The Mälaren Valley ( sv, Mälardalen), occasionally referred to as Stockholm-Mälaren Region (''Stockholm-mälarregionen''), is the easternmost part of

Svealand Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, T ...

, the catchment area of

Lake Mälaren A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

and the surrounding municipalities. The term is often used interchangeably for the extended capital region of Sweden as Stockholm is located at the lake's eastern end, at its outlet in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

Extent and characteristics

The Mälaren Valley, which never has been defined as an official region, has throughout Swedish history instead been shared by several

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

—

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västman ...

Västmanland Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''väst ...

, and

Närke Närke () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the southwe ...

— and, in modern times, by several

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

— Stockholm,

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

, and

. In most cases, the

Lake Hjälmaren A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

region is included into the Mälaren Valley Region, if nothing else, for historical and cultural reasons. Notwithstanding this, most people in Sweden will have a clear notion of what characterises the Mälaren Valley, while few of them will be able to define what those characteristics are more precisely. Arguably, this is because the region is not only homogeneous and has been so for many centuries, but also have had a tremendous influence on shared Swedish history and therefore never had to define its symbols or accentuate its distinctive features. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries when modern Swedish nationalism evolved, traits conceived as typical Swedish were more often than not characteristics of the Mälaren Valley. For example, the

Falu red Falu red or falun red ( ; sv, falu rödfärg, ) is a permeable red paint commonly used on wooden cottages and barns in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. History Following hundreds of years of mining in Falun, large piles of residual product were ...

cottage with white corners, often iterated as a traditional Swedish building style, is common in the Mälaren Valley, but would stand out on the Swedish west coast. Similarly, what is referred to as

Standard Swedish Standard Swedish () denotes Swedish as a spoken and written standard language. While Swedish as a written language is uniform and standardized, the spoken standard may vary considerably from region to region. Several prestige dialects have devel ...

is often difficult to distinguish from

dialects The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

spoken around Lake Mälaren. One of the distinctive features of the region is its many large mansions — one of the finest surviving examples, the

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Engelsberg Ironworks Engelsberg Ironworks ( sv, Engelsbergs bruk) is an ironworks in ''Ängelsberg'', a village in Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland, Sweden. It was built in 1681 by Per Larsson Gyllenhöök (1645-1706) and developed into one of the world's most mod ...

in the north-west corner of the region, is thought of as representative for Sweden in general.Flygare

Population

Larger cities outside Greater Stockholm include

(population: 165,456),

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

(128,534),

(126,009),

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea through the lock in the ...

(75,773) and

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna h ...

(70,342). more than 3.6 million people lived in this region, which may also be confined to a much smaller geographical area around Stockholm and Mälaren proper.

Notes

References

External links

Region Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaren Valley Svealand Metropolitan areas of Sweden

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

Extent and characteristics

Population

Notes

References

See also

External links