Provinces of Sweden

The provinces or landskap were the subdivisions of Sweden until 1634, when they were replaced by the counties of Sweden (län). The 25 provinces have no administrative function today but remain historical legacies and the means of cultural identification, and their traditions are maintained by present day authorities.

In some cases, the administrative counties corresponds almost exactly to the provinces, as is Dalarna to Dalarna County and Gotland, which is a province, county and a municipality. In other cases, they do not, which then enhances the cultural importance of the provinces. In addition, the administrative units are subject to continuous changes – several new counties were for instance created in the 1990s – while the provinces have their historical borders outlined since centuries.

Provinces

Sweden is divided into the three lands: Götaland, Svealand, Norrland.

=Götaland

=Svealand

=Norrland

* Latin forms used occasionally in the English and some other non-Swedish languages.

History

The origins of the provincial divisioning lays in the petty kingdoms that merged during the Consolidation of Sweden around 800–1000 AD. After the unification and a common Swedish monarch, each of these lands still had its own laws with its own assembly (the thing), and in effect governed themselves. The historical provinces were held as duchies, but newly conquered provinces added to the kingdom either received the status of a duchy or a county, depending on its importance.

Of the conquests made after the separation from the Kalmar Union in 1523 only some were incorporated as provinces. The most permanent acquisitions were from the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, in which the former Danish Scanian lands – the provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland – along with the Norwegian Bohuslän, Jämtland and Härjedalen, became Swedish and gradually integrated. Other foreign territories were ruled as Swedish Dominions under the Swedish monarch, in some cases lasting for two or three centuries. Norway was in personal union with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 but never became an integral part of Sweden.

The division of Västerbotten that took place with the cession of Finland caused the new province of Norrbotten to emerge, eventually being recognised as a province in its own right. It was granted a coat of arms in 1995.

History provinces according to lands

Sweden was historically divided into the four lands:

Götaland (Sweden)
Svealand (Sweden)
Österland (Finland)
Norrland (Sweden)

Götaland and Svealand consisted before (cirka) 1000 AD by petty kingdoms: The main tribe of Götaland was the Geats; the main tribe of Svealand was the Suiones (or the "historical Swedes"). Norrland was the denomination for all the unexplored northern parts. Österland in Finland, was an integral part of Sweden, but was in 1809 annexed by Russia as the Grand Duchy of Finland, and since 1917 the independent country Finland.

Heraldry

At the funeral of King Gustav Vasa (Gustav I) in 1560 the coats of arms for the provinces were displayed together for the first time, many having been granted for that particular occasion. After the separation of Sweden and Finland the traditions for respective provincial arms diverged, most noticeably following an order by the Privy Council on January 18, 1884. This established that that all Swedish provinces carry ducal crowns, while the Finnish provincial arms still distinguished between ducal and county dignity. A complication was that the representation of Finnish ducal and county coronets resemble Swedish coronets of a lower order, namely county and baronial. The division of Lapland necessitated a distinction between the Swedish and the Finnish arms.

For more information, see Lands of Sweden and Lands of Finland or articles on respective land.

Götaland

Götaland consists of the following ten provinces, within present-day Sweden. Until 1658, Bohuslän was a part of Norway, while Halland, Skåne and Blekinge were part of Denmark, and thus not part of Götaland.

Bohuslän	Blekinge	Dalsland	Gotland	Halland
Skåne (Scania)	Småland	Öland	Östergötland	Västergötland

Svealand

Svealand consists of the following six provinces all within present-day Sweden:

Dalarna

Närke

Södermanland

Uppland

Värmland

Västmanland

Norrland

Norrland consists today of nine provinces. The development of the Västerbotten and Norrbotten provinces were a gradual shift during the 19th century, and Swedish Lapland was united with Finnish Lapland as Lapland until 1809.

Counted into the historical Norrland, but located in present day Finland, is the province Österbotten.