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163-568: The historic region Skåneland (the Scanian provinces) in brown, consisting of the Swedish provinces Blekinge , Halland and Scania , and the Danish island Bornholm Skåneland ( Swedish and Danish ) or Skånelandene ( Danish ) is a region on the southern Scandinavian peninsula . It includes the Swedish provinces of Blekinge , Halland , and Scania . The Danish island of Bornholm

326-492: A Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. It has the world's 14th highest GDP per capita and ranks very highly in quality of life , health , education , protection of civil liberties , economic competitiveness, income equality , gender equality and prosperity . Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and NATO on 7 March 2024. It

489-577: A UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya during the Arab Spring . In addition, there was extensive cooperation with other European countries in the area of defence technology and defence industry; some Swedish-made weaponry was used by Coalition militaries in Iraq. In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Sweden moved to formally join NATO, alongside Finland. After many months of delays caused by

652-441: A fiscal crisis in the early 1990s. Sweden's GDP declined by around 5%. In 1992, a run on the currency caused the central bank to briefly increase interest rates to 500%. The response of the government was to cut spending and institute a multitude of reforms to improve Sweden's competitiveness, among them reducing the welfare state and privatising public services and goods. A referendum passed with 52.3% in favour of joining

815-518: A military campaign against Norway on 27 July 1814, ending in the Convention of Moss , which forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden under the Swedish crown, which lasted until 1905. The 1814 campaign was the last time Sweden was at war. The Swedish East India Company began in 1731. The obvious choice of home port was Gothenburg at Sweden's west coast, the mouth of Göta älv river

978-473: A personal union under King Magnus Eriksson, the grandson of King Magnus Ladulås of Sweden and of King Haakon V of Norway. Magnus Eriksson also ruled Scania from 1332 to 1360. In the mid-14th century, Sweden was struck by the Black Death . The population of Sweden and most of Europe was decimated. The population did not reach its pre-1348 levels until the beginning of the 19th century, with one third of

1141-597: A barely noticeable ridge running through the center. West Jutland is characterised by open lands, heaths , plains, and peat bogs , while East Jutland is more fertile with lakes and lush forests. The southwestern coast is characterised by the Wadden Sea , a large unique international coastal region stretching through Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands. The peninsula's longest river is the Eider , that rises close to

1304-851: A border forest between Danish and Saxon settlements. A system of Danish fortifications, the Danevirke , runs through Southern Schleswig, overcoming the drainage divide between Baltic ( Schlei ) and North Sea ( Rheider Au ). At the Baltic end of the Danevirke is Hedeby , a former important Viking town. Between the Danish-German border and the Kongeå lies Southern Jutland (the South Jutland County ), historically also known as Northern Schleswig. Northern and Southern Schleswig once formed

1467-759: A defensive wall stretching from present-day Schleswig and inland halfway across the Jutland Peninsula. The pagan Saxons inhabited the southernmost part of the peninsula, adjoining the Baltic Sea, until the Saxon Wars in 772–804 in the Nordic Iron Age , when Charlemagne violently subdued them and forced them to be Christianised. Old Saxony was politically absorbed into the Carolingian Empire and Abodrites (or Obotrites ),

1630-409: A distinct period of winter. The northern parts of the country have a subarctic climate while the central parts have a humid continental climate . The coastal south can be defined as having either a humid continental climate using the 0 °C isotherm, or an oceanic climate using the -3 °C isotherm. Jutland Jutland's geography is flat, with comparatively steep hills in the east and

1793-543: A frugal childhood. The very urban Kierkegaard visited his sombre ancestral lands in 1840, then a very traditional society. Writers like Steen Steensen Blicher (1782-1848) and H.C. Andersen (1805–1875) were among the first writers to find genuine inspiration in local Jutlandic culture and present it with affection and non-prejudice. Blicher was of Jutish origin and, soon after his pioneering work, many other writers followed with stories and tales set in Jutland and written in

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1956-561: A group of Wendish Slavs who pledged allegiance to Charlemagne and who had for the most part converted to Christianity , were moved into the area to populate it. Old Saxony was later referred to as Holstein . In medieval times, Jutland was regulated by the Law Code of Jutland ( Jyske Lov ). This civic code covered the Danish part of the Jutland Peninsula, i.e., north of the Eider (river) , Funen as well as Fehmarn . Part of this area

2119-457: A low population density of 25.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (66/sq mi); 88% of Swedes reside in urban areas. They are mostly in the central and southern half of the country. Sweden's urban areas together cover 1.5% of its land area. Sweden has a diverse climate owing to the length of the country, which ranges from 55°N to 69°N . Sweden has been inhabited since prehistoric times , c.  12,000 BC . The inhabitants emerged as

2282-521: A number of smaller towns, make up the suggested East Jutland metropolitan area , which is more densely populated than the rest of Jutland, although far from forming one consistent city. 1. Hamburg (boroughs north of the Elbe ) 1,667,035 2. Kiel 247,717 3. Lübeck 218,095 4. Flensburg 92,550 5. Norderstedt 81,880 6. Neumünster 79,502 7. Elmshorn 50,772 8. Pinneberg 44,279 9. Wedel 34,538 10. Ahrensburg 34,509 Geologically ,

2445-514: A political entity but a cultural region , without officially established administrative borders. The provinces making up Skåneland were part of Denmark from at least the 9th century, sometimes referred to as the "Eastern Provinces"; since a 12th-century civil war , Denmark has been a kingdom with a single king. Blekinge was a part of Sweden until the early 13th century when it became part of Denmark (the Danish Census Book contains

2608-494: A rapid population growth. These innovations included government-sponsored programmes of enclosure , aggressive exploitation of agricultural lands, and the introduction of new crops such as the potato. The Swedish farming culture began to take on a critical role in Swedish politics, which has continued through modern times with modern Agrarian party (now called the Centre Party). Between 1870 and 1914, Sweden began developing

2771-457: A series of Crusades to pagan Finland and started conflicts with the Rus' , who by then had no further connections with Sweden. The Swedish colonisation of the coastal areas of Finland began in the 12th and 13th centuries. By the 14th century, this colonisation became more organised, and by the end of the century, several of the coastal areas of Finland were inhabited mostly by Swedes. Except for

2934-545: A significant cultural border until this day, also reflected in differences between the West and East Jutlandic dialect. When the industrialisation began in the 19th century, the social order was upheaved and with it the focus of the intelligentsia and the educated changed as well. Søren Kierkegaard (1818–1855) grew up in Copenhagen as the son of a stern and religious West Jutlandic wool merchant who had worked his way up from

3097-675: A sword, and a knife, and keeps each by him at all times. The swords are broad and grooved, of Frankish sort. The actions of these Swedish Vikings are commemorated on many runestones in Sweden, such as the Greece runestones and the Varangian runestones . There was also considerable participation in expeditions westwards, which are commemorated on stones such as the England runestones . The last major Swedish Viking expedition appears to have been

3260-529: Is adjacent to South Jutland in the south. South Jutland stretches between Sønderjylland in the south, and the border between the two administrative regions of Southern Denmark and Central Jutland in the north. West Jutland ( Vestjylland ) is the central western part of Northern Jutland. It lies between Blåvandshuk in the south, and the Nissum Bredning in the north. It is north of South Jutland and west of East Jutland. East Jutland ( Østjylland )

