Ångermanland ( or ) is a historical province (''landskap'') in the northern part of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. It is bordered (clockwise from the north) by Swedish Lapland,

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), known in English as West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in the north of Sweden, bordering Ångermanland, Lapland, North Bothnia, and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is known for the cheese named after the provi ...

, the

Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast (West ...

, Medelpad and

Jämtland Jämtland (; no, Jemtland or , ; Jamtish: ''Jamtlann''; la, Iemptia) is a historical province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland to the north a ...

. The name is derived from the Old Norse ''anger'', which means "deep fjord" and is a reference to the deep mouth of the

Ångerman River __NOTOC__ The Ångerman or Angerman ( sv, Ångermanälven) is one of Sweden's longest rivers with a total length of . It also has the third largest flow rate, after the Göta and Lule. Name The name was formerly written Ångermann or Angermann. Th ...

(''Ångermanälven''). In earlier times the province was known, in medieval Latin, as Angermannia.

Administration

The traditional provinces of Sweden, while remaining culturally and historically important, no longer serve as administrative or political entities. The heartlands of Ångermanland lie in today's Västernorrland County, with the remainder of the traditional province now forming part of

and

Counties.

Heraldry

The heraldic description of the arms of Ångermanland is: ''Azure three Salmons naiant Argent finned Gules, the middle one counternaiant'', which heraldic meaning is that the rivers have spawning grounds for salmon, i.e. two fish to the sea for each one up the river. The burgh of Peebles in Scotland also has a very similar coat of arms, with similar heraldic context but with a red background. The Ångermanland arms differ from those of Laholm in Halland County and of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in England, where salmon fishing and processing have been historically important, each of which have their three salmon naiant.

Geography

Ångermanland is the sixth largest of Sweden's provinces with an area of some 19,800 km², of which around 1,000 km² is water. The nature of the western part of Ångermanland is greatly influenced by the presence of the Ångerman River. Although the province's soils are in general too barren for cultivation, there is arable farming in the areas adjoining the rivers – the Ångerman River in particular. The coast of Ångermanland is mountainous and features an extensive archipelago with many steep islands, deep bays and fjords – among them the mouth of the Ångerman River. The landscape is generally accounted picturesque, particularly in the thickly wooded

Ådalen Ådalen is the river valley of the Ångerman River, downstream Junsele, in Sweden. It often refers to the broad, densely populated, fjord-like mouth of the river, in Kramfors Municipality, and is known for the May 1931 Ådalen shootings. See also ...

region around the Ångerman River. The landscape is varied, with valleys, rocks, and bogs. The largest town today is Örnsköldsvik, on the coast, with around 33,000 inhabitants. It is followed by Härnösand with 18,000.

Facts

*Highest mountain: Bunkfjället (740 m, 2428 ft) *Largest lake: Tåsjön *National parks: Skuleskogen The coast line on the

, called the ''

Höga Kusten The High Coast ( sv, Höga Kusten) is a part of the coast of Sweden on the Gulf of Bothnia, in the Ångermanland province of northeast Sweden, centered in the area of the municipalities of Kramfors, Härnösand, Sollefteå and Örnsköldsvik. It i ...

'', has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The land still rises at the rate of about one centimetre per year, as an effect of the last ice age that ended in the 7th millennium BC.

Population

The population of Ångermanland is 130 923 as of December 31, 2019. It is distributed over three counties as follows:

History

Ångermanland is mentioned the first time in Historia Norwegie as ''"Angariuam"'', in 1170. It is thought to have been christened in the 12th century, as several runestones were erected in the 11th century. The Vitalie pirate brothers sieged the Styresholm fortress in 1398, holding the whole coast of Norrland. The Styresholm fort was however demolished in 1434 by the locals during the Engelbrekt Uprising. In 1490, districts Ångermanland, Alir, Sunded, Nordanstig and Medelpad constituted Storhälsingland. Härnösand receives city status in 1585. In 1721 Härnösand was burned to the ground by the Imperial Russian Navy. In 1931 four demonstrators and one bypassing were shot to death in the Ådalen shootings. It resulted in the forming of the state police, stripping the military of policiary work. Lower Norrland received its first university in 2005 when the Mitthögskolan transformed into the Mid Sweden University (''Mittuniversitetet''). The university has its courses spread over four cities; Härnösand, Sundsvall, Örnsköldsvik and Östersund.

Historical administration

Ångermanland was historically divided into Cities of Sweden, chartered cities and districts.

Cities

* Härnösand (1585) *Kramfors (1947) *Sollefteå (1917) * Örnsköldsvik (1893)

Districts

Sports

Football in the province is administered by Ångermanlands Fotbollförbund. Ice hockey is also popular, with Modo Hockey.

References

article Ångermanland
from Nordisk familjebok. (Swedish)
Hälsingland, Medelpad och Ångermanland
from ''Tacitus.nu''. (Swedish)

External links

Mid Sweden
- Official tourist site for Ångermanland & Medelpad {{DEFAULTSORT:Angermanland Ångermanland, Provinces of Sweden