Skara Municipality (Skara kommun) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Skara.
The area of the municipality consists of 16 original local government entities. The municipal reform of 1952 grouped them into four new entities. In 1971 the City of Skara was amalgamated with the rural municipalities to form the present unit.
Varnhem is renowned for its medieval monastery.
Coordinates: 58°23′N 13°26′E / 58.383°N 13.433°E / 58.383; 13.433
Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan (cathedral school), is situated in Skara.
Skara is located by the E20 motorway, about 130 km (81 mi) northeast of Gothenburg, in the centre of Västergötland.
Skara had a humid continental climate for the reference period of 1961–1990, but has since more resembled an oceanic climate, heavily influenced by maritime moderation in spite of its inland position. Its proximity to Kattegat and lake Vänern contributes to summers being slightly cooler than areas to the north-east, and winter temperatures mostly hover around the freezing point.
According to local legend, Skara was founded in AD 988, making it one of the oldest cities of Sweden. It was one of only two cities in what was to become Västergötland, the other being Lödöse. Skara was the location for the regional assembly, the Thing of all Geats.
Skara is a genus of maxillopod crustacean known from the Upper Cambrian Orsten deposit of Sweden and similarly aged deposits in China. It is the only genus in the order Skaracarida, and contains three species:
The feeding system of Skara resembles those of copepods and Derocheilocaris, and the three taxa are accordingly grouped together as the clade Copepodoida.Skara is likely to have scraped or brushed the substrate to release food.