3423-889: Is also a member of the United Nations , the Schengen Area , the Council of Europe , the Nordic Council , the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The name for Sweden is generally agreed to derive from the Proto-Indo-European root * s(w)e , meaning "one's own", referring to one's own tribe from the tribal period. The native Swedish name, Sverige (a compound of

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3586-655: Is connected to Zealand and Copenhagen by the Great Belt Bridge . Jutland is known by several different names, depending on the language and era, including German : Jütland [ˈjyːtlant] ; Old English : Ēota land [ˈeːotɑˌlɑnd] , known anciently as the Cimbric Peninsula or Cimbrian Peninsula ( Latin : Cimbricus Chersonesus ; Danish: den Cimbriske Halvø or den Jyske Halvø ; German: Kimbrische Halbinsel or Jütische Halbinsel ). The names are derived from

3749-506: Is covered with forests. The highest population density is in the Öresund Region in southern Sweden, along the western coast up to central Bohuslän, and in the valley of lake Mälaren and Stockholm. Gotland and Öland are Sweden's largest islands ; Vänern and Vättern are its largest lakes. Vänern is the third largest in Europe, after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia. Combined with

3912-633: Is crossed by the Elbe–Lübeck Canal , that connects the Elbe at Lauenburg to the Baltic at Lübeck, and there are over 50 lakes in the area, many of which are part of the Lauenburg Lakes Nature Park . Hamburg is its own city-state and does not belong to Schleswig-Holstein. The north elbish districts of Hamburg that are on the Jutland peninsula are historically part of the region of Stormarn . The former border rivers of Stormarn are

4075-638: Is not necessarily separatist. There are a number of minor organisations promoting the use of the term, mainly active online, e.g. Föreningen Skånelands Framtid or Skåneländsk Samling , the Skåneland Football Federation, and Stiftelsen Skåneländska Flaggans Dag . The private foundation Stiftelsen Skånsk Framtid ("foundation for a Scanian future") was a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) from 1993 to 2011, representing Skåneland under

4238-461: Is now in Germany. During the industrialisation of the 1800s, Jutland experienced a large and accelerating urbanisation and many people from the countryside chose to emigrate. Among the reasons was a high and accelerating population growth; in the course of the century, the Danish population grew two and a half times to about 2.5 million in 1901, with a million people added in the last part of

4401-489: Is sometimes considered as the foundation of modern Sweden . Shortly afterwards the new king rejected Catholicism and led Sweden into the Protestant Reformation . The term riksdag was used for the first time in the 1540s, although the first meeting where representatives of different social groups were called to discuss and determine affairs affecting the country as a whole took place as early as 1435, in

4564-663: Is the central eastern part of Northern Jutland. It lies between Skærbæk on the Kolding Fjord in the south, and the end of the Mariager Fjord in the north. Aarhus , the largest city completely on the Jutland peninsula, is in East Jutland. The concept of Central Jutland ( Midtjylland ) is of recent date, since a few decades ago it was usual to divide Northern Jutland into the traditional East and West Jutland (in addition to North and South Jutland), only. However,

4727-522: Is traditionally also included. Skåneland has no official recognition or function and the term is not in common usage. Equivalent terms in English and Latin are "the Scanian Provinces" and "Terrae Scaniae" respectively. The term is mostly used in historical contexts and not in daily speech. In Danish, Skånelandene is used more often. The terms have no political implications as the region is not

4890-402: Is very wide and has the county's largest and best harbour for high-seas journeys. The trade continued into the 19th century, and caused the little town to become Sweden's second city. Between 1750 and 1850, the population in Sweden doubled. According to some scholars, mass emigration to America became the only way to prevent famine and rebellion; over 1% of the population emigrated annually during

5053-572: The Svear and the Götar (Geats) of Götaland were united under a single ruler. In the former case, Svealand was first mentioned as having one single ruler in the year 98 by Tacitus, but it is almost impossible to know for how long it had been this way. The epic poem Beowulf describes semi-legendary Swedish-Geatish wars in the sixth century. However, historians typically start the line of Swedish monarchs from when Svealand and Götaland were ruled under

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5216-649: The Ecclesiastical History . This is also supported by the archaeological record, with extensive Jutish finds in Kent from the fifth and sixth centuries . Saxons and Frisii migrated to the region in the early part of the Christian era. To protect themselves from invasion by the Christian Frankish emperors, beginning in the 5th century , the pagan Danes initiated the Danevirke ,

5379-502: The 2013 Stockholm riots . In response to these violent events, the anti-immigration opposition party, the Sweden Democrats , promoted their anti-immigration policies, while the left-wing opposition blamed growing inequality caused by the centre-right government's socioeconomic policies. Sweden was heavily affected by the 2015 European migrant crisis , eventually forcing the government to tighten regulations of entry to

5542-568: The Allerød oscillation , a warm period around 12,000 BC, with Late Palaeolithic reindeer -hunting camps of the Bromme culture at the edge of the ice in what is now the country's southernmost province, Scania . This period was characterised by small clans of hunter-gatherers who relied on flint technology. Sweden and its people were first described by Publius Cornelius Tacitus in his Germania (98 AD). In Germania 44 and 45 he mentions

5705-616: The Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia , providing a long coastline, and forms the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula . To the west is the Scandinavian mountain chain ( Skanderna ), a range that separates Sweden from Norway. Finland is located to its north-east. It has maritime borders with Denmark, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania , Latvia and Estonia , and it is also linked to Denmark (south-west) by

5868-643: The Baltic countries , Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Black Sea and even as far as Baghdad . Their routes passed through the Dnieper south to Constantinople , on which they carried out numerous raids. The Byzantine Emperor Theophilos noticed their great skills in war, and invited them to serve as his personal bodyguard, known as the Varangian Guard . The Swedish Vikings, called Rus are believed to be

6031-512: The Battle of Nördlingen in 1634, Sweden's only significant military defeat of the war, pro-Swedish sentiment among the German states faded. These German provinces broke away from Swedish power one by one, leaving Sweden with only a few northern German territories: Swedish Pomerania , Bremen-Verden and Wismar . From 1643 to 1645, during the last years of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway fought

6194-481: The Cimbric Chersonese was the home of Teutons , Cimbri , and Charudes . Many Angles , Saxons and Jutes migrated from Continental Europe to Great Britain starting around 450 AD. The Angles gave their name to the new emerging kingdoms called England (i.e., "Angle-land"). The Kingdom of Kent in south east England is associated with Jutish origins and migration , also attributed by Bede in

6357-687: The First World War . However, an estimated 5,000 Danes living in North Slesvig were killed serving in the German army. The 1916 Battle of Jutland was fought in the North Sea west of Jutland. Denmark had declared itself neutral, but was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany within a few hours on 9 April 1940. Scattered fighting took place in South Jutland and in Copenhagen. Sixteen Danish soldiers were killed. Some months before

6520-745: The Geats (Swedish: Götar ) and Swedes ( Svear ), which together constituted the sea-faring peoples known as the Norsemen . A unified Swedish state was established during the late 10th century. In 1397, Sweden joined Norway and Denmark to form the Scandinavian Kalmar Union , which Sweden left in 1523. When Sweden became involved in the Thirty Years' War on the Protestant side, an expansion of its territories began, forming

6683-514: The German minority openly sided with Germany and volunteered for German military service. While some Danes initially feared a border revision, the German occupational force did not pursue the issue. In a judicial aftermath after the end of the war, many members of the German minority were convicted, and German schools were confiscated by Danish authorities. There were some instances of Danish mob attacks against German-minded citizens. In December 1945,

