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30-492: Other forms of the name used are Gestricia and Gastrikland . Before 1900, the spelling was officially Gestrikland in Swedish. The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. In the case of Gästrikland the province constitutes the southern part of the administrative county , län , Gävleborg County . Arms granted in 1560. As with other provinces

60-428: A Swedish province . Blekinge's hundreds were Bräkne Hundred , Eastern Hundred , Lister Hundred , and Medelstad Hundred . In Blekinge the dialect was historically closely related to Danish and eastern Scanian , which is most likely an effect of the former administrative links to Scania . Today, the dialect is not as significant as before, with the exception of Listerlandet with its special language. Football in

90-492: A Västanstång dragon and one with a Östanstång lion. The current arms for Östergötland (see below) were created in 1884. The current arms for Småland were created for the coronation of John III in 1569. The wild man representing Lappland was created for the funeral of Charles IX in 1612. Arms for Jämtland were created when Norway ceded the province to Sweden in 1635. Arms for Härjedalen were created later. The arms for Blekinge, Bohuslän, Halland and Skåne were created for

120-574: A lesser extent, Malmö – identify primarily with their city, rather than their province. English and other languages occasionally use Latin names for the Swedish provinces. The name Scania for Skåne predominates in English. Some English exonyms , such as the Dales for Dalarna, East Gothland for Östergötland, Swedish Lapland for Lappland and West Bothnia for Västerbotten are common in English literature. Swedes writing in English have long used

150-525: A terrain dominated by forests, mountains and lakes). Gästrikland was often called the gate to Norrland because from Gästrikland people went on to the north part of Sweden. The province uses the slogan "the Iron Kingdom" ("Järnriket"). The main parts of Gästrikland consists of plains, which in the south and east transcends into fertile agricultural areas. To the north the west the terrain becomes hilly and forest covered, unsuitable for agrarian tasks. In

180-509: Is Härjedalen , though the borders are not quite the same. Administrative borders are subject to change – for example, several of today’s counties were created in the 1990s – while the provincial borders have remained stable for centuries. All the provinces are also ceremonial duchies , but as such have no administrative or political functions. Nevertheless, the provinces of Sweden are no archaic concept; they are still referenced in everyday speech and seen as culturally distinct. The main exception

210-429: Is Lapland , where people see themselves as citizens of Västerbotten or Norrbotten , based on the counties . Sweden’s two largest cities, Stockholm and Gothenburg , both have provincial borders running through them: Stockholm is split between Uppland and Södermanland , and Gothenburg is split between Västergötland and Bohuslän . According to a 2011 survey, people in major cities – Stockholm, Gothenburg and, to

240-717: Is done within the county , not the province. But as the province coincide with the southern municipal borders in Gävleborg County, the following municipalities are in effect located in Gästrikland: For tourism purposes Älvkarleby Municipality is also considered a part of Gästrikland. Historically, Gästrikland was sub-divided into chartered cities and court districts. Its cities were: Gävle (chartered around 1400) and Sandviken (chartered in 1943). Its two court districts were Gestricia Eastern Court District and Gestricia Western Court District . Gästrikland

270-429: Is smaller), and the smallest province located on the mainland . The name "Blekinge" comes from the dialectal adjective bleke , which corresponds to the nautical term for "dead calm". The historical provinces of Sweden serve no administrative function. However, Blekinge is the only province, besides Gotland , which covers exactly the same area as the administrative county , which is Blekinge County . Blekinge

300-420: The counties of Sweden ( län ). Some were conquered later on from Denmark–Norway . Others, like the provinces of Finland , have been lost. In some cases, the county and province borders correspond almost exactly, as with Blekinge and Blekinge County . The island of Gotland is both a province , a county and a municipality ( kommun ). The only other province to share a name with a modern municipality

330-633: The Iron Age was the Geats ; the main tribe of Svealand, according to Tacitus ca 100 AD, was the Suiones (or the ”historical Swedes”). ”Norrland” was all the unexplored northern parts, the boundaries and Swedish control over which were weakly defined into the early modern age. Due to the Northern Crusades against Finns , Tavastians and Karelians and colonisation of some coastal areas of

