not the head of the Jönköping state. The head of the Jönköping state is called the kommunfullmäktige which has all the municipal power but sometimes doesn't make the decisions; these are handed down to other departments or the kommunstyrelsen.

The departments that are inherent to the office are not limited to but are shortly known as: The political governance This department has a municipal board that is responsible for the state office's official activities.

The administrative department The administrative department is responsible for office operations, city archives, legal functions, the office of the guardianship board, data protection (GDPR), and information security.

The analysis and sustainability department The analysis and sustainability department is responsible for sustainability issues, international collaboration, consumer advice, energy, and climate advice, as well as statistics and investigations.

The state economics department The state economics department is the solely responsible force regarding the official spending of the municipality's funds.

The finance and company departments The finance and company department is responsible for the municipality's and the municipal companies' financial management and administers "Jönköpings Rådhus AB" and manages the municipality's donation funds.

The HR department This department is responsible for personnel issues, work environment, negotiations, as well as managerial and personnel development and acts as a development and service body for the municipal administrations.

The IT department Responsible for and coordinates the municipality's IT operations and telephony. The department works closely with the municipal administrations and provides the operation and development of systems, services, and products. This is also offered to municipal companies. In case of problems, questions, or need for help, the IT department supports the administrations and the municipal companies.

The communication department Responsible for the municipality's overall internal and external communication. The municipality's overall communication channels, graphic profile, and press issues are also within the department's area of responsibility. The Communications Department works in close cooperation with the municipal administrations and supports them in their communication work. The department also includes the municipality's Contact Center. The contact centre is the public's first contact with the municipality for general questions and information.

The business department The department works to create conditions for the development and expansion of the existing business community and to stimulate and facilitate new establishments.

The Procurement Department Responsible for the municipality's procurement activities and coordination of procurements. The department also conducts procurements in collaboration with Habo and Mullsjö municipalities as well as Rådhus AB and its subsidiaries.

Elmia, a major trade fair and exhibition centre, is situated in Jönköping. Elmia Wood is the world's largest forestry fair, and fairs for subcontractors, trucks, caravans and railways are the biggest of their kind in Europe. Since 2001, Elmia has been the site of the world's largest LAN party, DreamHack, with two events every year, Dreamhack Summer and Dreamhack Winter.

Education: High • Bäckadalsgymnasiet • Erik Dahlbergsgymnasiet • Per Brahegymnasiet • Sandagymnasiet • Thoren Business School • LBS: High School of Creativity.

*Education:University

** • Jönköping University Foundation • Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola • The Institute for Postgraduate Dental Education.

**Sport