Sweden. The amalgamations of municipalities reduced the number of local government units from a maximum of 2,532 in 1930 to less than 300 today. Consequently, by 1970 most municipalities contained both rural and urban areas. Since the urban and rural municipalities also with time got the same duties towards citizens, it became unnecessary to differentiate between towns and other municipalities, as all had the same powers. Since 1 January 1971, all municipalities are designated as kommun, regardless of their former status. Modern use Most of the urban areas of Sweden which once were chartered towns are today still usually referred to as stad. The majority of them are also house the seat of their respective municipalities though the term is no longer an administrative term. In some municipalities there can be more than one former town, e.g. Eskilstuna and Torshälla in Eskilstuna Municipality, Kungälv and Marstrand in Kungälv Municipality, or Jönköping, Huskvarna and Gränna, which all three now are part of Jönköping Municipality. The town of Visby is the seat of Gotland Municipality, but is no political entity of its own. Some former towns have also grown together, forming one urban area. A few municipalities which used to be towns still style themselves as stad, e.g. Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. There are also municipalities with considerable rural areas that market themselves with the term. Statistics Sweden defines the term stad as a locality with more than 10,000 inhabitants of which there are currently 118. Urban population Largest urban areas in 1850: Stockholm (93,000 inhabitants) Gothenburg (26,000) Norrköping (17,000) Karlskrona (14,000) Malmö (13,000) Largest urban areas in 1900: Stockholm (300,624) Gothenburg (130,609) Malmö (60,857) Norrköping (41,008) Gävle (29,522) Helsingborg (24,670) Karlskrona (23,955) Jönköping (23,143) Uppsala (22,855) Örebro (22,013) Lund (16,621) Borås (15,837) Halmstad (15,362) See also Municipalities of Sweden Urban areas in Sweden References Sources Urban planning in Sweden