- published: 11 Jul 2014
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Jönköping (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈjœnːˈɕøːpiŋ]) is a city in southern Sweden with 89,396 inhabitants (2010). It is the 9th most populous city of Sweden. Jönköping is situated by the southern end of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern. The original town Jönköping has grown together with Huskvarna and Norrahammar forming a contiguous urban area, since 1971 wholly within the same municipality.
The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipality which has a population of 128 305 (2011), and also the seat of Jönköping County which has a population of 331,539 (2006). Jönköping is the seat of a district court and a court of appeal as well as the Swedish National Courts Administration. It is also the seat of the Swedish Board of Agriculture.
Jönköping is an old trading center (Köping), since it was located on a crossroad for the roads following along the rivers Nissan and Lagan, and the road between the provinces Östergötland and Västergötland. This was rather natural due to the geographical position of the city at the southern end of lake Vättern, which divided the two counties. On 18 May 1284, Jönköping received rights as a City in Sweden as one of the first communities in the country, by King Magnus Ladulås, who at that time largely ruled the nation from Vättern's largest island Visingsö. In the name of the city "Jön-" is derived from a creek, "Junebäcken", which was situated in the nowadays western part of the city, Talavid. This was the location of the first known settlement in the area. The second part of the name "-köping", as mentioned above, is an old word for a trading center or market place.