When Sweden's first local government laws went into effect in 1863, there were more than 20 entities located within the current municipality's boundaries.

The distance to any of the three largest Swedish cities Malmö (south-west), Gothenburg (west) and Stockholm (north-east) is rather similar; about 300 km.

The history of Vetlanda goes back to at least the medieval age when it was the seat for the regional assembly called þing (thing).

According to the imaginations of Petter Rudebeck (1660–1710), Vetlanda was before that known as Vitala, and the centre of a mythological kingdom.

But the myth was popular during the 18th and 19th century, which displays in the naming of several companies and locations around the municipality.