Västra Götaland County

Västra Götaland County Västra Götalands län (Swedish)
County
The Brakelund burial ground in Lidköping, Sweden.
Flag Coat of arms
Västra Götaland County in Sweden
Location map of Västra Götaland County in Sweden
Country	Sweden
Founded	1 January 1998
Capital	Gothenburg
Municipalities	49 Ale Alingsås Åmål Bengtsfors Bollebygd Borås Dals-Ed Essunga Falköping Färgelanda Götene Gothenburg Grästorp Gullspång Härryda Herrljunga Hjo Karlsborg Kungälv Lerum Lidköping Lilla Edet Lysekil Mariestad Mark Mellerud Mölndal Munkedal Öckerö Orust Partille Skara Skövde Sotenäs Stenungsund Strömstad Svenljunga Tanum Tibro Tidaholm Tjörn Töreboda Tranemo Trollhättan Uddevalla Ulricehamn Vänersborg Vara Vårgårda
Government
• Governor	Lars Bäckström
• Council	Västra Götaland Regional Council
Area
• Total	25,247 km2 (9,748 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2019)
• Total	1,725,881
• Density	68/km2 (180/sq mi)
GDP
• Total	SEK 711 billion €76.030 billion (2015)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	SE-O
NUTS Region	SE232
Website	www.o.lst.se

The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (kommuner). Its population of 1,616,000 amounts to 17% of Sweden's population.^{[needs update]} The formal capital and seat of the governor of Västra Götaland County is Gothenburg. The political capital and seat of the Västra Götaland Regional Council is Vänersborg.

The county was established on 1 January 1998, when Älvsborg County, Gothenburg and Bohus County and Skaraborg County were merged.

Sweden's counties are generally of greater importance than its provinces. The counties are the main administrative units for politics and population census counts.

Due to its size and young age, the Västra Götaland County has no common heritage. Of cultural and historical significance are the provinces that Västra Götaland County consists of: Västergötland, Bohuslän and Dalsland. There is also an insignificant part of the province Halland within the county.

In addition, the previous counties that were abolished in 1998 had been in use since the 17th century, and therefore have some cultural and historical significance.

Västra Götaland County borders to the counties of Värmland, Örebro, Östergötland, Jönköping and Halland. It is also bounded by the Norwegian county of Østfold both with a land and maritime border, lakes Vättern and Vänern, as well as the strait of Skagerrak.

Västra Götaland was created in 1998 by a merger of the three former counties of Gothenburg and Bohus County, Älvsborg County and Skaraborg County. The seat of residence for the Governors or Landshövding is Gothenburg, while the seat of political administration and power is Vänersborg. The Governor is the head of the County Administrative Board or Länsstyrelse.

The Västra Götaland Regional Council or Västra Götalandsregionen is an evolved County Council that for a trial period has assumed certain tasks from the County Administrative Board. Similar trial councils are applied for Skåne County and Gotland County.

The arms for the County of Västra Götaland were granted in 1998 when the county was formed. They are a combination of the provincial arms of Västergötland, Bohuslän and Dalsland and the arms of the city of Gothenburg. When the arms are shown with a royal crown they represent the County Administrative Board, which is the regional presence of (royal) government authority. Blazon: "Quartered, I. the arms of Gothenburg II. the arms of Bohuslän III. the arms of Dalsland turned in courtoisie, IV. the arms of Västergötland."