The municipality is one of few in the country which has not been amalgamated since it was created out of a parish when the first local government acts of Sweden were implemented in 1863.
Not until late in the Bronze Age (10th century BC) did parts of what is now Älvkarleby begin to rise out of the Baltic Sea. Remains of settlements from that period has been found in the area. In the Early Iron Age (6th-12th century) the population began to grow and people supported themselves on farming, hunting, fishing and livestock. The first mention of Älvkarleby is found in documents from the early Middle Ages (13th century).
Älvkarleby was the hometown of the author Stig Dagerman.
Demographics
This is a demographic table based on Älvkarleby Municipality's electoral districts in the 2022 Swedish general election sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics.[3]
In total there were 9,614 residents, including 7,312 Swedish citizens of voting age resident in the municipality.[3] 46.4% voted for the left coalition and 52.2% for the right coalition, a stark reversal from previous elections dominated by the Social Democrats. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.
These are the election results since the 1972 municipal reform. The results of the Sweden Democrats were not published by the SCB between 1988 and 1998 due to the party's small size nationally so has been denoted as "0.0". Älvkarleby has traditionally seen outright majorities for the Social Democrats, although in 2010 and 2014 the party fell just short of 50% of ballots cast in the municipality.
This lists the relative strength of the socialist and centre-right blocs since 1973, but parties not elected to the Riksdag are inserted as "other", including the Sweden Democrats results from 1988 to 2006, but also the Christian Democrats pre-1991 and the Greens in 1982, 1985 and 1991. The sources are identical to the table above. The coalition or government mandate marked in bold formed the government after the election. New Democracy got elected in 1991 but are still listed as "other" due to the short lifespan of the party.