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360-596: The King’s long list of titles. Gustav Vasa’s title only had three entries – "King of Sweden , the Goths and the Wends " – so banners were created for each Swedish province for a better display. Some of these arms were short-lived, such as the beaver for Medelpad (changed in the 1570s), the wolverine for Värmland (changed in 1567) and the roses on Småland ’s arms. Östergötland was represented by two different arms, one with

390-508: The Swedish monarch, in some cases for centuries. ( Norway , in personal union with Sweden from 1814 to 1905, never became an integral part of Sweden.) When Sweden ceded Finland to the Russian Empire in 1809, Västerbotten was divided up so that Norrbotten first emerged as a county. Eventually, it came to be recognized as its own province. It was granted a coat of arms as late as in 1995. Some scholars suggest that Sweden revived

420-454: The Swedish names only. The origins of the provincial divisions lay in the petty kingdoms that gradually became more and more subjected to the central monarchy during the consolidation of Sweden . Until the country law of Magnus Eriksson in 1350, each of these lands still had its own laws and its own assembly (the thing ), and in effect governed itself. The first provinces were considered duchies , but newly conquered provinces received

450-567: The Swedish takeover two new towns, Karlshamn (chartered in 1664) and Karlskrona (1680), were built, and the populations of Ronneby and Kristianopel were forcibly relocated to them. Karlskrona has for more than 300 years been the principal naval base in Sweden. Hundreds (in Götaland incl. Blekinge called härad in Swedish, in Svealand called hundare ) were the historical subdivisions of

480-410: The arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazon: "Argent Hurty an Elk statant Gules attired and hoofed Or." A coat of arms for Gävleborg County was granted in 1938, combining the arms of Gästrikland and Hälsingland. Gästrikland is often called the gate to Norrland (the northern Sweden part that is traditionally considered scarcely populated, largely unexplored until the 15th century , and with

510-596: The coast. Bedrock in Blekinge is mostly granite and gneiss of the Blekinge-Bornholm rock province. Evidence of human habitation in western Blekinge dates circa 9700 BC in the Vesan area. At this time, Vesan was a small island surrounded by open grassland. A later settlement in the nearby Ljungaviken is dated to 6500 BC and contains the remains of at least 50 wooden houses and a buried dog. Blekinge

540-488: The concept of provinces in the 19th century. Historically, Sweden was seen as containing four ”lands” (larger regions): In the Viking Age and earlier, Götaland and Svealand were home to a number of petty kingdoms that were more or less independent; Götaland in the Iron Age and Middle Ages did not include Scania and other provinces in the far south, which were then part of Denmark . The leading tribe of Götaland in

570-415: The concept of the provinces. At the funeral of King Gustav Vasa (Gustav I) in 1560, arms for 23 of the provinces were displayed together for the first time, most of them created for that occasion. Erik XIV of Sweden modelled the funeral processions on those of German dukes , who in turn may have styled their displays after Emperor Charles V 's funeral, where a host of banners represented each entry in

600-692: The country, Finland fell under the Catholic Church and Swedish rule. Österland ("Eastern land"; the name had early gone out of use) in southern and central Finland formed an integral part of Sweden. Russia annexed Finland in 1809, and reunited it with some frontier counties annexed earlier to form the Grand Duchy of Finland . In 1917, Finland became an independent country . The regional borders have changed several times throughout history with changing national borders. Norrland, Svealand and Götaland are only parts of Sweden, and have never superseded

630-496: The funeral of Charles X Gustav in 1660. The Arms for Norrbotten were created as late as 1995. Götaland ( Gothia , Gothenland ) comrpises ten provinces in the southern part of Sweden. Until 1645, Gotland and Halland were parts of Denmark. Also, until 1658 Blekinge and Scania were parts of Denmark, and Bohuslän was part of Norway . Värmland was counted as part of Götaland until 1812. Svealand ( Swealand ) comprises six provinces in central Sweden. Until 1812, Värmland

