Karlstad

For the small town in the United States, see Karlstad, Minnesota.

Karlstad
Episcopal see and municipal seat
Coat of arms
Nicknames:  City of the Sun, Sun city
Karlstad Location within Värmland County Karlstad Location within Sweden
Coordinates: 59°22′42″N 13°30′15″E
Country	Sweden
Province	Värmland
County	Värmland County
Municipality	Karlstad Municipality
Founded by	King Charles IX
Government
• Chairman of the Executive Board	Linda Larsson
Area
• Episcopal see and municipal seat	30.31 km2 (11.70 sq mi)
Elevation	64 m (210 ft)
Population  (2020 (city); 2015 (metro))
• Episcopal see and municipal seat	67,122
• Density	2,035/km2 (5,270/sq mi)
• Metro	96,466
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	65x xx
Area code	(+46) 54
Website	www.karlstad.se

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Karlstad (US: /ˈkɑːrlstɑːd/, Swedish: [ˈkɑ̌ːɭsta(d)] ^ⓘ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitants in the wider municipality in 2023, and is the 21st largest municipality in Sweden. Karlstad has a university and a cathedral.

In recent years, Karlstad has started seeing big growth with many new buildings, for example the new apartment complexes around Orrholmen and Tullholmen, hosting a brand new Coop store and a 17 story high rise apartment which was finished in late 2022.

Karlstad is built on the river delta where Sweden's longest river, Klarälven, runs into Sweden's largest lake, Vänern. It has the second largest lake port in the country after Västerås.

Karlstad is reputed to be one of the sunniest towns in Sweden and a local waitress, known as "Sola i Karlstad" (the Sun in Karlstad) for her sunny disposition, is commemorated with a statue.