Helsingborg ['hɛlsiŋ'bɔrj] is located in the southernmost part of Sweden, called Skåne, and has a population of 101,600. It is the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, which has 122,000 inhabitants.
Helsingborg Municipality is the ninth largest Municipality in Sweden due to its relatively small areal size. Helsingborg is the city center of about 300,000 people in the region. This effectively makes Helsingborg the fourth largest city in Sweden.
Helsingborg is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city Elsinore (Helsingør) clearly visible on the other side of the strait of Öresund.
Historic Helsingborg, with its many old houses, is a scenic coastal city. The buildings are a blend of old-style stone-built churches and a fortress (Kärnan) in the centre, and more modern commercial buildings. The streets vary from wide avenues to small alley-ways, too.
Major businesses are service, trade, industry and tourism. In 2001 a branch of the University of Lund opened in the former Tretorn rubber factories a stone's throw from the Denmark ferries.
Opposite of the Sund in Denmark is Elsinore (Helsingør). Before the Malmö-Copenhagen Øresund bridge was finished, most of the trans-scandinavian traffic (transit and tourist) used the ferries between Helsingborg and Elsinore.
There is still heavy traffic across the Sund here because of the high population density on either side of the border. In addition, the ferries are usually somewhat cheaper than the fees for the bridge and they often provide a shorter route compared to the bridge.
