Lands of Sweden

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Lands of Sweden are the three unofficial regions into which the Kingdom of Sweden is divided: Svealand, the central region, named after the historic Sweden proper and the smallest of the three regions; Norrland (literally "Northern lands"), the northern region, which is the largest of the three regions, covering 60 percent of the total Swedish territory; and Götaland the southern, most densely populated region, which today also includes one of the Lands of Denmark, acquired by Sweden in the 17th century.

The lands have no administrative function, but are primarily used in weather reports and as a reference to the older division for the Swedish judicial system. During the imperial era, Courts of Appeal (hovrätter in Swedish) were introduced in the kingdom in order to relieve the original Svea Court of Appeal (Svea Hovrätt) in Stockholm, established in 1614. Göta Court of Appeal was the second such court in Sweden proper, established in Jönköping in 1634. It was proceeded by Åbo Court of Appeal (1623) in Finland and Dorpat Court of Appeal (1630) in Estonia, during this era part of the dominions of Sweden. Today, there are six court regions in Sweden: the Scania and Blekinge Court of Appeal, Malmö, the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden in Gothenburg, the Göta Court of Appeal in Jönköping, The Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm, the Court of Appeal for Southern Norrland in Sundsvall, and the Court of Appeal for Northern Norrland in Umeå.

The lands are further divided into provinces, which also have only cultural meaning today.

Norrland	Svealand	Götaland

[edit] Historical lands

Historical map: Lands of Sweden

Sweden was historically divided into the four lands: Götaland, Svealand, Norrland and Österland.

Österland (literally Eastern lands) is the old name for Swedish Finland. It today represents the southern and middle parts of Finland. It may in prehistoric times have been inhabited by various tribes with their own kings (such as the Kvens).
Norrland (literally Northern lands) is the name for annexed lands to the north on both sides of the Gulf of Bothnia.
In Sweden's prehistoric times Sweden was largely restricted to Svealand and southern Norrland, while Götaland is mentioned in legends as a rival kingdom, and traditions of Swedish-Geatish wars survive in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf.^{[citation needed]} Eventually the two countries were united under one crown by the Swedish kings somewhere between 550-1200 (the date is the matter of debate).^{[citation needed]}

By the time of the Treaty of Stolbovo, 1617, the significance of these particular lands of Sweden was historical and geographical diffuse.^{[citation needed]} Thus the concept of Norrland could easily cover also the new territories in the North, colored green on the map. Since the Treaty of Roskilde of 1658 Denmark's Scanian lands is usually considered Swedish Southern Götaland by the Swedes, although some historians consider this historically incorrect.^{[citation needed]}

After the Finnish War (1808-1809) the eastern half of Sweden was ceded to Russia, thus becoming the Imperial Russian Grand Duchy of Finland. Norrland was divided between these two states. The Swedish portion of Norrland still represents more than half of Sweden's territory; it remains, however, sparsely populated compared to the south and middle. The town of Stockholm, which became the Swedish capital mostly because it was centrally located in Sweden of its medieval boundaries (i.e. the brightest area on the map) now became situated at the eastern border.^{[citation needed]}