Lidingö Municipality

Lidingö is one of the wealthiest municipalities in Sweden, with the fourth highest median income per capita.[4] The share of highly educated persons, according to Statistics Sweden's definition: persons with post-secondary education that is three years or longer, is 46.0% – also the fourth highest in the country.[5]

On the 31st of December 2017 the number of people with a foreign background (persons born outside of Sweden or with two parents born outside of Sweden) was 10 065, or 21.33% of the population (47 185 on the 31st of December 2017). On the 31st of December 2002 the number of residents with a foreign background was (per the same definition) 6 422, or 15.59% of the population (41 192 on the 31st of December 2002).[6] On 31 December 2017 there were 47 185 residents in Lidingö, of which 8 265 people (17.52%) were born in a country other than Sweden. Divided by country in the table below - the Nordic countries as well as the 12 most common countries of birth outside of Sweden for Swedish residents have been included, with other countries of birth bundled together by continent by Statistics Sweden.[7]

Country of birth[7]
31 December 2017
1	Sweden	38,920
2	European Union: Other countries	1,563
3	Asia: Other countries	988
4	Finland	850
5	South America	608
6	Poland	487
7	Europe outside of the EU: other countries	479
8	Africa: Other countries	411
9	Germany	402
10	North America	382
11	Syria	302
12	Iraq	288
13	Iran	259
14	Norway	236
15	Afghanistan	189
16	Eritrea	158
17	Denmark	124
18	Thailand	110
19	Yugoslavia/ Yugoslavia SFR Yugoslavia/ Serbia and Montenegro	105
20	Bosnia and Herzegovina	92
21	Turkey	71
22	Soviet Union	66
23	Oceania	53
24	Somalia	23
25	Iceland	16
26	Unknown country of birth	3

In 1942, Lidingö created a committee to provide support for the people in Lohja (Swedish: Lojo) in the southern part of Finland who suffered badly during World War II. An orphanage was opened in Lidingö and money was collected and sent to Lohja. The orphanage was closed in 1943 as most of the children then had returned to Finland. The money that was left over was used to provide food for the children in Lohja. Lidingö and Lohja still maintain a close relationship.

Another sister city is Alameda, California. The initiative came from Alameda in 1959 and was part of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's people-to-people-movement. The purpose was to develop better understanding between people from different countries after World War II. Both Alameda and Lidingö are islands with a bridge connecting them to a big city.

As the Baltic countries were liberated from the Soviet Union in 1990-1991, Lidingö looked for a new sister city in the area. Saldus in Latvia was selected. During the years, a number of environmental, cultural and other projects have been accomplished.