Ljungby Kommun

From a landscape point of view, the area of the municipality of Ljungby consists of two different parts. The eastern two thirds of the area, including the central town Ljungby in its centre, consists of a relatively flat plain with a mosaic of coniferous forests, bogs, deciduous forests and arable land. The latter two can be found especially along the river Lagan, which flows through the municipality from north to south and later merges into the Kattegat at Laholm in the province of Halland.

The landscape of Ljungby Kommmun

The flat landscape is loosened up by the deposits of the glaciers of the Ice Age, which rise quite numerously from the plain in the form of small narrow moraines or in groups of drop-shaped hills, the so-called drumlins.

The landscape southwest of the large lake Bolmen, shows a somewhat different face. The rocky subsoil consisting of gneiss is much more hilly and the landscape consists mainly of untouched extensive moorlands and coniferous forests. Deciduous forests are found almost only at the numerous lakes, especially directly at lake Bolmen. This part of the municipality has the highest concentration of wetlands and swamp forests in the entire province of Kronoberg, and the annual rainfall is over 500 mm, almost three times higher than in the eastern regions of the province. Roads and settlements are concentrated in areas with dry subsoil, so that the road network has wide meshes and the area is sparsely populated.

In the municipality of Ljungby, you encounter water almost at every turn, because regardless of the numerous wetlands, a total of 200 lakes ensure that around 20 percent of the almost 2,000 square kilometres of the municipality area is covered by water. The largest single contribution to this is made by the 173 square kilometre Bolmen in the north-west of the municipality, which is also the largest lake in Småland.

Experience Ljungby active

The lakes and also the river Lagan offer a huge potential for all kinds of leisure activities in and on the water, like fishing, paddling or canoeing. Apart from this, a total of 17 municipal bathing places offer the amenities of a regularly maintained official bathing area.

There are 36 nature reserves, each of which offers an individual section of the multi-layered regional nature. Depending on how much nature you want to experience, the sizes of the nature reserves range from the 9 hectare Bräkentorps Naturreservat to the huge, 1,500 hectare Årshultsmyrens Naturreservat, which protects a large unspoilt moor, forest and lake landscape in the west of the municipality.

With the Elinge Älgpark and the Laganland Älgpark, there are two ways to get close to elks in Ljungby Kommun. Early historical cemeteries, medieval churches, ruins and various museums offer the visitors interested in cultural history more than enough variety during their stay.

The municipality is also part of the fairytale land Sagobygden, which was given this name because a large part of the Swedish folk tales have originated there over the centuries. The fairyland also includes the neighbouring municipalities Alvesta and Älmhult. Within the fairyland there are now 40 signposted fairytale places where one of the often mystical legends is said to have taken place. At each place there is a wooden board where you can read the story written in Swedish, German and English. The story lines of the fairyland all come together in the Sagomuseet, the fairytale museum in Ljungby. This exciting museum is run by the Kronoberg Storytelling Network, which keeps the tradition and art of oral storytelling alive.

Ljungby Kommun in figures

With an area of 1,995 square kilometres, Ljungby Kommun is not only the largest municipality in Småland, but also one of the largest municipalities in southern Sweden. Compared to the national average of 23 inhabitants per square kilometre, the municipality is relatively sparsely populated, with about 16 inhabitants per square kilometre. The most densely populated area is the region around the central town Ljungby, which is home to almost 16,000 of the municipality's total of around 29,000 inhabitants. The second largest place is the neighbouring town Lagan to the north of Ljungby with almost 1,600 inhabitants, followed by Ryssby to the east with around 700 inhabitants.