For several hundred years, Blekinge was a borderland between Denmark and Sweden. The province was often the site of armed conflicts between the two archenemies. Urban and rural centers were burned and pillaged by Swedish and Danish troops alike. With the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, Blekinge became a part of Sweden.

As a part of the integration of Blekinge into Sweden, but also for commerce and military strategic reasons, the cities of Karlskrona and Karlshamn were founded.

King Karl XI founded Karlskrona as a base for the Swedish Navy at the Baltic Sea’s then center of power. Karlskrona, which is Blekinge’s county seat, has now regained its strategic importance.

Karlshamn became a merchant city with lively trade both by land and sea. The city has retained its importance as a port and has one of Sweden’s largest deepwater harbors.

Ronneby is Blekinge’s oldest city. It was mentioned as far back as the 1200s. A time of prosperity began when the health resort Ronneby Brunn was built at the end of the 1800s. It is presently one of Europe’s largest and most modern hotel and conference facilities.

Sölvesborg also has a history dating back to the medieval period. The city experienced an economic upswing during the mid-1800s as the center in a district with spirit distilleries. Agriculture, fishing and fur farming now dominate.

Olofström is Blekinge’s only inland municipality. The city itself is rather new, but has grown up around an iron works founded in 1735. The iron works laid the ground for what is now Blekinge’s largest industrial facility, namely Volvo Car’s plant for body components.

For many years, the people of Blekinge were dependent on farming, forestry, fishing, and not the least, stone quarrying. Industrialization initially progressed slowly. But in the 1960s, significant industrial growth began in the county. Several of the major industrial companies expanded dramatically. The labor force came primarily from agriculture and fishing, but there was also considerable immigration, especially to Olofström.

Industry continued to expand and it was primarily the major companies that became even bigger. By the 1970s, Blekinge had become an industrial county.