Uppland


Uppland 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. On the small uninhabited island of Märket in the Baltic, Uppland has a very short and unusually shaped land border with Åland, an autonomous province of Finland.
The name literally means up land, a name which is commonly encountered in especially older English literature as Upland. Its Latinised form, which is occasionally used, is Uplandia. Uppland is famous for having the highest concentration of Runestones in the world, with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone left by the Vikings.

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.

Heraldry

Uppland's arms were granted in 1560, distinctive in its depiction of a Globus cruciger. Historically, Uppland ranked as a duchy and the coat of arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazoned thus: "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.

Geography

Uppland was historically divided into chartered cities and districts. Within Roslagen they were called skeppslag, and in the rest of the province hundreds. The abovementioned districts and cities have no administrative function today.

Cities

Facts

The population of Uppland was 1,602,652 as of December 31, 2016. The provincial population corresponds to the different overlapping counties as follows:
CountyPopulation
Stockholm County, partly1,240,191
Uppsala County, entirely361,373
Västmanland County, partly1,088

History

Uppland is the birthplace of Saint Brigitta of Sweden. Bridget of Sweden ; born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, is also known as Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta, was a mystic. after the death of her husband of twenty years, she founded the Bridgettines nuns and monks. She later was canonized as a saint.
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.

Dukes and duchess

is the seat of the only archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Sweden. Before the Protestant Reformation, the archdiocese and archbishop were within the Roman Catholic Church.

Culture

The archaeological site Birka and the castle of Drottningholm are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Sports

Football in the province is administered by Upplands Fotbollförbund. Bandy is also popular, with IK Sirius.