Mönsterås Municipality facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mönsterås Municipality Mönsterås kommun
Municipality
Coat of arms
Country	Sweden
County	Kalmar County
Seat	Mönsterås
Area
• Total	945.78 km2 (365.17 sq mi)
• Land	601.95 km2 (232.41 sq mi)
• Water	343.83 km2 (132.75 sq mi)
	Area as of January 1, 2010.
Population  (June 30, 2012)
• Total	13,018
• Density	13.7643/km2 (35.6494/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	SE
Province	Småland
Municipal code	0861
Website	www.monsteras.se

Mönsterås Municipality (which means Mönsterås kommun in Swedish) is a special area in Kalmar County, located in south-eastern Sweden. It's like a local government area, and its main town, or "seat," is called Mönsterås.

This area has a long history! Mönsterås used to be a market town. In 1952, it joined up with the nearby countryside. Later, in 1974, it became a bigger municipality by joining with two other places called Fliseryd and Ålem.

The symbol for the municipality, called its "arms," shows a ridge. This is because the town of Mönsterås and its church have been built on a ridge since the Middle Ages. The cross on the symbol represents the Knights Hospitallers. This was a religious group that had a big impact on the town in the 1400s. The name "Mönsterås" actually comes from this history: "Mönster" means monastery (a place where monks live), and "ås" means ridge.

Exploring Mönsterås Geography

The coastline of Mönsterås is really cool! It has about 300 islands and smaller islands, called islets. Two of these islands are even special nature reserves, which means they are protected areas for plants and animals. Far out at sea, on the island farthest from land, there's a lighthouse called Dämman. It was built in 1873. Even though a new automatic lighthouse does the main job now, the old lighthouse is still visited by tourists and used for meetings.

Away from the coast, much of the land is covered with forests. This is common in the Småland province where Mönsterås is located. Closer to the sea, you'll find some agricultural areas where farmers grow crops. Two rivers, Emån and Alsterån, flow through the municipality and into the sea. These rivers are important for the local wildlife and shape the land around them.

Main Towns and Villages

Mönsterås Municipality has five main urban areas, also known as "localities" or Tätort in Swedish. These are the places where most people live.

Here are the localities listed by how many people lived there on December 31, 2007. The main town, Mönsterås, is shown in bold.

See also

In Spanish: Municipio de Mönsterås para niños