Citation:
Demographic data base, CEDAR, Umeå Universitet (2022): ”The FOLKNET database”, http://dx.doi.org/10.17197/folknetdb_v01
Content and sources
The FOLKNET database contains information about the total population in parishes, cities and municipalities, according to the geographical division that applied around 1990, every ten years during the period 1810–1990. The information provides opportunities for researchers, students and anyone else interested, in studying the local development of the population in Sweden. The population data was collected and compiled on forms by Christian Swärd, who has passed on the material to the CEDAR/Demographic data base (DDB).
The population data are mainly based on Statistics Sweden's publications:
· “Bidrag till Sveriges officiella statistik, ser. A: Befolkningsstatistik, Församlingar Läns- och Häradsvis”[1]
· ”Folkmängden inom administrativa områden 31 december 19xx (respektive år), del 1‑2, Kommuner och församlingar.”[2]
Supplementary information has been obtained from the population forms from Tabellverket. In a few cases, information was missing. This applies to 42 records during the 19th century, where estimates of the population were performed. The applied method meant a linear approximation between the next few years before and after the year with the missing population.
Data quality
The data registration did not take place at the Demographic Data base. Therefore, DDB cannot take responsibility for the quality of the population data. Regarding the reliability of the population data, they depend on the errors that accompany the sources (see, for example, Nilsson, L . Den urbana transitionen. Tätorterna i svensk samhällsomvandling 1800–1980. Stockholm, Stadshistoriska institutet. 1989).[3] The occurrence of errors in older statistics has long been known.
The possibility that errors occur due to the extraction and/or registration of data have been investigated by Johan Håkansson during thesis work based on this material (Changing population distribution in Sweden - Long term trends and contemporary tendencies. GERUM Kulturgeografi 2000: 1, Umeå).[4] A number of different controls were made. Each parish name in the registered material was checked against parish names that are included in the publication Sveriges församlingar genom tiderna (RSV 1989)[5] and, also, Swärd's own remarks. Further checks on the reliability of the data have been made by comparing each population data point in the registered data for the years 1990 and 1960 with Statistics Sweden's publications. After that, samples of the data have been controlled (approximately 1/3 of the parishes) where the population data in the digital format have been compared with the excerpts. Finally, the existing summaries for the municipalities were also checked against the registered data for the parishes. The latter type of control has also been performed by DDB, during the registering of the material. The results of the controls carried out by Håkansson showed that very few errors occur. The material should therefore be of satisfactory quality, even if there are occasional errors.
Geographical areas:
The population data include mainly parishes, including a few smaller districts of parish register, but also cities and municipalities. Apart from parishes, the type of area that is referred to is indicated in the name of the area.
Parish
The majority of the geographical areas in the data are parishes (in Swedish: församling). The material reports almost exclusively parishes in rural areas. The city parishes have been merged with the city as a whole. The parishes have not been consistent over time, neither in number nor in area. Several parishes have been incorporated into cities. Others have been added to nearby parishes. New parishes have been added through separations from existing ones. The changes have been particularly noticeable during the 20th century. It is estimated that almost a thousand congregations have been affected in terms of population by such major changes during the period 1810–1990. Note that the name of a parish may have changed over time. The search tool uses the modern name. To find information about parishes with older names, it is recommended to use the publication "Sweden's parishes through the ages" for more information.[5] This publication contains information about both new and old names of parishes. It is also available on the Swedish Tax Agency's website.[6]
District of parish register
A districts of parish register (in Swedish: kyrkobokföringsdistrikt, KBFD) refers to a part of a parish, which has its own population register. It is equivalent to parish in this respect. They occur mostly in northern Sweden, where the parishes are large, both in terms of area and population. In the data table, there are 25 areas characterised as districts of parish register. Formally, there are four more areas, but since they also constitute cities, they have been registered as cities in this table. This refers to Haparanda, Boden, Lycksele and Borlänge. This is the explanation to why there are population data for Borlänge and Haparanda before city privileges were issued.
