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Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle
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 borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''västermännen'') were the people living west of Uppland, the core province of early Sweden.


Administration

The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes (except sometimes as sport districts), but are historical and cultural entities. In the case of Västmanland the corresponding administrative county, Västmanland County, constitutes the eastern part of the province. The western part is in Örebro County where the municipalities of
Hällefors Hällefors () is a locality and the seat of Hällefors Municipality, Örebro County, 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 Ki ...
,
Lindesberg Lindesberg () is a locality and the seat of Lindesberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 9,672 inhabitants in 2017. History Lindesberg has centuries old history, being the center of an old mining district. The earliest known traces ...
, Ljusnarsberg and Nora are located.


Heraldry

The coat of arms was granted in 1560. At the time it featured one fire mountain, to represent the mine of Sala Municipality. Soon, their numbers were increased to three, to also symbolize the Lindesberg and Norberg/Skinnskatteberg mines and the present blazon was ratified in 1943. Blazon: "Argent, in base triple Mount Azure issuant from each Flames Gules." When crowned with a ducal coronet it represents the province. However rather different in size Västmanland County was granted the same CoA in 1943.


Geography

The terrain is to the north and north-west rocky. In these parts the highest mountains are located: Älvhöjden with 422 meters, and Gillersklack with 408 meters. In the other parts it consists mostly of plains. The largest lake is
Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is 1,140 km2 and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from e ...
marking the southern border, Sweden's third largest lake. *National parks: Färnebofjärden Western Västmanland traditionally belonged to the mining district of Bergslagen. In 2014, the area around
Ramnäs Ramnäs () is a locality situated in Surahammar Municipality, Västmanland County, 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 Kingd ...
saw the largest forest fire in Sweden in modern times.


History

The oldest city of Västmanland is Västerås, founded sometime around 990. The city was once the provincial capital, and from 1120 it became the seat of the diocese of Västerås. Västerås is today also the largest city in the province, with 140,000 inhabitants in the municipality. After that Arboga, was chartered in the 12th century, Köping in 1474, Sala in 1624;
Lindesberg Lindesberg () is a locality and the seat of Lindesberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 9,672 inhabitants in 2017. History Lindesberg has centuries old history, being the center of an old mining district. The earliest known traces ...
and Nora both in 1643, and finally
Fagersta Fagersta is a locality and the seat of Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden, with 11,130 inhabitants in 2010. Geography The city is located at the junction of two railways between Ludvika-Västerås and Avesta (Krylbo)-Örebro, ...
in 1944. With city status in Sweden being abolished in 1971, these are solely historical titles. The mines of
Norberg Norberg () is a locality and the seat of Norberg Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 4,518 inhabitants in 2010. Best known for the Norbergfestival which is Scandinavias biggest electronic music festival, organized in an old iron ore ...
and Skinnskatteberg began being in use in the 14th century. The mine of
Lindesberg Lindesberg () is a locality and the seat of Lindesberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 9,672 inhabitants in 2017. History Lindesberg has centuries old history, being the center of an old mining district. The earliest known traces ...
was being cultivated in the early 16th century.


Dukes of Västmanland

Since 1772, Swedish Princes have been created Dukes of various provinces. This is solely a nominal title. * Prince Erik (1889–1918)


Culture

Engelsberg Ironworks is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Notable residents

*
Johan Wilhelm Dalman Johan Wilhelm Dalman (November 4, 1787 in Hinseberg, Västmanland – July 11, 1828 in Stockholm) was a Swedish physician and a naturalist. He first studied at Christiansfeld in Schleswig-Holstein then at the University of Lund and the Univ ...
(1787–1828), physician and naturalist *
Carl Wilhelm von Scheele Carl may refer to: * Carl, Georgia, city in USA * Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name * Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of ...
*
Mikael Mogren Bengt Mikael Mogren (born 6 September 1969) is a Swedish bishop, theologian and author. Biography Morgen was born in a peasant family in Hammar, Askersund in Örebro. For some time, he worked as a prison officer. He has undergone training in anti ...
, Bishop


Sports

Västerås SK is the most successful Swedish
bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...
team with 20 titles as of 2017. Several Bandy World Championship finals have been played in Västerås.


Subdivisions

Västmanland was historically divided into districts. Within Bergslagen they were called mountain districts (''bergslag''), and in the rest of the province hundreds.


References


External links


Västmanland
— ''tourism website''.

— ''from
Nordisk familjebok ''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...
(1922)''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vastmanland Provinces of Sweden