Skövde
Skövde | |
|---|---|
Skövde | |
| Coordinates: 58°23′N 13°51′E / 58.383°N 13.850°E | |
| Country | Sweden |
| Province | Västergötland |
| County | Västra Götaland County |
| Municipality | Skövde Municipality |
| Area | |
• Total | 20.31 km2 (7.84 sq mi) |
| Population (31 December 2021) | |
• Total | 57,061 |
| • Density | 1,697/km2 (4,400/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Skövde (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɧœ̂vːdɛ] ⓘ) is a locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central southern Sweden.
Skövde is situated around 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between Sweden's two largest lakes, Vänern and Vättern. It lies on the eastern slope of a low mountain ridge, Billingen (304 m), which cuts through the plain between the lakes. The Western Main Railway (Västra Stambanan) was built through Skövde in the 1850s, which gave the town a dramatic industrial and population boost.
Today, Skövde is home to the headquarters for Skaraborg's District Court and is the Västra Götaland's fourth-largest urban area as well as Sweden's 32nd biggest locality (by population) with 39,580 inhabitants in 2020.