Vara
We don’t have towering mountains and deep valleys. Some people think our landscape is as flat as a pancake but others express themselves more romantically when they see the flat land as a sea and the many farmyards as small islands.
Facts about the municipality
Population numbers
15979
Size by area
697 km²
If you look at the whole municipality, the truth is that there is a natural landscape full of variety here – everything from open fields to an undulating terrain and quite substantial forests. Our municipality is located on the wide expanse of flat land in the middle of Västergötland and Varaslätten. We who live here have both nature and good services right on our doorstep. Most think understandably that home is best, but should we want to venture outside the municipality's borders, we have good communications here. Agriculture is still a large part of the local economy, but a future-oriented and global industry has grown up alongside it. In total, over 700 companies operate in Vara municipality. For those who want to combine a good job with their precious spare time, there are good opportunities in Vara. Among the associations in our municipality, of which there are approximately 400, there is everything from successful dancers to motor sports and highboard divers. There is also active interest groups in most of our locations.
Housing
Vara is a rural area where half of the residents live in one of the nine scattered urban areas of Vedum, Kvänum, Stora Levene, Larv, Tråvad, Arentorp, Helås, Emtunga and Jung, while the other half lives completely in the countryside. In Vara municipality you live a little cheaper than in many other places. There are flats to rent – both with our municipal property company Vara Bostäder AB and with private landlords.
Find housing companies and flats
Language groups in the locality
Many different language groups are represented in Vara municipality, such as Arabic, Dari, Persian, Somalian, Tigrinya and English.
Associations and organisations
Vara has a rich and active association life with a figure approaching 400 associations within different areas, amongst others sports, culture, animals, nature, politics and study associations. There is also a number of congregations and religious groups, for example the Church of Sweden, the Pentecostal Church and the Missionary Church.
What is available in the immediate area
Vara is an idyllic small town location with a high degree of accessibility, personal service and a wide range of local shops, eateries and other services. You'll also find in Vara second-shops selling hand-me-down clothes, shoes, furniture, household appliances, curtains, toys and much more. Vara has a library, concert hall, cinema, swimming baths/gyms, numerous restaurants, cafés and grocer's stores. Social services, national dental health service establishments, welfare centres, chemists and service offices for social insurance and a job centre can also be found in Vara's population centres. In the municipality's smaller population centres there are also small shops and stores for groceries, and chemist and postal services.
Childcare
Child care is offered by preschools or teaching care (family care centres) for children between one and five years old, while after-school recreation centres at aimed at children between the ages of six and twelve years. When you submit an application for childcare, you have the opportunity to choose the type of child care you would like your child to receive. You can also submit your preference for which preschool and which family centre you would like your child to be placed at.
If we cannot offer a place at your preferred preschool / family centre, you will be given priority to switch if required. The aim is that all parents who are working, studying or due to other special reasons apply for a childcare place shall be accorded a place as soon as possible and within four months at the latest from the date of application.
Children of parents on parental leave or unemployed parents are entitled to a preschool place for 15 hours a week. For three, four and five year olds, free general preschooling of 15 hours per week/three hours per day is offered. Each municipality applies the maximum rate to childcare. "The reason is that life-long learning starts in preschool".
Compulsory schools and upper secondary schools
Vara municipality's comprehensive schools are located in the urban centres of Vara, Vedum, Kvänum, Stora Levene, Larv, Tråvad, Arentorp, Jung and Önum. In Vara municipality there is an upper secondary schools, Lagmansgymnasiet.
Education opportunities
The folk high school in Vara offers quite a number of training courses and conferences. Vara municipality cooperates with the campus in Lidköping regarding adult education and sfi. More information is available on campus Lidköping's website. The nearest high schools are High School Väst in Trollhättan and the High School in Skövde.
Health and medical care
Primary care can be found at Vara welfare centre with, amongst other things, a doctor's surgery, child healthcare, and antenatal care. Also located here are the municipality's social services and assistance unit. In Vara there are both national dental health services and private dentists. The nearest A&E department is in Lidköping.
Interpreter assistance
Our newly arrived neighbours have the option of support from interpreting services into their mother tongue when contacting the integration unit and social services office.
Public transport
It is important that there are good communication links so that residents of the municipality can study and work in different places. In Vara municipality there are 9 bus routes and 2 train lines.
Work and entrepreneurship
There are manufacturing facilities in Vara for everything from ventilation units and housing modules to boat engines, cosmetics, tyres, kitchen and bathroom furnishings, drying equipment ad conveyers.
A large part of the municipality's area is comprised of agricultural land, which enables many people to support themselves through farming and animal husbandry. The range of goods on offer is varied with many well-stocked small stores. On the first Thursday of every month, Vara Småstads Slättatorsdag, forty or so shops are open in the evening. More information about the economy, work and starting one's own business can be found on the municipality's website.
