Blekinge
is a province (landskap) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Skåne and the Baltic Sea. The province is part of the Scanian lands which belonged to Denmark until the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658.
The name "Blekinge" comes from the adjective bleke, which corresponds to the sea term for "dead calm".
County
Provinces serve no administrative function in Sweden. Instead, that is done by the counties of Sweden. However, Blekinge has virtually the same boundaries as the corresponding Blekinge County.
Geography
Blekinge has a scenic archipelago and is sometimes called the "Garden of Sweden".
History
Historically Blekinge belonged to the Danish crown together with the provinces Skåne and Halland, making up the eastern part of the Danish kingdom. Blekinge became a Swedish province in 1658 following the Treaty of Roskilde.
Towns in Blekinge with Swedish city privileges were: Karlshamn (chartered in 1664), Karlskrona (1680), Ronneby (1387), Sölvesborg (1445)
Of these towns, Karlskrona was for almost 300 years the principal naval base in Sweden, and in 1998 it became a site of the UNESCO World heritage program.
Heraldry
During the sixteenth century, the province used a coat of arms depicting a crowed hill rising from the sea, and the symbol is known from several official Danish documents. The colours are uncertain, but expert Anders Thiset suggested a green hill on a red shield. This symbol was only used during the Danish administration and replaced by the current coat of arms by the Swedish administration.
Blekinge was granted its current arms at the funural of Charles X Gustav of Sweden in 1660, based on a seal from the 15th century. Symobolically the three crowns from the Coat of arms of Sweden had been placed on the trunk of the tree to mark the change in status of the former Danish province, that now belonged to Sweden. The arms is represented with a dukal coronet. Blazon: "Azure, an Oak Tree eradicated Or ensigned with three Crowns palewise of the same."
Sub-divisions
Hundreds of Sweden were the historical sub-divisioning of a province. Blekinges hundreds were: Bräkne Hundred, Eastern Hundred, Lister Hundred, Medelstad Hundred.
Culture
Tongue
In Blekinge a variety of Scanian is spoken, which was formerly considered the eastern dialect of Danish but today is considered the southern dialect of Swedish. The variety is called Blekingska.
External links
- Blekinge - Official tourist site