Constitutionally the County Councils exercise a degree of municipal self government provided for in the Constitution of Sweden. This does not constitute any degree of federalism, which is consistent with the view that Sweden should be regarded as a unity state. In Swedish terminology the County Council is considered to be a "Provincial Municipality" or Landstingskommun.
In each County there are also several smaller entities for the local government and administration that constitute municipal self government, which are independent of the County Councils. It is called a "Primary Municipality" or Primärkommun, and more plainly "Municipality" or Kommun. The island of Gotland is a special case in that it makes up one full county but at the same time only one municipality. As Gotland does not have a separate entity for a County Council, the Municipality of Gotland also handles the County Council tasks.
During a trial period the Government has decided to devolve some of the authority from the County Administrative Boards in three different Counties. This authority will instead be held by the evolved County Councils in Skåne, Västra Götaland and Gotland, now called Regional Councils.
See also: Counties of Sweden, County Administrative Boards of Sweden, Municipalities of Sweden
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