Gislaved Municipality Facts for Kids

Gislaved Municipality (which in Swedish is Gislaveds kommun) is a local government area in southern Sweden. It is part of Jönköping County. The main town and administrative center of the municipality is Gislaved.

The municipality was formed in 1974. This happened when the town of Gislaved joined with several smaller areas around it. Today, it includes seventeen original smaller communities. Gislaved Municipality is known for its culture and industries. It is also home to the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp. This is the only race track in Sweden that has hosted a Formula One Grand Prix. It held the Swedish Grand Prix for six years in the 1970s.

History of Gislaved Municipality
Geography and Nature
Towns and Villages
Famous People from Gislaved
Places to Visit
Images for kids
See also

History of Gislaved Municipality

People have lived in the Gislaved area for a very long time. However, there were no big towns until more recently. Around the year 1800, about 700 people lived here. By 1949, Gislaved was given special rights as a köping, which is like a market town.

A special coat of arms was designed for Gislaved at that time. This type of symbol was traditionally used by cities. When the local government areas were reformed in the 1970s, Gislaved adopted this coat of arms. The symbols on the coat of arms represent an old hostel that was once nearby.

There are 19 churches in the municipality. The oldest church dates back to 1350. In the small town of Burseryd, there is an even older church bell. An inscription on this bell was made using the ancient Futhark alphabet. It says: "The year Anno Domine 1238 was this bell made. Bero wrote the inscription." This makes it the second oldest church bell in all of Sweden.

Geography and Nature

Gislaved Municipality has six nature reserves. These are special areas protected for their natural beauty and wildlife. You can find rare plants and animals here. One special plant is the Twinflower (Linnaea borealis). This flower is unique because it is the only one named after the famous botanist Carl von Linné.

Lake Bolmen is a large lake located in the southeastern part of the municipality. Most of the lake is actually in the nearby Ljungby Municipality. Lake Bolmen is the tenth largest lake in Sweden. It is a great place for fishing, canoeing, and other outdoor activities.

Gislaved used to have a big factory that made tires. It was called Gislaved, just like the town. However, this factory has now closed down.

Towns and Villages

There are eight main urban areas in Gislaved Municipality. These are also known as Tätorter or localities.

The table below lists these localities. They are ordered by how many people lived there on December 31, 2015. The main town, Gislaved, is shown in bold.

#	Locality	Population
1	Gislaved	10,180
2	Anderstorp	5,076
3	Smålandsstenar	4,564
4	Hestra	1,327
5	Reftele	1,289
6	Burseryd	932
7	Skeppshult	360
8	Broaryd	284

Famous People from Gislaved

Many interesting people have come from Gislaved Municipality. Here are some of them, with their home town in parentheses:

Olle Anderson (Gislaved) - An artist.
Ann-Charlotte Alverfors (Reftele) - An author.
Darijan Bojanic (Gislaved) - A professional football player.
Johan Büser (Anderstorp) - A politician.
Lars Danielsson (Smålandsstenar) - A bassist, composer, and music producer.
Samuel Fröler (Reftele) - An actor.
Oscar Hiljemark (Gislaved) - A professional football player.
Simon Hjalmarsson (Gislaved) - A professional ice hockey player.
Bengt-Anders Johansson (Smålandsstenar) - A politician.
Annie Oliv (Gislaved) - A model.
Maria Rydqvist (Smålandsstenar) - A cross-country skier.
Johan Runesson (Smålandsstenar) - An orienteering competitor.
Henrik Skoog (Smålandsstenar) - A distance runner.
Johan August Skogsfors (Reftele) - An industrialist who founded Skogsfors Bruk.
Carl-Johan Seth (Reftele) - An actor, director, and author.
Iréne Theorin (Broaryd) - An opera singer.
Åsa Westlund (Anderstorp) - A politician.
Emma Örtlund (Reftele) - An actress.

Places to Visit

The Scandinavian Raceway is a famous race track located near Anderstorp. It was built in 1968. This track is well-known for hosting major car races.

Images for kids

A view of Gislaved, Sweden.
The coat of arms for Gislaved Municipality.
A map showing Gislaved Municipality within Jönköping County.

Gislaved Municipality facts for kids

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