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30-532: The länsväg roads are divided into three categories: The primary county road number signs are rectangular with a blue background, white numbers, and a white border. The secondary and tertiary county roads are not signed along the roads, and they are prefixed with the county code of the county they are in. This Swedish road or road transport-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Map of counties of Sweden The counties of Sweden ( Swedish : Sveriges län ) are

60-492: 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

90-629: 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

120-509: 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

150-429: 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

180-474: Is a county administrative board ( länsstyrelse ) headed by a governor ( landshövding ), appointed by the government , as well as a separate regional council ( region ). In the county of Gotland however, the county's only municipality has adopted regional responsibilities. The aims of the county administrative board are to supervise local state administration (that is not otherwise assigned to other government agencies), and to coordinate political goals with

210-734: The Swedish Social Insurance Agency (1 January 2005), the Swedish Public Employment Service (1 January 2008), and the Swedish Police Authority (1 January 2015). With county codes, which were official until 1974. Each county region contains a number of municipalities ( kommuner ), the existence of which is partly at the discretion of the central government. Since 2004 their number has been 290, thus an average of 13.8 municipalities per county. Until 1968,

240-420: 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

270-462: The City of Stockholm had its own "county code" A , which is still used interchangeably with AB in some contexts, and County of Stockholm had county code B . L was for Kristianstad County and M was for Malmöhus County but since they were merged to form Skåne County , M is usually used. O used to stand for Gothenburg and Bohus County but has been used for Västra Götaland County since it

300-633: 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

330-596: 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

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360-508: 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

390-454: 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

420-460: The administrative subdivisions of Sweden . They are not regarded as geographical areas by Swedes as they are not connected to dialects or identity, which is a role fulfilled by the historical provinces of Sweden ( Swedish : landskap ). Sweden is today divided into 21 counties; however, the number of counties has varied over time, due to territorial gains/losses and to divisions and/or mergers of existing counties. This level of administrative unit

450-503: The central government. The regional council is the elected regional political assembly that oversees the municipal affairs of the county, primarily in regard to public healthcare , public transport , and culture. Beginning in the 2000s, many major government agencies have reorganised from a county-based subdivisional structure into larger geographical or functional areas. This include the Swedish Tax Agency (1 January 2004),

480-488: 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

510-415: 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

540-692: 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

570-543: The following proposal has in 2016 emerged: The main difference is that the proposed Bergslagen is divided to other counties, and Stockholm is on its own (plus the small Gotland which has air connections to Stockholm) The counties in Sweden correspond to the third level of division in the European Union 's system of Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics . For the purpose of creating regions corresponding to

600-496: 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

630-779: The loss of Finland to Russia in 1809). In 1812, some provinces were moved from Götaland to Svealand . After the Finnish War , Sweden was forced to cede the counties in Finland to Russia following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in (1809). However, the counties were upheld in Finland until a reform in 1997. They are still in use in Sweden, 370 years later. The counties in Finland established in 1634 were: Turku and Pori County , Nyland and Tavastehus County , Viborg and Nyslott County , Ostrobothnia County and Kexholm County . Over time

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660-543: The number of subdivisions in Finland increased to twelve, until a reorganization in 1997 reduced their number to six provinces , while keeping the administrative model intact. The counties in Finland were abolished in 2010. Abolished counties in current-day Sweden proper were: Counties in Swedish-ruled Finland were: Under the aegis of the Swedish government , Ansvarskommittén has been investigating

690-529: The possibilities of merging the current 21 counties into 6 to 9 larger regions. These proposals are from their final report, delivered in 2007: A model for this comes from the merger of some counties into Skåne County and Västra Götaland County in 1997 and 1998, respectively, which is now considered a success. The counties are discussing the proposal. An obstacle is that Stockholm County does not want to merge with any other county, while its neighbours want to merge with Stockholm. After this discussion

720-479: The provinces were grouped in three lands: Götaland , being southern and western Sweden; Svealand being eastern and south-eastern, and Norrland being the entire northern half. The names of the first two refer to ancient tribes, and the third is a geographical reference. They are still commonly used as geographical references. The boundaries have changed over time, with the most significant in 1658 (the cession of provinces from Denmark-Norway to Sweden) and 1812 (due to

750-618: The second level, counties have been grouped into eight Riksområden , or National Areas : Stockholm , East Middle Sweden , North Middle Sweden , Middle Norrland , Upper Norrland , Småland and the islands , West Sweden and South Sweden . 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

780-712: 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

810-460: 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

840-522: Was first established in the 1634 Instrument of Government on Lord Chancellor Count Axel Oxenstierna 's initiative, and superseded the landskap, in order to introduce a more efficient administration of the realm. At that time, they were what the translation of län into English literally means: fiefdoms . The county borders often follow the provincial borders, but the Crown often chose to make slight relocations to suit its purposes. In every county there

870-408: Was merged with Skaraborg County ( R ) and Älvsborg County ( P ). Sweden's provinces , or landskap , and the "lands" , or landsdelar , lack political importance today but are common denominations culturally and historically. The provinces had their own laws and justice systems and could have large cultural and religious differences. The province of Småland (literally small land ) historically

900-402: Was several provinces with its own laws. Here burial tradition in the era before the Viking Age could differ significantly from province to province. The province of Norrbotten is a relatively recent creation; it was part of Västerbotten which extended all the way to Österbotten in today's Finland before 1809. Finnish and Swedish Lappland was also one province until 1809. Historically,

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