Gävleborg county, which consists of the old counties of Gästrikland and Hälsingland, is Sweden's largest forest county. The county is divided up into ten municipalities, with a total of 280,000 inhabitants.
Choose the municipality in Gävleborgs län that you want to read more about below.
The largest municipality is Gävle with 97,000 inhabitants. The other municipalities are Sandviken, Hudiksvall, Bollnäs, Söderhamn, Ovanåker, Hofors, Nordanstig and Ockelbo. Gävleborg is centrally and strategically located in the country, with one hour's travelling time to Arlanda airport and one and a half hours to Stockholm. For many years, the county has received many refugees.
There is a great variety of housing in Gävleborg. Everything from country living to housing in a city environment. The various municipalities have large municipal housing companies that rent out flats, bur there are also several private landlords. The range of vacant flats varies between municipalities. You can find more information in the various municipality presentations.
The county's business sector has for long been based on a strong steel and engineering industry. Large companies in the county are Sandvik, Ovako, Korsnäs and Iggesund. In recent years, the private service industry has also expanded. It is currently the fastest growing sector in terms of number of employees, and has great potential for developing companies within energy and environmental technology. In recent times, several companies have developed within the IT area, relating to GIS, fibre optics, industrial IT and contact centres. The fastest growing industry in the county is the experience and visitor industry.
Around 40 % work within public authorities, such as health and medical care, schools, personal care, etc.
In Gävleborg, there is active collaboration between public authorities, municipalities, companies and non-for-profit organisations to create good prerequisites in society for the citizens of the county, both private individuals and business owners, as well as for new arrivals.
The county has one university, located in Gävle. It was established in 1977 and expanded greatly in the middle 1990s. The university has been successful at coordinating many of its programmes with a large number of actors in society. Valuable contacts with companies such as Sandvik and Korsnäs have been established, for example.
Region Gävleborg is responsible for ensuring that all inhabitants of Gävleborg County get the medical and dental care they need. The region is also responsible for people who are here temporarily and who need emergency medical care. This might be family, friends or acquaintances visiting someone in Gävleborg, but also tourists and refugees. Gävleborg County has three hospitals – one each in Gävle, Hudiksvall and Bollnäs.
Apart form the hospitals, there are many public and private family medical centres.
There is a great variety of sports, cultural and open-air associations throughout the county. All municipalities have a large range of associations to cater for all interests. Here you are close to mountains, the sea, lakes, archipelago, forests and wilderness that offer fine natural experiences all year round.
