Västmanland ( or ) is a historical Swedish province, or , in middle

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 borders

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� ...

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 ...

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 ...

Dalarna Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Nor ...

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 ...

. Västmanland means "West Man Land" or, less literally, "The Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" () were the people living west of

, the core province of early Sweden.

Administration

The traditional

provinces of Sweden The 25 provinces of Sweden () are historical, geographical and cultural regions. They have no administrative function, but retain their own cultural identities, dialects and folklore. Several were administrative subdivisions until 1634, when t ...

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 Västmanland County () is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Södermanland County, Södermanland, Örebro County, Örebro, Gävleborg County, Gävleborg, Dalarna County, Dalarna and Uppsala Coun ...

, constitutes the eastern part of the province. The western part is in Örebro County where the municipalities of Hällefors, Lindesberg, 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.Neveus, de Wærn: ''Ny svensk vapenbok'', 1992

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: "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

was granted the same arms in 1943. The counties may decorate the coat of arms with a royal crown.

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 and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

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 saw the largest forest fire in Sweden in modern times.

History

The oldest city of Västmanland is

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 ...

, founded sometime around 990. The city was once the provincial capital; further, 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 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. After that

Arboga Arboga () is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Arboga Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 10,989 inhabitants in 2020. Overview The city of Arboga is known to have existed as a town since the 13th century but the are ...

, was chartered in the 12th century,

Köping ''Köping'' was a Swedish denomination for a market town since the Middle Ages, derived from the Old Norse word '' kaupang''. The designation was officially abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when Sweden was subdivided into the Munic ...

in 1474, Sala in 1624; Lindesberg and Nora both in 1643, and finally Fagersta in 1944. With

city status in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a 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 country by both area ...

being abolished in 1971, these are solely historical titles. The mines of Norberg and Skinnskatteberg began being in use in the 14th century. The mine of Lindesberg 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 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Notable residents

Johan Wilhelm Dalman Johan Wilhelm Dalman (November 4, 1787, in Hinseberg, Västmanland – July 11, 1828, in Stockholm) was a Sweden, Swedish physician and a natural history, naturalist. He first studied at Christiansfeld in Schleswig-Holstein then at the University ...

(1787–1828), physician and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

* Carl Wilhelm von Scheele * Mikael Mogren,

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

* Axel Grönberg (1918-1988), wrestler

Sports

Västerås SK is the most successful Swedish

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, 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 playin ...

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 (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, 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. The public domain edit ...

(1922)''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vastmanland Provinces of Sweden