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6846-480: The Hanseatic League , and the local Gutes . Småland was of little interest at the time due to its deep pine forests, with only the city of Kalmar and its castle holding any significant importance. There were also Swedish settlements along the southern coastline of Norrland , one of the four lands of Sweden . Saint Ansgar is traditionally credited with introducing Christianity to Sweden in 829, but

7009-585: The House of Bernadotte , taking the regnal name of Charles XIV. Sweden's role in the Battle of Leipzig gave it the authority to force Denmark–Norway, an ally of France, to cede Norway to the King of Sweden on 14 January 1814 in exchange for the northern German provinces, at the Treaty of Kiel . The Norwegian attempts to keep their status as a sovereign state were rejected by the Swedish king, Charles XIII . He launched

7172-633: The Jutes and the Cimbri , respectively. The Jutland peninsula reaches from the sandbar spit of Grenen on the North Jutlandic Island in the north, to the banks of the Elbe in the south. The peninsula is also called the Cimbric peninsula . Jutland as a cultural-geographical term mostly only refers to the Danish part of the peninsula, from Grenen to the Danish-German border. Sometimes,

7335-687: The Kattegat , and Als at the rim of the Baltic Sea , are administratively and historically tied to Jutland, although the latter two are also regarded as traditional districts of their own. Inhabitants of Als, known as Alsinger , would agree to be South Jutlanders, but not necessarily Jutlanders. The largest North Sea islands off the Jutish coast are the Danish Wadden Sea Islands including Rømø , Fanø , and Mandø in Denmark, and

7498-410: The Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe . It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the largest Nordic country and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm . Sweden has a population of 10.6 million, and

7661-413: The Marshall Plan and participated in the OECD. During most of the post-war era, the country was governed by the Swedish Social Democratic Party largely in co-operation with trade unions and industry. The government actively pursued an internationally competitive manufacturing sector of primarily large corporations. Sweden was one of the founding states of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA). During

7824-467: The Mid Jutland Region and the North Jutland Region as well as the Capital Region of Denmark are located in the north of Denmark which is rising because of post-glacial rebound . Some circular depressions in Jutland may be remnants of collapsed pingos that developed during the Last Ice Age . Jutland has historically been one of the three lands of Denmark , the other two being Scania and Zealand . Before that, according to Ptolemy , Jutland or

7987-420: The Napoleonic War , when Johan Christopher Toll (1743–1817) became the last Governor-General in the region, a post he held 1801–09. The complete history of Skåneland was not taught for a long time in schools in Skåneland, especially during periods with the immediate threat of revolt. Instead a Swedish-centric history was taught, and the Scanian history before 1658, for instance concerning the list of monarchs,

8150-428: The Napoleonic Wars (1808–1809 and 1814). Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) in Min Svenska Historia II (Norstedts. 1971) provides a thoughtful discussion of the atrocities which were committed by both sides in the struggle over the border provinces, and identified them as the source of propaganda to inflame people passions to continue the struggle. These lopsided representations were incorporated into history text books on

8313-432: The North Frisian Islands including Sylt , Föhr , Amrum and Pellworm in Germany. On the German islands, some North Frisian dialects are still in use. Administratively, the Jutland peninsula belongs to three German states and three Danish regions: The ten largest cities on the Jutland peninsula are: Aarhus , Silkeborg , Billund , Randers , Kolding , Horsens , Vejle , Fredericia and Haderslev , along with

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8476-405: The North Jutlandic Island (Danish: Nørrejyske Ø or Vendsyssel-Thy ). Northern Jutland is traditionally subdivided into South Jutland ( Sydjylland ), West Jutland ( Vestjylland ), East Jutland ( Østjylland ), and North Jutland ( Nordjylland ). More recent is the designation Central Jutland ( Midtjylland ) for parts of traditionally West and East Jutish areas. Subregions of Northern Jutland include

8639-409: The North Jutlandic Island . The storm breach of Agger Tange created the Agger Channel, and another storm in 1862 created the Thyborøn Channel close by. The channels made it possible for ships to shortcut the Skagerrak Sea . The Agger Channel closed up again over the years, due to natural siltation , but the Thyborøn Channel widened and was fortified and secured in 1875. Denmark was neutral during

8802-408: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in multiple conflicts. During the Thirty Years' War, Sweden conquered approximately half of the Holy Roman states and defeated the Imperial army at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631. Gustavus Adolphus planned to become the new Holy Roman Emperor , ruling over a united Scandinavia and the Holy Roman states, but he was killed at the Battle of Lützen in 1632. After

8965-420: The Stör and Krückau in the northwest, the Trave and Bille in the east, and the Elbe in the south. There exists also a district of Stormarn northeast of Hamburg in Schleswig-Holstein. But this district does not cover the entire area of the historic region of Stormarn, and while those parts of Stormarn now lying in Schleswig-Holstein are nowadays considered parts of Holstein, the areas of Stormarn today in

9128-416: The Swedish Empire , which remained one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. During this era Sweden controlled much of the Baltic Sea . Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Imperial Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved

9291-416: The Torstenson War . The result of that conflict and the conclusion of the Thirty Years' War helped establish postwar Sweden as a major force in Europe. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 granted Sweden territories in northern Germany. In the middle of the 17th century, Sweden was the third-largest country in Europe by land area. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent under the rule of Charles X after

9454-413: The Uppsala Synod in 1593 which officially confirmed the modern Church of Sweden as Lutheran . Following his deposition in 1599, Sigismund attempted to reclaim the throne sparing no expense, and hostilities between Poland and Sweden continued for the next hundred years. Sweden rose to prominence on a continental scale during the reign of king Gustavus Adolphus , seizing territories from Russia and

9617-459: The treaty of Roskilde in 1658, following Charles X's crossing of the Danish Belts . The foundation of Sweden's success during this period is credited to Gustav I's major changes to the Swedish economy in the 16th century, and his introduction of Protestantism . One-third of the Finnish population died in the devastating Great Famine of 1695–1697 that struck the country. Famine also hit Sweden, killing roughly 10% of Sweden's population. In

9780-408: The Öresund Bridge . Its border with Norway ( 1,619 km long) is the longest uninterrupted border within Europe. Sweden lies between latitudes 55° and 70° N , and mostly between longitudes 11° and 25° E (part of Stora Drammen island is just west of 11°). At 449,964 km (173,732 sq mi), Sweden is the 55th-largest country in the world, the fifth-largest country in Europe, and

9943-419: The Øresund channel, thus closing it to Allied shipping, and allowing the Germans to use Swedish facilities and the Swedish cipher to transmit secret messages to their overseas embassies. Sweden also allowed volunteers to fight alongside the Germans for the White Guards against the Red Guards and Russians in the Finnish Civil War , and briefly occupied Åland in cooperation with the German Empire. As in

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10106-419: The 17th century, Sweden was engaged in many wars, for example with Poland–Lithuania, with both sides competing for territories of today's Baltic states . The Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629) ended with a ceasefire in Stary Targ ( Truce of Altmark ) on 26 September 1629 that was in favour of the Swedes, to whom Poland ceded the larger part of Livonia together with its important port of Riga . The Swedes also got