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660-593: The north-western corner one also finds Gästrikland's highest mountain, the Lustigknopp (literally "Funny-hood"), of 402 meters height; this mountain also constitutes the meeting point of the three provinces Gästrikland, Hälsingland and Dalarna. Few larger water areas are found, but a multitude of small ones, and of the total area around 1/10 is water. Its largest lake is Storsjön with an area of 72 km, in its central parts. Gästrikland has one National park : Färnebofjärden . The sub-division of municipalities

690-507: The same time, and developed its own provincial identity during the 19th century. Blekinge Blekinge ( Swedish pronunciation: [ˈblêːkɪŋɛ] ) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces ( landskap ), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland , in southern Sweden. It borders Småland , Scania and the Baltic Sea . It is the country's second-smallest province by area (only Öland

720-421: The same." Relative to the rest of Sweden Blekinge has warm summers and mild winters. Blekinge has a scenic archipelago and is sometimes called "Sweden's garden" ( Swedish : Sveriges trädgård ). The nature of Blekinge is characterized by its oak forests with occasional hazel and common hornbeam . The relief is an uneven joint valley terrain with straight and narrow valley bottoms that widen towards

750-764: The status of duchy or county , depending on importance. After the separation from the Kalmar Union in 1523, the Kingdom incorporated only some of its new conquests as provinces. The most permanent acquisitions stemmed from the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, in which the former Danish Scanian lands ( Skåne , Blekinge , Halland and Gotland ), along with the Norwegian Bohuslän , Jämtland and Härjedalen , became Swedish and gradually integrated. Other foreign territories were ruled as Swedish Dominions under

780-541: Was a part of Sweden until the early 13th century when it became part of Denmark (the Danish Census Book contains the first secure written evidence of Danish control). It then remained a Danish province until 1658, and together with the provinces of Skåne and Halland , it made up Skåneland , the eastern part of the Danish kingdom where Scanian Law ( Skånske Lov ) prevailed. As a border province, Blekinge

810-861: Was a part of Uppland until 14th or 15th century. Mining and iron production became important industries in the 5th century and the iron works of Hofors and Sandviken still employ about 6,500 people, producing specialized steel and other special metals. Football in the province is administered by Gestriklands Fotbollförbund . Ice hockey is also popular, with Brynäs IF . 60°33′25″N 16°47′35″E  /  60.557°N 16.793°E  / 60.557; 16.793 Provinces of Sweden The 25 provinces of Sweden ( Swedish : Sveriges landskap ) are historical , geographical and cultural regions. They have no administrative function (except in some sports contexts), but retain their own cultural identities, dialects and folklore. Several were administrative subdivisions until 1634, when they were replaced by

840-460: Was counted as part of Götaland instead. Norrland ( Northland ) today comprises nine provinces in Northern and central Sweden. Until 1645 the provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen were parts of Norway. In 1809, when Sweden ceded Finland to the Russian Empire , the old province of Lapland was split into Swedish Lapland and Finnish Lapland . Norrbotten was separated from Västerbotten at

870-525: Was granted its current arms in 1660 at the time of the funeral of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden (1622–1660) based on a seal from the 15th century. Symbolically the three crowns from the Coat of arms of Sweden had been placed on the trunk of the tree to mark the change in status of the former Danish province, that now belonged to Sweden. The arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazon : "Azure, an Oak Tree eradicated Or ensigned with three Crowns palewise of

900-584: Was often raided and looted by Swedish troops during Danish–Swedish wars. In 1658, it was ceded to Sweden according to the Treaty of Roskilde and has remained Swedish ever since. During the Danish era, the port town of Sölvesborg was the seat of the administration in the western part of the province and Kristianopel in the eastern part. Notable fortifications during this period included sites at Elleholm , Sölvesborg , Lyckeby and Avaskär . Towns in Blekinge with city privileges were: Ronneby (1387), Sölvesborg (1445), Elleholm and Kristianopel . After

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