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Småland

is a historical province (landskap) in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small lands.

Administration

The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. The province is divided into the three administrative counties: Jönköping County, Kalmar County and Kronoberg County, which roughly cover the entire Småland province. Smaller areas of Småland are situated in the counties of Halland County and Östergötland County.

Heraldry

For details, see: Heraldry of Småland

The current coat of arms was granted in 1569 and pictures a rampant red lion on a golden shield carrying a crossbow. The arms is represented with a dukal coronet. Blazon: "Or a lion rampant Gules langued and armed Azure holding in front paws a Crossbow of the second bowed and stringed Sable with a bolt Argent."

Population

The population of Småland was 708,896, as of 2004, distributed over five counties as follows:

County	Population
Jönköping County, largely	311,962
Kalmar County, largely	210,258
Kronoberg County, entirely	177,448
Halland County, peripherally	7,081
Östergötland County, peripherally	2,261

Geography

The geography is dominated by a forested high plain where the soil is mixed with sand and small boulders, making it barren in all except the coastal areas, and unsuited for agriculture except in certain locations, notably the Kalmar Plains. The province is rich in lakes and bogs. The coast consists of an archipelago of islands and bays in the north and cultivated flatlands in the south. In total, cultivated land covers 14%, meadows 7% and forest 50%.

Largest towns are Jönköping in the north-west, Växjö in the south, and Kalmar on the east coast near Öland Island.

History

The area was probably populated in the Stone Age from the south, by people moving along the coast up to Kalmar. Smaland was populated by Stone Age peoples by at least 6000 BC, since the Alby People are known to have crossed the ice bridge across the Kalmar Strait at that time.

The name Småland ("small lands") comes from the fact that it was a combination of several independent lands, Ydre, Kinda, Tveta, Vista, Vedbo, Tjust, Sevede, Aspeland, Handbörd, Möre, Värend, Finnveden and Njudung. Every small land had its own law in the Viking age and early middle age and could declare themselves neutral in wars Sweden was involved in, at least if the King had no army present at the parliamentary debate. Around 1350, under the king Magnus Eriksson a national law was introduced in Sweden, and the historic provinces lost a lot of their old independence.

The city of Kalmar is one of the oldest cities of Sweden, and was in the medieval age the southernmost and the third largest city in Sweden, when it was a center for export of iron, which, in many cases, was handled by German merchants.

Småland was the center of several peasant rebellions, the most successful of which was Dackefejden led by Nils Dacke in 1542–1543. When officials of king Gustav Vasa were assaulted and murdered, the king sent small expeditions to pacify the area, but all failed. Dacke was in reality the ruler of large parts of Småland during the winter, though heavily troubled by a blockade of supplies, before finally being defeated by larger forces attacking from both Västergötland and Östergötland. Dacke held a famous battle defence at the (now ruined) Kronoberg Castle, and was shot while trying to escape to then Danish-ruled Blekinge.

In the 19th century, Småland was characterized by poverty, and had a substantial emigration to North America, which additionally hampered its development. The majority of emigrants ended up in Minnesota, with a geography resembling Sweden, combining arable land with forest and lakes.

Ikea was also founded in the Småland city of Älmhult.

Historical cities

Towns with former city status were: Eksjö (chartered around 1400), Gränna (1652), Huskvarna (1911), Jönköping (1284), Kalmar (approximately 1100), Ljungby (1936), Nybro (1932), Nässjö (1914), Oskarshamn (1856), Sävsjö (1947), Tranås (1919), Vetlanda (1920), Vimmerby (approximately 1400), Värnamo (1920), Västervik (approximately 1200), Växjö (1342)

Dukes

Swedish Princes have been given the nominal title Duke of Province since 1772. Dukes of Småland have been:

Prince Carl Gustaf (1782-1783)
Prince Lennart (from his birth in 1909 until his loss of succession rights in 1932)

National Parks

Småland has three national parks:

Religion

In comparison with much of Sweden, Småland has a higher level of religious intensity and church participation.

In terms of Lutheran ecclesiastical boundaries, most of the province encompasses the diocese of Växjö. Parts of northern Småland are in the diocese of Linköping.

Småland is also known for its free churches.

Politically Småland is the strongest province for Kristdemokraterna (the Swedish Christian Democratic Party), and both the current leader Göran Hägglund and his predecessor Alf Svensson live in Jönköping Municipality in northern Småland.

Culture

The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, sw. Carl von Linné, (1707-1778), often called the father of taxonomy or "The flower-king", was born in Älmhult in Småland. He gave the Twinflower its Latin name based on his own (Latin: Linnea borealis, because of his particular fondness of it. The flower has become Småland's provincial flower.

Another notable person from Älmhult is Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of the global concern IKEA. The name "Småland" is used as the name of the children's play areas at some IKEA stores.

Literature

The Swedish emigration to North America in the 19th century is best depicted in the suite of novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg, which is also the basis for the musical "Kristina from Duvemåla" by ex-ABBA musicians/composers Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

Children's book author Astrid Lindgren often portrayed scenes from her own childhood growing up on a farm in Småland, in her writing.

Smalandians

In the 20th century, Småland has been known for its high level of entrepreneurship and low unemployment, especially in the Gnosjöregion. Some suggest the harsh conditions has throughout history forced the inhabitants of the region to be cunning, inventive and cooperative.

This is how the Swedish encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok described the people:

the Smalandian is by nature awake and smart, diligent and hard-working, yet compliant, cunning and crafty, which gives him the advantage of being able to move through life with little means.

A running joke, or stereotype, in Sweden, is that of the Smalandian being very economical, or even cheap. Ingvar Kamprad said that the Smalandian are seen as the Scotsmen of Sweden

Tongue

The local tongue is a Swedish language dialect known as Småländska (Smalandian). This may in turn be separated in two main branches, with the northern related to the Götaland dialects and the southern to the Scanian dialects.