10269-464: The 17th-century maps); the inclusion of Skåneland (and Bohuslän ) is described as historically inaccurate by the Swedish Nationalencyklopedin . as it is named after the Geats . As in other cultural regions , regionalism in Scania sometimes has a base in regional nationalism and sometimes in a more general opposition against centralized state nationalism or expansionist nationalism . As noted about regionalism in Norway, Scandinavian regionalism

10432-410: The 1800s. This growth was not caused by an increase in the fertility rate , but by better nutrition, sanitation, hygiene, and health care services. More children survived, and people lived longer and healthier lives. Combined with falling grain prices on the international markets because of the Long Depression , and better opportunities in the cities due to an increasing industrialisation, many people in

10595-423: The 1880s. It is thought that between 1850 and 1910 more than one million Swedes moved to the United States . Nevertheless, Sweden remained poor, retaining a nearly entirely agricultural economy even as Western European countries began to industrialise. Despite the slow rate of industrialisation into the 19th century, many important changes were taking place in the agrarian economy due to constant innovations and

10758-417: The 1960s the EFTA countries were often referred to as the Outer Seven, as opposed to the Inner Six of the then- European Economic Community (EEC). Like many industrialised countries, Sweden entered a period of economic decline and upheaval following the oil embargoes of 1973–74 and 1978–79. In the 1980s several key Swedish industries were significantly restructured. Shipbuilding was discontinued, wood pulp

10921-439: The 20th century, people gradually moved into cities to work in factories and became involved in socialist unions. A communist revolution was avoided in 1917, following the re-introduction of parliamentarism , and the country was democratised . Sweden was officially neutral during World War I . However, under pressure from the German Empire , they did take steps which were detrimental to the Allied powers – most notably, mining

11084-399: The Baltic and the North Sea, canals were built across the Jutland Peninsula, including the Eider Canal in the late 18th century, and the Kiel Canal , completed in 1895 and still in use. In 1825, a severe North Sea storm on the west coast of Jutland breached the isthmus of Agger Tange in the Limfjord area, separating the northern part of Jutland from the mainland and effectively creating

11247-423: The Baltic but flows in the direction of the North Sea due to a moraine, while the Gudenå is the longest river of Denmark. In order for ships not having to go around the whole peninsula to reach the Baltic, the Kiel Canal , the world's busiest artificial waterway, that crosses the peninsula in the south, has been constructed. Jutland is connected to Funen by the Old and New Little Belt Bridge , and Funen in turn

11410-404: The Danish side. Skåneland was a rather unpleasant place to dwell for an extended period. Following the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 – but in direct contradiction of its terms – the Swedish government in 1683 demanded that the leading social groups of Skåneland accept Swedish customs and laws. Swedish became the only language permitted in Church liturgy and in schools, religious literature in Danish

11573-420: The Danish state. Skåneland is strictly a historic and cultural region. The name has long appeared as a term used in historical contexts in a variety of sources. The southern part of Sweden, including Skåneland, is considered to be included in Götaland , one of three historic " lands of Sweden ". The "land" Götaland bears the same name used for the historic province Götaland (a province referred to as "Gothia" on

11736-629: The EU on 13 November 1994. Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995. In a 2003 referendum the Swedish electorate voted against joining the Euro currency. Sweden held the chair of the European Union from 1 July to 31 December 2009. On 28 September 1994, the MS Estonia sank as the ship was crossing the Baltic Sea, en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden. The disaster claimed

11899-533: The East Jutish cultural area. A new meaning of Central Jutland is the entire area between North and South Jutland, corresponding roughly to the Central Jutland Region . While the term Northern Jutland (Danish: Nørrejylland ) refers to the whole region between Kongeå and Grenen , North Jutland (Danish: Nordjylland ) only refers to the northernmost part of Northern Jutland, and encompasses

12062-759: The First World War, Sweden remained officially neutral during World War II , although its neutrality has been disputed. Sweden was under German influence for much of the war, as ties to the rest of the world were cut off through blockades. The Swedish government unofficially supported Finland in the Winter War and the Continuation War by allowing volunteers and materiel to be shipped to Finland. However, Sweden supported Norwegian resistance against Germany, and in 1943 helped rescue Danish Jews from deportation to Nazi concentration camps . During

12225-504: The Hanseatic League, and entered its golden era, the fact that the peasantry had traditionally been free meant that more of the economic benefits flowed back to them rather than going to a feudal landowning class. The end of the 16th century was marked by a final phase of rivalry between the remaining Catholics and the new Protestant communities. In 1592, Gustav Vasa's Catholic grandson and king of Poland , Sigismund , ascended

12388-676: The Jutland peninsula can be found in Holstein, the ten largest lakes being the Großer Plöner See (which is also the largest lake on the whole Jutland peninsula), Selenter See , Kellersee , Dieksee , Lanker See , Behler See , Postsee , Kleiner Plöner See , Großer Eutiner See , and the Stocksee. One of the world's most frequented artificial waterways, the Kiel Canal , runs through the Jutland peninsula in Holstein, connecting

12551-620: The Nazis' war efforts. Sweden was officially a neutral country and remained outside NATO and Warsaw Pact membership during the Cold War , but privately Sweden's leadership had strong ties with the United States and other western governments. Following the war, Sweden took advantage of an intact industrial base, social stability and its natural resources to expand its industry to supply the rebuilding of Europe. Sweden received aid under

12714-420: The North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic at Kiel - Holtenau . The Eider is the longest river of the Jutland peninsula. Holstein is one of the most populated subregions of the Jutland peninsula because of the densely populated area around Hamburg, which in large parts lies in Holstein. Between the Eider and the Danish-German border stretches Southern Schleswig . Notable subregions of Southern Schleswig are

12877-619: The Roman Period is curt inscriptions demonstrating that the people of south Scandinavia spoke Proto-Norse at the time, a language ancestral to Swedish and other North Germanic languages . In the sixth century, Jordanes names two tribes living in Scandza , both of which are now considered to be synonymous with the Swedes: the Suetidi and Suehans . The Suehans were known to

13040-538: The Roman world as suppliers of black fox skins and, according to Jordanes, had very fine horses, similar to those of the Thyringi of Germania ( alia vero gens ibi moratur Suehans, quae velud Thyringi equis utuntur eximiis ). The Swedish Viking Age lasted roughly from the eighth century to the 11th century. It is believed that Swedish Vikings and Gutar mainly travelled east and south, going to Finland, Estonia,

13203-678: The Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant the beginning of the end for the Swedish Empire. In addition, the plague raging in East Central Europe devastated the Swedish dominions and reached Central Sweden in 1710. Returning to Sweden in 1715, Charles XII launched two campaigns against Norway in 1716 and 1718, respectively. During the second attempt, he was shot to death during the siege of Fredriksten fortress. The Swedes were not militarily defeated at Fredriksten, but

13366-544: The Sound . The current Swedish provinces of Skåne , Blekinge and Halland were Danish and the province of Bohuslän was Norwegian. Skåneland became the site of harsh fighting, especially in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, as Denmark and Sweden confronted each other for control of the Baltic. Sweden intervened in the Danish civil war known as the Count's Feud (1534–1536), launching a highly destructive invasion of Skåneland as

13529-467: The Swedes ( Suiones ) as a powerful tribe with ships that had a prow at each end ( longships ). Which kings ( * kuningaz ) ruled these Suiones is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC. The runic script was in use among the south Scandinavian elite by at least the second century AD, but all that has survived from

