Västra Götaland is an extremely varied county. Here you’ll find agricultural land, forests, lakes, large towns and sparsely populated areas. There are also many islands off the west coast of the county.
Choose the municipality in Västra Götalands län that you want to read more about below.
There are 49 municipalities and just over 1.6 million people live in Västra Götaland. Approximately 600,000 of these live in the area around Gothenburg.
There is a lack of accommodation to rent in almost all the county's municipalities. There are plans to build many new properties, but these are not being built as quickly as the queue for accommodation is growing. It therefore takes a long time to get the type of accommodation desired and many people have to use temporary solutions.
The region of Västra Götaland is the largest employer in the county. Here, employees work in areas such as healthcare and medical care, trade and industry, culture and the environment. The Västra Götaland region is responsible for public transport and tourism. Read more about public transport on Västtrafik's website and about tourism on Västsverige's website. Gothenburg city has many employees within the school system, childcare and administration, amongst other areas. The largest private employer is Volvo Personvagnar AB, which has manufacturing facilities at many locations in the county.
There is a large number of associations, organisations, churches and religious communities in Västra Götaland county which work actively with refugee and integration issues. They run a number of different activities so that people are happy and feel a part of Swedish society. For example, they arrange meeting places, language cafés, Swedish tuition, help with homework and sports, cultural and leisure activities. Some also provide medical care and legal advice.
On the municipalities' own websites you will also find an association register where you can see which associations and organisations are active in the respective municipality.
There are several universities and colleges in Västra Götaland. Gothenburg University, which is the largest in the county, has 37,000 students and almost 6,000 employees. Gothenburg also has Chalmers College with a selection of technical courses. In Borås there are courses offered in, for example, information science and textiles. In Skövde there are courses in, amongst others, the development of computer games and nursing. In Trollhättan, the college's emphasis is aimed at ensuring many of the training courses are partially implemented at different work places.
If you have a commonly occurring illness, an injury or other complaint, you should turn to the local medical care centre. They can also provide support and help in improving your health. The 1177 Vårdguiden website has good information in several languages. There are 18 hospitals offering specialist medical care in Västra Götaland. If you have a medical emergency, phone 112. Help is also available in several languages for dental health care.
There is much culture to experience in various forms in Västra Götaland. You'll find here theatres, orchestras, museums and a popular library amongst other things. You can borrow books free of charge from the library. The population in the county, and in Sweden as a whole, are often active in an association in their spare time. Membership of a trade union, sports association or a housing association is commonplace. Everyone is welcome to stay free of charge in the countryside, in forests, by the sea or by a lake. Common law covers what is permitted in the countryside.
