Uppland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
|||||||||||||||
Uppland (
listen (help·info)) 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. It has an extremely short and strangely shaped land border with Åland, an autonomous province of Finland, on the small uninhabited island of Märket in the Baltic.
The name literally means up land, a name which is commonly encountered in especially older English literature. Its Latinised form, which is occasionally used, is Uplandia.
Contents |
[edit] 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.
[edit] Heraldry
Arms granted in 1560. Historically Uppland ranked as a duchy and the coat of arms is represented with a dukal coronet. Blazon: "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.
[edit] 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 above mentioned districts and cities have today no administrative function.
[edit] 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)
[edit] Districts
[edit] Facts
- Highest mountain:: Upplandsberget at Siggeforasjön, 117 metres
- Largest lake: Mälaren
- Archipelago: Roslagen
- National Parks: Ängsö, Färnebofjärden
[edit] Population
The population of Uppland was 1,390,914 as of December 31, 2007. The provincial population corresponds to the different overlapping counties as follows:
| County | Population |
|---|---|
| Stockholm County, partly | 1,067,758 |
| Uppsala County, entirely | 322,043 |
| Södermanland County, partly | 40 |
| Västmanland County, partly | 1,073 |
[edit] History
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.
[edit] Dukes
The nominal title Duke of a province has been awarded to Swedish princes since 1772. Dukes of Södermanland were:
- Prince Gustaf (1827-1852)
- Prince Sigvard (1907-2002, from his birth until his loss of succession rights in 1934)
[edit] Religion
Uppsala is the seat of the only (formerly Catholic) archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.
[edit] Culture
The archaeological site Birka and the castle of Drottningholm are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||