13692-563: The Swedish Lieutenant Colonel Johan Printzensköld (ca. 1615 – 8 December 1658) was sent to Bornholm to start the assimilation process, the population of Bornholm rebelled. Led by Jens Pedersen Kofoed (1628-1691) and Poul Anker (1629-1697) the rebellion formed in the town of Hasle , north of the largest city, Rønne . Before the rebel army reached the Swedish headquarters in Rønne, Printzenskiold

13855-467: The Swedish reforms, as can be ascertained from church records and court transcripts. The Swedes did encounter civil revolts in many areas, including the Göinge district, in dense forest regions of northern Scania. The Swedish authorities resorted to extreme measures against the 17th-century rebels who were described as snapphanar , a term used for raiding enemy soldiers or bandits. The punishments included

14018-532: The Swedish throne. He pursued to strengthen Rome's influence by initiating Counter-Reformation and created a dual monarchy that temporarily became known as the Polish-Swedish Union . His despotic rule, strongly characterised by intolerance towards the Protestants, sparked a civil war that plunged Sweden into poverty. In opposition, Sigismund's uncle and successor, Charles Vasa , summoned

14181-495: The administrative center. This new administrative development was a result of the increased power of the aristocracy . In each len , a noble man was put in charge, with the title lensmand . Each of the four provinces of Skåneland had representation in the Scanian Thing, which, along with the other two Things of the Danish state (Jutland and Zealand), elected the Danish king. The four Scanian provinces were joined under

14344-706: The ally of later king Christian III , who upon his coronation introduced Protestantism to the provinces. Subsequently, in the period between the breakup of the Kalmar Union and 1814, Denmark and Sweden fought in Skåneland in 11 separate wars and other border provinces: the Northern Seven Years' War (1563–70), Kalmar War (1611–1613), Torstenson War (1644–1645), Second Northern War (1657–1658 and 1659–1660), Scanian War (1674–1678), Great Northern War (1700 and 1709–1720), Theater War (1788), and

14507-565: The area of present-day Sweden and 50,000 from the Finnish part of Sweden . Executive power was historically shared between the King and an aristocratic Privy council until 1680, followed by the King's autocratic rule initiated by the commoner estates of the Riksdag. As a reaction to the failed Great Northern War, a parliamentary system was introduced in 1719, followed by three different flavours of constitutional monarchy in 1772, 1789 and 1809,

14670-460: The area was to serve as a core area for one of the three provincial things that together elected the king of Denmark . The first Danish administrative sub-divisioning occurred as part of the centralization process, when the area became divided into administrative units called hundreds ( herreder in Danish). The hundreds were possibly based on older, already existing units, but the establishment of

14833-633: The canal. Sweden also has plenty of long rivers draining the lakes. Northern and central Sweden have several wide rivers known as älvar , commonly sourced within the Scandinavian Mountains. The longest river is Klarälven - Göta älv , which originates in Trøndelag in central Norway, running 1,160 kilometres (720 mi) before it enters the sea at Gothenburg . In southern Sweden, narrower rivers known as åar are also common. The vast majority of municipal seats are set either on

14996-501: The city-state of Hamburg, are not. The bulk of the southernmost areas of the Jutland peninsula belongs to Holstein , stretching from the Elbe in the south to the Eider in the north. Subregions of Holstein are Dithmarschen on the North Sea side, Stormarn at the centre, and Wagria on the Baltic side. There is an area in Holstein called Holstein Switzerland because of its comparable higher hills. The largest amount of lakes on

15159-540: The civilian population occurred as late as 15 June 1811, when Swedish military killed "around 30" and wounded "around 60" peasants in Klågerup. The Swedish army units also arrested 395 people of which 2 were beheaded at Stortorget square in Malmö at 4 November 1811. Sweden appointed a Governor General , who in addition to having the highest authority of the government, also was the highest military officer. The first to hold

15322-716: The common Danish history of Scania, Blekinge, and Halland. Weibull used the term as a combined term for the four provinces where the Scanian Law had its jurisdiction, as well as the area of the archdiocese of Lund until the Reformation in 1536, later the Danish Lutheran diocese of Lund. This form of Skåneland was then used in the regional historical periodical Historisk tidskrift för Skåneland , beginning in 1901, published by Martin's son, Lauritz Weibull . An earlier administrative and political function of

15485-530: The country. Some of the asylum restrictions were relaxed again later. On 30 November 2021, Magdalena Andersson became Sweden's first female prime minister. The September 2022 general election ended in a narrow win to a bloc of right-wing parties. On 18 October 2022, Ulf Kristersson of the Moderate Party became the new Prime Minister. Situated in Northern Europe, Sweden lies west of

15648-537: The countryside relocated to larger towns or emigrated. In the later half of the century, around 300,000 Danes, mainly unskilled labourers from rural areas, emigrated to the US or Canada. This amounted to more than 10% of the then total population, but some areas had an even higher emigration rate. In 1850, the largest Jutland towns of Aalborg, Aarhus and Randers had no more than about 8,000 inhabitants each; by 1901, Aarhus had grown to 51,800 citizens. To speed transit between

15811-457: The estuary of the Elbe at the Geesthacht barrage Lauenburg is the southeasternmost area of Schleswig-Holstein . It exists administratively as the district of Herzogtum Lauenburg ( Duchy of Lauenburg ), the surface of which is equal to the territory of the former Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg , which historically did not belong to Holstein. The Duchy of Lauenburg existed since 1296, and when it

15974-460: The farmers of Western Jutland were mostly free owners of their own land or leasing it from the Crown, although under frugal conditions. Most of the less fertile and sparsely populated land of Western Jutland was never feudalised. East Jutland was more similar to Eastern Denmark in this respect. The north–south ridge forming the border between the fertile eastern hills and sandy western plains has been

16137-581: The first battles of the Great Northern War , the Russian army was so severely devastated that Sweden had an open chance to invade Russia. However, Charles XII did not pursue the Russian army, instead turning against Poland and defeating the Polish king, Augustus II the Strong , and his Saxon allies at the Battle of Kliszów in 1702. This gave Russia time to rebuild and modernise its army. After

16300-401: The first secure written evidence of Danish control). The provinces were part of the territory ceded to Sweden in 1658 under the Treaty of Roskilde , but after an uprising on Bornholm, that island was returned to Denmark in 1660, under the Treaty of Copenhagen . In July 1720, a peace treaty between Sweden and Denmark again confirmed the status of Skåneland as part of Sweden. The name Skåneland

16463-516: The founders of Kievan Rus' . The Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan described these Vikings saying: I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Itil . I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blond and ruddy; they wear neither tunics nor caftans, but the men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free. Each man has an axe,

16626-600: The homestead dialect. Many of these writers are often referred to as the Jutland Movement , artistically connected through their engagement with public social realism of the Jutland region. The Golden Age painters also found inspiration and motives in the natural beauty of Jutland, including P. C. Skovgaard , Dankvart Dreyer , and art collective of the Skagen Painters . Writer Evald Tang Kristensen (1843-1929) collected and published extensive accounts on

16789-653: The ill-fated expedition of Ingvar the Far-Travelled to Serkland , the region south-east of the Caspian Sea . Its members are commemorated on the Ingvar runestones , none of which mentions any survivor. During the early stages of the Viking Age, a centre of trade in northern Europe developed at Birka on the island of Björkö , not far from where Stockholm was later constructed, in mid-latitude Sweden. Birka

