Bäl is a populated area, a

socken Socken is the name used for a part of a county in Sweden. In Denmark similar areas are known as ''sogn'', in Norway ''sokn'' or ''sogn'' and in Finland ''pitäjä'' ''(socken)''. A socken is a country-side area that was formed around a church, ...

(not to be confused with

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

), on the Swedish island of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to ...

. It comprises the same area as the administrative Bäl District, established on 1January 2016.

Geography

Bäl is the name of the larger area, Bäl socken as well as the Bäl district, surrounding the small village of Gute where the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Bäl Church, is located. Gute is sometimes referred to as ''Bäl'', ''Bäl kyrkby'' or ''Bäls kyrkby Gute''. It is situated in the northeast part of Gotland. , Bäl Church belongs to Väskinde

in Norra Gotlands

pastorat The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Swede ...

, along with the churches in

Väskinde Väskinde () is a locality on the Swedish island of Gotland. Väskinde is also the name of the larger populated area, ''socken'' (not to be confused with parish). It comprises the same area as the administrative Väskinde District, established o ...

Fole Fole () is a populated area, a ''socken'' (not to be confused with Parishes of the Church of Sweden, parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the Registration districts in Sweden, administrative Fole District, establ ...

, Lokrume, Hejnum and Bro. One of the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s in the

asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, c ...

, 8678 Bäl, is named after this place.

References

External links

*
Objects from Bäl at the Digital Museum
by Nordic Museum Populated places in Gotland County {{Gotland-geo-stub