City
A city (in Swedish: stad), as a whole, is reported regardless of whether it consisted of a parish, a district of parish register or several parishes for the year in question. Through mergers, more and more rural parishes have been incorporated into cities, especially during the 20th century. The changes are extensive in several cities. During the period 1810–1990, several cities were added. In 1810 there were 88 cities and in 1900 there were 95 cities. During the 20th century, the number of cities increased by 39 (see Sveriges Nationalatlas: Infrastrukturen - förvaltning, kommunikationer, energi. 1992).[7] There are a total of 134 cities, if Skanör and Falsterbo are considered two separate cities.
Municipality
The data on population in parishes and cities are summarised by municipality (in Swedish: kommun) according to a division around 1990. This means that the extracted and registered population for the municipalities for previous years does not correspond to publicly published data relating to another municipal division. The municipality is also an administrative unit that was not established until 1862 to make a distinction between the church and civil parts of the parish administration. The municipality created was for a long time geographically the same as the parish.
Two major changes were subsequently implemented. Through the municipality reform in 1952, municipalities were merged to become more sustainable units with about 3,000 individuals. The number of municipalities decreased from 2,281 to 821. The differences were noticeable mainly in southern and central Sweden, while the northern part of Norrland was hardly affected. At the beginning of the 1970s, another geographical change was done with a population base of approximately 8,000 individuals per municipality. At that time, the concept of city was also removed in order to obtain uniform types of municipalities. The geographical change was intended to be made on a voluntary basis and be implemented in 1971. However, due to some disagreement, the new geographical division, with 284 municipalities, was not implemented until 1973/1974.
City and Municipality
In a few cases, areas have been categorised as City and Municipality (in Swedish: Stad och Kommun) where the record for a city and a municipality have been combined.
County
For each parish, city and municipality, the county (in Swedish: län) affiliation is stated according to the division in 1990. Significant changes in the Swedish county division had been made up to 1810. After that, only minor changes took place before the beginning of the 1970s, when the new municipal reform was implemented. In the years 1971–1974, the county affiliation changed for 65 parishes.
Search tool:
Search tool for the FOLKNET database.
Län (County)
Counties to which the geographical area belongs around 1990 (code).
Lännamn (County name)
Counties to which the geographical area belongs around 1990 (text).
Typ (Type)
Type of geographical area: Parish (Församling), District of parish register (Kyrkobokföringsdistrikt, KBFD), City (Stad), Municipality (Kommun), City and Municipality (Stad och Kommun). See the headings above for more information.
Namn (Name)
The name of the geographical area.
År 1810-År 1990 (Year 1810-Year 1990)
Population for current geographical area and year.
References
[1] Statistiska centralbyråns underdåniga berättelse för år 1890. Tredje och sista afdelningen: Folkmängden församlingsvis åren 1860–1890; folkmängden år 1890 efter kön, ålder, civilstånd, hushåll, födelseort, stamskilnad och yrken; antalet sinnessjuke, döfstumme och blinde; frånvarande personer och qvarstående obefintlige; dödlighets- och lifslängdstabeller för åren 1881–1890. Stockholm, 1895.
[2] Statistiska centralbyrån, Folkmängden inom administrativa områden 31 december 19xx (respektive år), del 1 2, Kommuner och församlingar. Stockholm: Statistiska centralbyrån.
[3] L. Nilsson, Den urbana transitionen: tätorterna i svensk samhällsomvandling 1800–1980. Stockholm: Stadshistoriska institutet, 1989.
[4] J. Håkansson, Changing population distribution in Sweden: long term trends and contemporary tendencies. Umeå: Umeå Universitet, 2000.
[5] Riksskatteverket, Sveriges församlingar genom tiderna. Stockholm: Riksskatteverket, Skatteförvaltningen, 1989.
[6] Skatteverket, ”Sveriges församlingar genom tiderna”. [Online]. Tillgänglig vid: https://www.skatteverket.se/privat/folkbokforing/attvarafolkbokford/folkbokforingenshistoria/sverigesforsamlingargenomtiderna/forteckning.4.18e1b10334ebe8bc80003999.html. [Åtkomstdatum: 22-apr-2022].
[7] L. Wastenson och R. Castensson, ”Sveriges nationalatlas. [Kartografiskt material]: förvaltning, kommunikationer, energi Infrastrukturen”, Sveriges nationalatlas (SNA), Stockholm, 1992.