Östergötland is Sweden's fourth largest county with 428,379 residents (2011). You'll find here countryside and large towns, the archipelago and wooded areas and an extremely varied cultural and economic life. In total there are thirteen municipalities in the county.
Choose the municipality in Östergötlands län that you want to read more about below.
In the municipalities in Östgötaland there is currently a lack of housing in almost half of the chief towns. Comparing the number of newly built flats and the change in the number of residents shows that the population is increasing faster than the number of newly built flats in the county. In Östergötland we are now starting to see a lack of accommodation developing in areas where previously there was a balance in the accommodation market.
The biggest employer is the region with around 11,000 employees, followed by Norrköping municipality with around 8,700 employees and Linköping municipality with around 6,800 employees. The biggest private employers in the county are Saab Aerospace in Linköping, Siemens Industries in Finspång and Bt products in Mjölby.
The county council of Östergötland, with its integrative remit, has a collaborative and coordinating role with respect to the county's thirteen municipalities with regard to the acceptance and follow-up of refugees. It arranges active collaboration in the county between authorities, the county's municipalities, companies and non-profit organisations in order to create good conditions in society for the county's residents, both for private individuals and entrepreneurs, as well as those who have recently settled in Sweden.
Linköping University (LiU) is one of Sweden's largest seats of learning. At LiU there are around 27,000 students and the number of employees is approximately 3,900. LiU's campus is located in Linköping and Norrköping and the university is an important driver of the region's development. LiU is the university in Sweden which offers the most professional training such as that required to become a doctor, teacher, civil engineer and economist. Through its international contacts, there is a large number of exchange students.
In Östergötland we have a special website for people who are new to Sweden and live in Östergötland County. The website is intended to serve as a guide for you to learn about how Swedish society works and where to turn with any questions you have.
There are three hospitals in the county, the University Hospital in Linköping, Vrinnevis Hospital in Norrköping and a general hospital in Motala. The University Hospital in Linköping has 600 beds and every year the employees, of which there is just over 5,000, accept over 40,000 patients from all over southeast Sweden. Vrinnevi Hospital in Norrköping, with just over 300 beds and approximately 2,200 employees, is an emergency hospital with a broad range of activities. The general hospital in Motala has just over 100 beds and approximately 1,100 employees.
Östergötland offers a lively and exciting range of high-quality cultural activities. Theatre, music, dance, exhibitions, libraries, films, festivals for a large number of cultural enthusiasts in all genres. Sweden has a strong economy. Associations are organisations which are driven by members. The associations include sports clubs, cultural associations and work associations. There are many associations where you can meet people from different parts of the world. Some of the associations can be found via the Immigrant Institute.
