[clarification needed] The criteria varied over time as they were at the discretion of the Riksdag or the monarch, but they could include a permanent town council hall and a prison.
Prior to 1900, the two minor towns of Borgholm and Haparanda lost their courts, but retained the title of stad.
In the middle of the 20th century many administrative reforms were carried out that continued to diminish the difference between rural and urban areas.
Police forces and district courts, as well as taxation, were centralized under state agencies, making the administration uniform all over Sweden.
The amalgamations of municipalities reduced the number of local government units from a maximum of 2,532 in 1930 to less than 300 today.
Statistics Sweden defines the term stad as a locality with more than 10,000 inhabitants[citation needed] of which there are currently[when?]