| Official Name: | Kalmar County |
| Settlement Type: | County of Sweden |
| Flag Size: | 100px |
| Image Map1: | Sweden Kalmar location map.svg |
| Map Caption1: | Location map of Kalmar County in Sweden |
| Coordinates: | 56.7333°N 15.9°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Sweden |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1634 |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Kalmar |
| Parts Type: | Municipalities |
| Parts: | 12 |
| P1: | Borgholm |
| P2: | Emmaboda |
| P3: | Högsby |
| P4: | Hultsfred |
| P5: | Kalmar |
| P6: | Mönsterås |
| P7: | Mörbylånga |
| P8: | Nybro |
| P9: | Oskarshamn |
| P10: | Torsås |
| P11: | Västervik |
| P12: | Vimmerby |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Allan Widman |
| Leader Title1: | County Council |
| Leader Name1: | Landstinget i Kalmar län |
| Area Total Km2: | 11217.8 |
| Population As Of: | 31 December 2023 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 246,667 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | GDP |
| Demographics1 Footnotes: | [2] |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Total |
| Demographics1 Info1: | SEK 78 billion €8.377 billion (2015) |
| Timezone1: | CET |
| Utc Offset1: | +1 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +2 |
| Iso Code: | SE-H |
| Blank Name Sec2: | NUTS Region |
Kalmar County is a county or län in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg, Jönköping, Blekinge and Östergötland. To the east in the Baltic Sea is the island Gotland.
The counties are mainly administrative units. Geographically Kalmar County covers the eastern part in the Småland province, and the entire island of Öland.
Much of Öland's present day landscape known as the Stora Alvaret has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This southern part of Öland is known for a large number of rare species; early paleolithic settlement at Alby; other prehistoric remains such as the Gettlinge Gravefield and Eketorp Fortress; and the Ottenby Nature Preserve.
Kalmar County was integrated with Kronoberg County until 1672. Blekinge was a part of Kalmar County between 1680 and 1683, due to the foundation of the naval base at Karlskrona.
The seat of residence for the Governor or Landshövding is Kalmar. The Governor is the head of the County Administrative Board or Länsstyrelse. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a Governor. See List of Kalmar County Governors.
Since 1997 The municipalities and the county council cooperate through the indirectly politically controlled Regional Council of Kalmar County. The regional council represents the municipalities interests in regional growth issues, coordinates infrastructure planning, higher education, common cultural issues and administers various governmental an EU grants.
See main article: List of governors of Kalmar County.
The table details all Riksdag election results of Kalmar County since the unicameral era began in 1970. The blocs denote which party would support the Prime Minister or the lead opposition party towards the end of the elected parliament.
| Year | Turnout | Votes | V | S | MP | C | L | KD | M | SD | NyD | Left | Right | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970[3] | 88.6 | 153,510 | 3.5 | 45.0 | 25.4 | 9.6 | 2.7 | 13.4 | 48.6 | 48.4 | ||||