16952-510: The industrialised economy that exists today. Strong grassroots movements sprang up in Sweden during the latter half of the 19th century (trade unions, temperance groups, and independent religious groups), creating a strong foundation of democratic principles. These movements precipitated Sweden's migration into a modern parliamentary democracy, achieved by the time of World War I. As the Industrial Revolution progressed during

17115-461: The invasion, Germany had considered only occupying the northern tip of Jutland with Aalborg airfield, but Jutland as a whole was soon regarded as of high strategic importance. Work commenced on extending the Atlantic Wall along the entire west coast of the peninsula. Its task was to resist a potential allied attack on Germany by landing on the west coast of Jutland. The Hanstholm fortress at

17278-495: The jurisdiction of the Scanian Law , dated 1200–1216, the oldest Nordic provincial law. In the chapter "Constitutional history" in Danish Medieval History, New Currents , the three provincial Things are described as being the legal authority that instituted changes suggested by the elected king. The suggestions for changes submitted by the king had to be approved by the three Things before being passed into law in

17441-465: The king in the provinces. They were first established in Jutland , where they replaced previous administrative units called syssel . According to some scholars, they were introduced in Skåneland possibly as early as the 11th century. In the 13th century, a new fiscal system was introduced and the hundreds were gradually included into larger administrative units called len , with a castle serving as

17604-506: The largest country in Northern Europe. The lowest elevation in Sweden is in the bay of Lake Hammarsjön, near Kristianstad , at −2.41 m (−7.91 ft) below sea level. The highest point is Kebnekaise at 2,111 m (6,926 ft) above sea level . Sweden has 25 provinces or landskap . While these provinces serve no political or administrative purpose, they play an important role in people's self-identity . The provinces are usually grouped together in three large lands , parts,

17767-723: The largest part of Himmerland , the northernmost part of Crown Jutland ( Kronjylland ), the island of Mors ( Morsø ), and Jutland north of the Limfjord (the North Jutlandic Island , which is subdivided into the regions of Thy , Hanherred , and Vendsyssel , the northernmost region of Jutland and Denmark). Nordjylland is congruent with the North Jutland Region ( Region Nordjylland ). The largest Kattegat and Baltic islands off Jutland are Funen , Als , Læsø , Samsø , and Anholt in Denmark, as well as Fehmarn in Germany. The islands of Læsø , Anholt , and Samsø in

17930-534: The last couple medieval centuries saw some increased centralization. The west and south coast of modern Sweden was so effectively part of the Danish realm that the said area (and not the today Denmark) was known as "Denmark" (literally the frontier of the Daner ). Svend Estridsen (King of Denmark 1047 – ca. 1074), who may have been from Scania himself, is often referred to as the king who along with his dynasty established Scania as an integral part of Denmark. Blekinge

18093-500: The last year of the war, Sweden began to play a role in humanitarian efforts, and many refugees, among them several thousand Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe, were rescued thanks to the Swedish rescue missions to internment camps and partly because Sweden served as a haven for refugees. The Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and his colleagues ensured the safety of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews. Nevertheless, both Swedes and others have argued that Sweden could have done more to oppose

18256-555: The latter granting several civil liberties. Already during the first of those three periods, the 'Era of Liberty' (1719–72) the Swedish Rikstag had developed into a very active Parliament, and this tradition continued into the nineteenth century, laying the basis for the transition towards modern democracy at the end of that century. In the 18th century, Sweden did not have enough resources to maintain its territories outside Scandinavia, and most of them were lost, culminating with

18419-423: The lifetime task of Charles X's son, Charles XI , to rebuild the economy and refit the army. His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden, Charles XII , was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet. Russia, the most serious threat to Sweden at this time, had a larger army but lagged far behind in both equipment and training. After the Battle of Narva in 1700, one of

18582-761: The lives of 852 people (501 of them were Swedes ), being one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century. Until 2022, Sweden generally remained non-aligned militarily, although it participated in some joint military exercises with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and some other countries, stationed its troops under NATO command in Afghanistan , took part in EU-sponsored peacekeeping operations in Kosovo , Bosnia and Herzegovina , and Cyprus , and helped enforce

18745-572: The loss in 1809 of eastern Sweden to Russia, which became the highly autonomous Grand Principality of Finland in Imperial Russia . In interest of re-establishing Swedish dominance in the Baltic Sea, Sweden allied itself against its traditional ally and benefactor, France, in the Napoleonic Wars . However, in 1810, a French Marshal, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte , was chosen as heir presumptive to Charles XIII ; in 1818, he established

18908-691: The mouth of the Trave at Lübeck - Travemünde up to the mouth of the Wakenitz into the Trave (in Lübeck), from there up the Wakenitz until its outflow from lake Ratzeburger See , then through lake Kleiner Küchensee to the mouth of the de:Schaalseekanal into lake Großer Küchensee, from there along the canal through lakes Salemer See, Pipersee and Phulsee to lake Schaalsee , on from Zarrentin am Schaalsee along

19071-538: The name of Scania . The earliest Danish historians, writing in the 12th and 13th century, believed that the Danish Kingdom had existed since king Dan , in a distant past. Eighth century sources mention the existence of Denmark as a kingdom. According to 9th century Frankish sources, by the early 9th century many of the chieftains in the south of Scandinavia acknowledged Danish kings as their overlords, though kingdom(s) were very loose confederations of lords until

19234-482: The new form of hundreds was prompted by an increase in royal power during the High Middle Ages . These differed from the provincial thing areas in that they were not local communities joined under a governing assembly but top-down regional divisions established to ensure royal authority. These medieval Danish hundreds were used to implement military obligations and to expedite the collection of renders due to

19397-689: The new religion did not begin to fully replace paganism until the 12th century. During that century, Sweden was undergoing dynastic struggles between the Erik and Sverker clans. The conflict ended when a third clan married into the Erik clan, founding the Bjälbo dynasty, which gradually consolidated Sweden into a stronger state. According to the Legend of Saint Erik and the Erik's Chronicle , Swedish kings conducted

19560-525: The northeast, and the Baltic Sea to the southeast. The peninsula's Kattegat and Baltic coastline stretches from Grenen down to the mouth of the Trave in Lübeck - Travemünde , and its Skagerrak and North Sea coastline runs from Grenen until down to the Geesthacht barrage east of Hamburg , which is defined as the point where the Lower Elbe ( Unterelbe ) and the estuary of the Elbe, that are subject to

19723-611: The northern Norrland, the central Svealand and southern Götaland. The sparsely populated Norrland encompasses almost 60% of the country. Sweden also has the Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve , one of the largest protected areas in Europe, totaling 562,772 ha (approx. 5,628 km ). About 15% of Sweden lies north of the Arctic Circle . Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, with increasing forest coverage northward. Around 65% of Sweden's total land area

19886-511: The northern part of Schleswig-Holstein down to the Eider ( Southern Schleswig ), is also included in the cultural-geographical definition of Jutland, because the Eider was historically the southern border of Denmark and the cultural and linguistic boundary between the Nordic countries and Germany from c. 850 to 1864. In Denmark, the term Jylland can refer both to the whole peninsula and to

20049-416: The northwestern promontory of Jutland became the largest fortification of Northern Europe. The local villagers were evacuated to Hirtshals . Coastal areas of Jutland were declared a military zone where Danish citizens were required to carry identity cards, and access was regulated. The small Danish airfield of Aalborg was seized as one of the first objects in the invasion by German paratroopers. The airfield

