Uppland () is a historical
province or ''landskap'' 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 uninhabited island of
Märket in the Baltic, Uppland has a very short and unusually shaped land border with
Åland, an autonomous province of
Finland.
The name literally means ''up land'', a name which is commonly encountered in especially older English literature as ''Upland''. Its Latinised form, which is occasionally used, is ''Uplandia''. Uppland is famous for having the highest concentration of
Runestones in the world, with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone left by the
Vikings.
Administration
The traditional
provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. The corresponding administrative
county, or ''län'', is
Uppsala County, which occupies the larger part of the territory. The bulk of the population, however, is within
Stockholm County. Minor parts of the province are also in
Västmanland County,
Gävleborg County and
Södermanland County.
Heraldry
Uppland's arms were granted in 1560, distinctive in its depiction of a
Globus cruciger. Historically, Uppland ranked as a duchy and the coat of arms is represented with a ducal coronet.
Blazoned thus: ''"Gules, a Royal Orb Or gemmed of the field and Azure with the cross bottoned Argent."'' Despite the fact that the
Uppsala län has a different name and a smaller territory it was granted the same coat of arms in 1940.
Geography
Uppland was historically divided into
chartered cities and districts. Within
Roslagen they were called ''skeppslag'' (which roughly means "ship district"), and in the rest of the province
hundreds. The abovementioned districts and cities have no administrative function today.
Cities
*
Djursholm (1913)
*
Enköping (approximately 1300)
*
Lidingö (1926)
*
Norrtälje (1622)
*
Sigtuna (approximately 990)
*
Solna (1943)
*
Stockholm (1252)
*
Sundbyberg (1927)
*
Uppsala (1286)
*
Vaxholm (1652)
*
Öregrund (1491)
*
Östhammar (approximately 1300)
Districts
Facts
*Highest mountain: Upplandsberget at Siggeforasjön, 117 metres
*Most Runestones: as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone
*Largest lake:
Mälaren
*Archipelago:
Roslagen
*
National Parks:
Ängsö,
Färnebofjärden
Population
The population of Uppland was 1,602,652 as of December 31, 2016. The provincial population corresponds to the different overlapping counties as follows:
History
Uppland is the birthplace of Saint Brigitta of Sweden. Bridget of Sweden (1303 – 23 July 1373); born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, is also known as ''Birgitta of
Vadstena'', or ''Saint Birgitta'' (
Swedish: ''den heliga Birgitta''), was a
mystic. after the death of her husband of twenty years, she founded the
Bridgettines nuns and
monks. She later was canonized as a
saint.
The earliest unambiguous mention of the province of Uppland comes from the 1296, when it was mentioned that it included the ''
Folklands'' of
Fjärdhundraland,
Attundaland,
Tiundaland and
Roslagen. The Swedish capital of Stockholm is divided between two provinces. The southern half lies in Södermanland and the northern half in Uppland.
Dukes and duchess
*
Prince Waldemar (1310-1318 – also Öland)
**
Princess Ingiburga, his wife (1312-1318 – also Öland)
*
Prince Gustav (1827–1852)
*
Prince Sigvard (1907-1934 only as per royal court)
Religion
Uppsala is the seat of the only
archbishop of the Lutheran
Church of Sweden. Before the Protestant Reformation, the archdiocese and archbishop were within the
Roman Catholic Church.
Culture
The archaeological site
Birka and the castle of
Drottningholm are
UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Sports
Football in the province is administered by
Upplands Fotbollförbund.
Bandy is also popular, with
IK Sirius.
References
External links Uppland- Tourist site
Uppland- Tourist information
{{Authority control
Category:Provinces of Sweden