| 1973[4] | 91.2 | 157,126 | 3.9 | 43.9 | 29.9 | 5.5 | 2.4 | 14.3 | 47.7 | 49.7 | ||||
| 1976[5] | 92.3 | 164,975 | 3.2 | 43.3 | 29.6 | 6.7 | 3.2 | 15.1 | 46.6 | 51.4 | ||||
| 1979[6] | 91.3 | 164,457 | 4.0 | 44.1 | 24.0 | 7.1 | 1.9 | 18.6 | 48.1 | 49.8 | ||||
| 1982[7] | 91.7 | 165,881 | 3.8 | 46.1 | 1.3 | 21.7 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 20.8 | 49.9 | 46.4 | |||
| 1985[8] | 89.9 | 163,808 | 3.8 | 46.0 | 1.3 | 19.2 | 9.8 | 19.8 | 49.8 | 48.8 | ||||
| 1988[9] | 86.6 | 156,667 | 4.5 | 45.4 | 4.3 | 18.1 | 8.1 | 3.5 | 15.9 | 54.2 | 42.1 | |||
| 1991[10] | 87.2 | 158,445 | 3.8 | 39.6 | 2.7 | 14.4 | 5.8 | 7.9 | 18.2 | 6.9 | 43.4 | 46.4 | ||
| 1994[11] | 87.2 | 158,424 | 5.6 | 47.6 | 4.3 | 13.0 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 19.0 | 1.3 | 57.5 | 40.6 | ||
| 1998[12] | 81.6 | 145,002 | 11.5 | 39.4 | 3.9 | 9.2 | 2.8 | 13.3 | 18.3 | 54.8 | 43.7 | |||
| 2002[13] | 80.7 | 144,228 | 7.3 | 43.7 | 3.6 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 11.3 | 12.7 | 0.8 | 54.6 | 43.5 | ||
| 2006[14] | 82.2 | 147,531 | 5.0 | 41.4 | 3.9 | 11.1 | 5.2 | 7.1 | 21.3 | 3.2 | 50.2 | 44.7 | ||
| 2010[15] | 85.0 | 154,736 | 5.1 | 35.9 | 5.6 | 8.9 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 26.9 | 5.8 | 46.2 | 46.9 | ||
| 2014[16] | 86.7 | 158,822 | 4.6 | 35.5 | 4.7 | 8.7 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 20.3 | 15.3 | 44.7 | 37.3 | ||
| 2018[17] | 88.1 | 160,864 | 6.1 | 31.2 | 2.9 | 9.8 | 3.8 | 7.2 | 17.2 | 20.6 | 50.0 | 48.8 | ||
| 2022[18] | 86.0 | 163,223 | 4.6 | 31.7 | 3.6 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 7.0 | 17.8 | 24.5 | 46.4 | 52.5 |
On the mainland:
On Öland:
The five most populous localities of Kalmar County in 2020:[19]
| Locality | Population | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41,852 | ||
| 2 | 21,472 | ||
| 3 | 18,921 | ||
| 4 | 13,599 | ||
| 5 | 8,231 |
SCB have collected statistics on backgrounds of residents since 2002. These tables consist of all who have two foreign-born parents or are born abroad themselves.[20] The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.
| Location | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borgholm | 5.3 | 5.7 | 7.2 | 9.1 | 12.3 | 12.4 |
| Emmaboda | 10.2 | 11.9 | 13.6 | 15.8 | 22.3 | 23.4 |
| Hultsfred | 9.3 | 10.6 | 13.2 | 17.6 | 24.6 | 24.7 |
| Högsby | 10.3 | 11.4 | 14.8 | 19.2 | 28.7 | 28.5 |
| Kalmar | 8.9 | 10.3 | 12.1 | 13.9 | 17.1 | 17.9 |
| Mönsterås | 6.8 | 8.4 | 9.1 | 12.3 | 17.1 | 17.3 |
| Mörbylånga | 4.6 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 7.1 | 9.8 | 9.9 |
| Nybro | 9.7 | 10.6 | 12.5 | 15.9 | 21.8 | 22.1 |
| Oskarshamn | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.9 | 14.1 | 17.9 | 18.3 |
| Torsås | 5.4 | 6.9 | 8.6 | 9.8 | 13.5 | 13.4 |
| Vimmerby | 5.8 | 7.2 | 8.8 | 10.5 | 15.3 | 15.5 |
| Västervik | 7.2 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 10.8 | 13.9 | 14.0 |
| Total | 8.0 | 9.1 | 10.7 | 13.0 | 17.2 | 17.5 |
| align=left colspan=7 | Source: SCB |
See main article: Heraldry of Småland.
The County of Kalmar was formally granted its arms in 1944. Before this the county carried the arms of Småland and Öland side by side. The current arms is a combination of the arms for Småland and Öland. Blazon: "Quartered, the arms of Småland and Öland"