Halmstad, situated in the south-west of Sweden, on Kattegat Strait, is the capital of Halland Region. It has the population of 80,000 people that doubles in summer due to the numbers of tourist coming there from all over Sweden to spend holidays on beautiful sandy beaches of a nearby Tylosand. The city has its own airport and good rail and road connections with the rest of the country and abroad. There is also Halmstad University – a modern, innovative, student friendly university with 7,000 students, including many foreigners. The commune of Halmstad, on the other hand, is one of 290 Swedish communes and one of six in Halland Shire. Its inhabitants earn their living as farmers, craftsmen, fishermen and harbour workers exporting wood, wood works and paper.

About cooperation:

Since the mid-1990s Olsztyn and Halmstad have cooperated carrying out various projects. One of them was “Halland Model of Monument Conservation”, which resulted in renovation of the castle in 4 Królowa Jadwiga Street in Olsztyn, the present seat of the Municipal Public Library, and the castle in Metalowa Street, the seat of the Museum of Nature, a venue of the Museum of Warmia and Mazuria. Another project aimed at maintaining cooperation between those sister towns is focused on providing proper medical care to the disabled and elderly people. The cooperation was based on experience exchange, research, development and application of new technologies and methods of work.
• In October 1996 Olsztyn witnessed the Days of Halland, aimed at presentation of economic, social and cultural potential of the region. There was also an evening of the Swedish literature, concert of the youth choir and table tennis tournament between representatives of the Olsztyn Voivodship and Halland Region.
• In September 1997, Halland held the Days of Olsztyn. In each of the six communes of Halland a different event was organized. The citizens of Halmstad listened to the concert “Warmia and Mazuria to the citizens of Halland”, whereas the inhabitants of Laholm admired an exhibition of Polish books. Falkenberg welcomed table tennis representation of the councilmen of Olsztyn and Halland, Kungsbaca, on the other hand, presented a photo exhibition and organized Polish filmFestival.
• In November 2003 the presidents of Olsztyn and Halmstad established a town twinning agreement for the period of three years. It comprised school and youth exchanges, social and tourist cooperation as well as information transfer.
• In November 2006 Olsztyn welcomed the representatives of Halland Region who unofficially visited the city. At the meeting with the councilmen and businessmen they discussed cooperation strategy for the year 2007 and implementation of the program “Improvement of the Quality of Catering and Ac-
commodation Services in the Region of Warmia and Mazuria in the Years 2004–2013”.

Adress:

RådhusetBox 153301 05 Halmstadwww.halmstad.se