Skovde is a locality and urban centre in Skovde Municipality and Vastra Gotaland County, in the Vastergotland in central-Southern Sweden. Skovde is situated some 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between Sweden's two largest lakes, Vanern and Vattern. It sits on the eastern slope of a low mountain ridge, Billingen, which cuts through the plain between the lakes. The Western Main Railway was built through Skovde in the 1850s, which gave the town a dramatic industrial and population boost. Today, Skovde is home to the headquarters for Skaraborg’s District Court and is the Vastra Gotaland's fourth-largest urban area as well as Sweden’s 32nd biggest locality with 34,466 inhabitants in 2010.