20212-453: The objections of Turkey and Hungary, Sweden became a NATO member on 7 March 2024. In recent decades Sweden has become a more culturally diverse nation due to significant immigration; in 2013, it was estimated that 15% of the population was foreign-born, and an additional 5% of the population were born to two immigrant parents. The influx of immigrants has brought new social challenges. Violent incidents have periodically occurred including

20375-648: The outflow of lake Schaalsee, the Schaale , until its mouth into the Sude at Teldau , then along the Sude until its confluence with the Elbe at Boizenburg , and further on along the Elbe, until the Geesthacht barrage east of Hamburg , where the tide-dependent estuary of the Elbe begins. Travemünde → Trave → Wakenitz → Ratzeburger See →Kleiner Küchensee→Großer Küchensee→Schaalsee canal→Salemer See→Pipersee→Phulsee→ Schaalsee → Schaale → Sude → Elbe at Boizenburg →beginning of

20538-521: The peninsula after the last Ice Age, some 12,000 years ago. The local culture of Jutland commoners before industrial times was not described in much detail by contemporary texts. It was generally viewed with contempt by the Danish cultural elite in Copenhagen who perceived it as uncultivated, misguided or useless. While the peasantry of eastern Denmark was dominated by the upper feudal class , manifested in large estates owned by families of noble birth and an increasingly subdued class of peasant tenants,

20701-454: The peninsula of Eiderstedt and North Frisia on the North Sea side, and the peninsulas of Danish Wahld , Schwansen , and Anglia on the Baltic side. There is a considerable North Frisian minority in North Frisia , and North Frisian is an official language in the region. In Anglia and Schwansen on the other hand, there exist indigenous Danish minorities, with Danish being the second official language there. The Danish Wahld once formed

20864-448: The peninsulas of Djursland with Mols , and Salling . Also in Northern Jutland is the Søhøjlandet , which is the highest elevated Danish region, and at the same time, the region with the highest density of lakes in Denmark. Denmark's longest river, the Gudenå , flows through Northern Jutland. South Jutland ( Sydjylland ) is the southernmost part of Northern Jutland. It is not to be confused with Southern Jutland ( Sønderjylland ), which

21027-431: The population dying between 1349 and 1351. During this period, the cities began to acquire greater rights and were heavily influenced by German merchants of the Hanseatic League , active especially at Visby . In 1397, Queen Margaret I of Denmark (the former daughter-in-law of Magnus Eriksson) established the personal union of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark through the Kalmar Union . However, Margaret's successors, whose rule

21190-426: The population in Viking Age Birka was between 500 and 1000 people. Archaeological finds indicate that Birka still was wealthy in the 9th and 10th centuries. Thousands of graves, coins, jewelry and other luxury items have been found there. The actual age of the kingdom of Sweden is unknown. Determining its age depends mostly on whether Sweden is considered a nation when the Svear (Swedes) ruled Svealand or when

21353-494: The post of Governor General was Gustaf Otto Stenbock , between 1658 and 1664. His residence was in the largest city, Malmö . The office of Governor General was abandoned in 1669, deemed unnecessary. However, when the Scanian War erupted in 1675, the office was reinstated, and Fabian von Fersen (1626–1677) held the office between 1675 and 1677, when he died in the defence of Malmö . He was replaced by Rutger von Ascheberg (1621–1693) in 1680 who held it to his death in 1693. It

21516-441: The provinces of Scania, Blekinge, and Halland in the southwest of the Scandinavian peninsula, which were part of the Kingdom of Denmark during this period, feudalism never developed in Sweden as it did in much of Europe. As a result, the peasantry remained largely a class of free farmers throughout most of Swedish history. Slavery , also known as thralldom , was not common in Sweden, and the institution gradually diminished due to

21679-408: The region between Grenen and either the Danish-German border or the Eider. In Germany, however, the peninsula as a whole is only referred to as Kimbrische Halbinsel or Jütische Halbinsel , while the term Jütland is reserved solely for the cultural-geographical definition of Jutland. The Jutland peninsula is bounded by the North Sea to the west, the Skagerrak to the north, the Kattegat to

21842-418: The remaining part of the German minority issued a declaration of loyalty to Denmark and democracy, renouncing any demands for a border revision. Up until the industrialisation of the 19th century, most people in Jutland lived a rural life as farmers and fishers. Farming and herding have formed a significant part of the culture since the late Neolithic Stone Age , and fishing ever since humans first populated

22005-399: The respective sides. As an example, Moberg compares the history texts he grew up with in Sweden which represented the Swedish soldier as ever pure and honorable to a letter written by Gustavus Adolphus celebrating the 24 Scanian parishes he had helped level by fire, with the troops encouraged to rape and murder the population at will, behavior that may well have been mirrored equally on

22168-425: The right to tax Poland's trade on the Baltic (3.5% on the value of goods), and kept control of many of the cities in Royal and Ducal Prussia (including Piława ( Pillau ), Memel and Elbląg (Elbing). The Swedes later conducted a series of invasions into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, known as the Deluge . After more than half a century of almost constant warfare, the Swedish economy had deteriorated. It became

22331-407: The same king, namely Erik the Victorious and his son Olof Skötkonung in the tenth century. These events are often described as the consolidation of Sweden , although substantial areas were conquered and incorporated later. In this context, "Götaland" primarily refers to the provinces of Östergötland and Västergötland . The island of Gotland was contested by various groups, including the Danes,

22494-439: The sea, a river or a lake and the majority of the country's population live in coastal municipalities. Most of Sweden has a temperate climate , despite its northern latitude , with largely four distinct seasons and mild temperatures throughout the year. The winter in the far south is usually weak and is manifested only through some shorter periods with snow and sub-zero temperatures; autumn may well turn into spring there, without

22657-416: The singular form. In Old English the country was known as Swéoland or Swíoríce , and in Early Modern English as Swedeland . Some Finnic languages , such as Finnish and Estonian , use the terms Ruotsi and Rootsi ; these variations refer to the Rus' people who inhabited the coastal areas of Roslagen in Uppland and who gave their name to Russia. Sweden's prehistory begins in

22820-421: The spread of Christianity, the difficulty of obtaining slaves from lands east of the Baltic Sea, and by the development of cities before the 16th century. Indeed, both slavery and serfdom were abolished altogether by a decree of King Magnus Eriksson in 1335. Sweden remained a poor and economically underdeveloped country, where barter was the primary means of exchange. In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united in

22983-417: The success of invading Poland, Charles XII decided to make an attempt at invading Russia , but this ended in a decisive Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. After a long march exposed to Cossack raids, the Russian Tsar Peter the Great 's scorched-earth techniques and the extremely cold winter of 1709 , the Swedes stood weakened with a shattered morale and were enormously outnumbered against

23146-412: The term has been used in and around Viborg , so that the people of Viborg could differentiate themselves from the populations to the east and west. The majority of what is today called Central Jutland is actually the traditional West Jutish culture and dialect area, i.e. Herning , Skive , Ikast , and Brande . By contrast, Silkeborg and the other areas east of the Jutish ridge are traditionally part of

23309-442: The territories, the last in 1710, but ultimately conceded the territories as lost. Before 1658, one of the provinces of Skåneland, Scania proper, had consisted of four counties: the counties of Malmøhus, Landskrone, Helsingborg and Christianstad. When Skåneland was annexed by Sweden, one of the counties of Scania, Kristianstad County, was merged with Blekinge to form one of a total of three Blekinge counties. In 1658, shortly after

