Götaland

Götaland (Swedish:; 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 woods of Tiveden, Tylöskog and Kolmården marking the border.

Götaland once consisted of petty kingdoms, and their inhabitants were called Gautar in Old Norse. However, Gautar mainly referred to the population of its western part, modern Västergötland. It is agreed that Gautar meant the same as Geats, the people of the hero Beowulf in England's national epic, Beowulf.

The modern state of Sweden began to form as some provinces of Götaland became more and more politically intertwined with those of Svealand. This process can be traced back at least to the 10th century, and it continued for several hundred years. Other parts of modern Götaland were at that time either Danish or Norwegian. The province of Småland, with the historically important city Kalmar on its coast, was sparsely populated, and the status of the Baltic island Gotland varied during the Middle Ages. Bohuslän first became Swedish during the 17th century after being taken from Norway, around the same time as Denmark lost Scania, Halland and Blekinge to Sweden.