Växjö Municipality

Växjö [˘vɛkʃøː] is a city and municipality in Kronoberg County, in southern Sweden. The municipality covers an area of 1674 km². Total population was 75 848, 37 900 men, and 37 948 women on Dec 31, 2003. The population density was 45 inhabitants per km².

History

Växjö received its city charter in 1492, but was an important market and commercial centre already at the pass of the first millennium. In the 12th century the construction of Växjö Cathedral was begun and hence Växjö grew to become an important religious centre in the Diocese of Växjö. This also led to the creation of other institutions such as Växjö Old Lyceum, one of Sweden's oldest educational institutions with Carolus Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy, as one of its students.

Today, Växjö is the administrative, cultural and industrial centre of Kronoberg County and central Småland or Smalandia. It is home to Växjö University with 14.000 students (2004) and industries such as Alstom and Aerotech Telub. Växjö houses Swedens only glass museum [1] and is the capital of the "Kingdom of Crystal" [2] and the "Kingdom of Furniture" [3]. The Swedish Emigrant Institute [4] was established in 1965 by the governor Gunnar Helén and resides since then in the House of Emigrants near the Växjö lake in the heart of the city. It contains archives, library, museum, and a research center relating to the period between 1846 and 1930 when 1.3 million (about 20%) of the Swedish population emigrated, most of them to USA .

Notable natives

• Karl-Birger Blomdahl, 20th century music composer
• Carolina Klüft, track and field athlete and Olympic gold medalist in Athens 2004
• Pär Lagerkvist, author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1951
• Otto Lindblad, 19th century music composer
• Christina Nilsson, 19th century soprano celebrity
• Mats Wilander, tennis player who won 7 Grand Slam titles from 1982-88

See also

• Kronoberg County Administrative Board
• List of Kronoberg Governors

• Kronoberg Castle

External links

• Växjö - Official site