Huddinge Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Huddinge, which is a part of Stockholm urban area. The municipality is, with its approximately 110,000 inhabitants, the second most populated in Stockholm County.
Huddinge has a total population of roughly 110,000, or 4.5% of the population of Stockholm County. The average age is 36.7 years, but one-third of the population is under 25 yearsof age. This means that Huddinge has a slightly younger population than both Stockholm County and the whole country. The population density of the municipality is increasing significantly. Since the 1960s, the population has doubled in size and is currently among the 14 largest municipalities in Sweden. The population of Huddinge passed the one of Gävle in 2008, and the ones of Eskilstuna and Sundsvall as well in 2009.
Residents with a foreign background
On 31 December 2017, the number of people with a :sv:utländsk bakgrund|foreign background was 43,699, or 39.73% of the population. On 31 December 2002, the number of residents with a foreign background was 24,319, or 28.13% of the population. On 31 December 2017, there were 110,003 residents in Huddinge, of which 32,190 people were born in a country other than Sweden. Divided by country in the table below - the Nordic countries as well as the 12 most common countries of birth outside Sweden for Swedish residents have been included, with other countries of birth bundled together by continent by Statistics Sweden.
Localities
Stockholm urban area 86,802 inh.
Vidja 633 inh.
Rural areas 2,465 inh.
History
It is believed that the history of Huddinge goes back at least 1,000 years, to before the Viking Age. When hostile ships approached the community, the inhabitants of Huddinge would climb to high locations and light beacons. Beacons were located around the entirety of Lake Mälaren. Huddinge's coat of arms has its origins in this tradition. The name Huddinge is believed to come from the Uddung's - the first inhabitants in this area, which during the Iron Age lived on the shores of Lake Mälaren nearby Vårby.
There are four territorial parishes of the Church of Sweden within the municipality: Huddinge, Trångsund, Flemingsberg and St. Mikael.
2018 Election
Elections to Swedish municipals are held every fourth year on the third Sunday in September. The 2018 election to the 61-seat council resulted in the centre-right Alliance of four parties plus two local parties staying in power without a majority. The Alliance and local parties gained a seat since the 2014 election and maintains power. The three Red-Green parties are in opposition and the far right Sweden Democrats holds the balance of power but normally votes with the Alliance.
Culture
The municipality contains six public libraries, Södertörn University College and one of the campuses for Karolinska Institutet. Kungens Kurva is one of Sweden's largest shopping areas. It hosts, among other things, the largest IKEA store in the world, the largest cinema in the country, and a large shopping centre. In total, it generates a turnover of 6 billion Swedish kronor and has 15 million visitors per year.
After years of debate a vote is planned was 2008 regarding a split of Huddinge into two different municipalities named in published documents as Huddinge and Huddinge östra. The intention with a split is to make the eastern part of Huddinge its own municipality after years of protests from inhabitants. Due to large protests it was decided in 2007 to hold a vote regarding the split. However it was proposed that only the inhabitants of eastern Huddinge would be allowed to vote. This has caused a major political split of opinions as the political opposition wants to see a vote. At least 60% of the inhabitants of eastern Huddinge must vote yes for the split to be performed. The referendum ended with a clear no to the split, ending the discussion.
