Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. It is located in south-central Sweden and is one of the three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...

. Deep forests, Tiveden, Tylöskog, and Kolmården, separated Svealand from Götaland. Historically, its inhabitants were called , from which is derived the English '

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

'. Svealand consists of the capital region Mälardalen in the east, Roslagen in the north-east, the former mining district Bergslagen in the center, and Dalarna and

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

in the west. It includes an extensive archipelago of thousands of small islands in

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

and

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. The name literally ...

and has lakeshores on the four largest lakes in the country. In the interior, there are several ski resorts in the southern parts of the Scandinavian Mountains. Two large rivers run through Svealand. Klarälven originates in Norway and enters lake Vänern through Värmland, whereas Dalälven runs from Dalarna through the lake of Siljan. The other major river basins in Svealand are Norrström that runs up in Bergslagen through lakes Hjälmaren and Mälaren, along with Nyköpingsån that covers the post-glacial lake district of Södermanland. Svealand generally has a moderate

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

with a gradual decline of precipitation and increase of temperatures moving eastwards as the elevation descends.

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, the capital and largest city in Sweden, is Svealand's primate city and historical urban centre. The other administrative capitals are

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabit ...

, Karlstad, Nyköping,

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, 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 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

and

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

. The older name of Sweden in Swedish, (modern spelling: ) Realm of the

, "Swea Region", originally only referred to Svealand. Other forms are (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

/ Icelandic ), and . As the domains of the Swedish kings grew, the name Svealand began to be used to separate the original territory from the new.

Provinces

Svealand is made up of the following six

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

: * Dalarna *

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 sou ...

* Västmanland

, the Swedish capital, is located in both

and

, and a border stone can be found in the street in Stockholm Old Town ().

Counties

Since 1634, Sweden has been divided into counties instead of provinces (see Län). Although Svealand is defined in terms of the historical provinces and not the counties, it roughly comprises the modern counties of Dalarna,

and Västmanland.

History

Svealand was the original

, to which it gave its name. This is supported by linguistics and is based on early medieval sources, such as the sagas. In

and in

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, Svealand and Sweden are synonymous, and described as a separate country from

. Svealand and Götaland were also divided by deep forests, which prevented both polities from being controlled effectively. *In '' Sögubrot af Nokkrum'' for instance, Kolmården between Svealand and Östergötland is described as the border between Sweden and Östergötland (). *In '' Hervarar saga'', king Ingold I rides to Sweden through Östergötland: . * is mentioned in the travels of Ohthere of Hålogaland around 890. *The lord Bo Jonsson Grip was probably the one who was best acquainted with the geography of the Swedish kingdom since he owned more than half of it. In 1384, he stated in his will that the kingdom consisted of (Sweden, i.e. Svealand), (i.e.

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

) and (i.e. Götaland). *The 15th-century Swedish version of the says that was formerly a name for Sweden (Swerige) and Götaland

. In the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, the modern province of Gästrikland was part of Tiundaland, one of the three constituent parts of the modern province of

, and therefore counted as a part of Svealand. For a time in the early 19th century, the province of

belonged to the Court of Appeal for Svealand. Even though Värmland historically belonged to Götaland (from 1815 until a new court, Court of Appeal for Western Sweden, was instituted), it has by custom long been considered part of Svealand.

References

External links

{{Lands of Sweden Lands of Sweden

Provinces

Counties

History

See also

References

External links