23472-407: The territory of the former Duchy of Schleswig . The region is called Sønderjyllands Amt in Danish, and it is regarded as the northern part of Sønderjylland , which refers to the combined territory of Northern and Southern Schleswig. Northern Jutland is the region between the Kongeå and Jutland's northernmost point, the Grenen spit. In Danish, it is called Nørrejylland , and also encompasses

23635-407: The third- and fourth-largest lakes Mälaren and Hjälmaren , these lakes take up a significant part of southern Sweden's area. Sweden's extensive waterway availability throughout the south was exploited with the building of the Göta Canal in the 19th century, shortening the potential distance between the Baltic Sea south of Norrköping and Gothenburg by using the lake and river network to facilitate

23798-415: The tides, begin. The part of the Baltic Sea the peninsula is bounded by is referred to as da:Bælthavet in Danish and de:Beltsee in German, a designation deriving from the Great , Little , and Fehmarn belts, while the Baltic Sea as a whole is called Østersøen and Ostsee , respectively. The peninsula's land border in the southeast and south is constituted by a string of several rivers and lakes: from

23961-462: The town of Arboga . During the Riksdag assemblies of 1527 and 1544, under King Gustav Vasa, representatives of all four estates of the realm (clergy, nobility , townsmen and peasants ) were called on to participate for the first time. The monarchy became hereditary in 1544. When Gustav Vasa broke the monopoly power of the Hanseatic League , he was regarded as a hero by the Swedish people. Furthermore, when Sweden did develop, freed itself from

24124-434: The use of impalement breaking on the wheel , as well as the nailing of bodies to church doors. In that way, it could take four to five days before the victim died. The transformation of age-old customs, commerce and administration to the Swedish model could not be effected quickly or easily. In the first fifty years of the transition, the treatment of the population was quite harsh. Denmark made several attempts to recapture

24287-445: The whole structure and organisation of the campaign fell apart with the king's death. Forced to cede large areas of land in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Sweden also lost its place as an empire and as the dominant state on the Baltic Sea. With Sweden's lost influence, Russia emerged as an empire and became one of Europe's dominant nations . As the war finally ended in 1721, Sweden had lost an estimated 200,000 men, 150,000 of those from

24450-428: The words Svea and rike , first recorded in the cognate Swēorice in Beowulf ), translates as "realm of the Swedes ", which excluded the Geats in Götaland . The contemporary English variation was derived in the 17th century from Middle Dutch and Middle Low German . As early as 1287, references are found in Middle Dutch referring to a lande van sweden ("land of [the] Swedes"), with swede as

24613-518: 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). When the Kalmar Union was formed in 1397, the union was administered from Copenhagen. By 1471 Sweden rebelled under Sture family leadership. In 1503, when Sten Sture the Elder died, eastern Sweden's independence from Denmark had been established. In 1600 Denmark controlled virtually all land bordering on Skagerrak , Kattegat , and

24776-414: Was absorbed by the Kingdom of Prussia and became part of the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein in 1876, the new district was allowed to keep the name "duchy" in its name as a reminiscence to its ducal past, and today it is the only district in Germany with such a designation. The region is named for its former capital, the town of Lauenburg on the Elbe , but its seat is now at Ratzeburg . Lauenburg

24939-442: Was banned, and all appointed politicians and priests were required to be Swedish. However the last Danish bishop, Peder Winstrup (1605–1679) remained in charge of the Diocese of Lund until his death in 1679. To promote further Swedish assimilation, the University of Lund was inaugurated in 1666; the inhabitants of Scania were not allowed to enroll in Copenhagen University until the 19th century. The population initially opposed

25102-456: Was centred in Denmark, were unable to control the Swedish nobility. In 1520, King Christian II of Denmark , who attempted to restore the Union of Kalmar through military force, ordered the massacre of Swedish nobles in Stockholm, an event known as the " Stockholm Bloodbath ." This atrocity incited the Swedish nobility to renew their resistance, and on 6 June 1523 (now celebrated as Sweden's National Day ), they made Gustav Vasa their king. This

25265-424: Was disregarded as a component of Danish history. In reaction, a movement began in the late 20th century to revive awareness of the history and culture of Skåneland. The renewed focus resulted in the publication of several books about Scanian history. Sweden – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)  –  [ Legend ] Sweden , formally

25428-414: Was during Ascheberg's time in office that the stricter policy of Swedification was initiated, as a reaction to the threats of war and possible Danish liberation. Following the death of Ascheberg, the Governor Generalship was dismantled into a separate county governor for each of the Swedish provinces Blekinge, Halland and Scania. However, a Governor Generalship was reinstated in the province of Scania during

25591-568: Was first recorded in print (in Swedish) in 1719. It is unclear what area is meant. Later (1751) Carl Linnaeus uses it, meaning the province of Scania . The modern use of the denomination as a short form for De skånska landskapen ( "The Scanian provinces" ), for the combined area of the provinces of Blekinge, Halland and Scania, was launched by the Swedish historian and Scandinavist Martin Weibull (1835-1902) in Samlingar till Skånes historia (Föreningen för Skånes Fornminnen och Historia . published 1868-73 in six volumes) in order to illuminate

25754-473: Was forced to cover most of the cost. After the war, the remaining German prisoners of war were recruited to perform extensive mine clearance of 1.4 million mines along the coast. Many of the seaside bunkers from World War II are still present at the west coast. Several of the fortifications in Denmark have been turned into museums, including Tirpitz Museum in Blåvand, Bunkermuseum Hanstholm , and Hirtshals Bunkermuseum . In Southern Jutland, parts of

25917-430: Was founded around 750 AD as a trading port by a king or merchants trying to control trade. Birka was the Baltic link in the Dnieper Trade Route through Ladoga ( Aldeigja ) and Novgorod ( Holmsgard ) to the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate . It was abandoned c.  AD 975 , around the same time Sigtuna was founded as a Christian town some 35 km to the northeast. It has been estimated that

26080-442: Was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union , a union which lasted until 1905. Sweden is a highly developed country ranked fifth in the Human Development Index . It is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with legislative power vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag . It is a unitary state , divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities . Sweden maintains

26243-411: Was integrated into modernised paper production, the steel industry was concentrated and specialised, and mechanical engineering was robotised. Swedish GDP per capita ranking declined during this time. A bursting real estate bubble caused by inadequate controls on lending combined with an international recession and a policy switch from anti-unemployment policies to anti-inflationary policies resulted in

26406-439: Was shot by Willum Clausen in the street of Sølvgade, in central Rønne. The Swedish fled the island as a result of the confusion and fear amongst the conscripts; Jens Kofoed installed an intermediate rule and sent a message to King Frederick III of Denmark that Bornholm had liberated itself, and wished to return to Danish rule. This was confirmed in the 1660 peace settlement between Denmark and Sweden. The last Swedish assault on

26569-548: Was significantly expanded by the Germans in order to secure their traffic to Norway, and more airfields were built. Danish contractors and 50,000–100,000 workers were hired to fulfill the German projects. The alternative for workers was to be unemployed or sent to work in Germany. The fortifications have been estimated to be the largest construction project ever performed in Denmark at a cost of then 10 billion kroner, or 300-400 billion DKK today (45-60 billion USD or 40-54 billion euro in 2019). The Danish National Bank

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