the encyclopedic entry of Svealand

Region, south-central Sweden. Stretching across the breadth of the country, it covers an area of 31,212 sq mi (80,844 sq km). Settled as early as the Stone Age, it was the original home of the Svear, a people who gave Sweden its name, and it was the political and cultural centre from which Sweden developed and later secured its independence. Its diversified economy includes agriculture, manufacturing, forestry, and mining.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Svealand

Svealand or (rarely or historically) Sweden Proper is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, Tylöskog, Kolmården, separated Svealand from Götaland. Historically, its inhabitants were called Svear.

Svealand consists of the capital region Mälardalen in the east, Roslagen to the north-east, the former mining District Bergslagen in the center, and Dalarna and Värmland in the west.

The name of Sweden in Swedish, Svea rike (modern spelling: Sverige) or the "Realm of the Swedes" originally only referred to Svealand. Other forms are Sweoðeod (Old Norse/Icelandic Svíþjóð), and Sweorice. As the domains of the Swedish kings grew, the name Svealand began to be used to separate the original territory from the new.

Provinces

Svealand is made up of the following six provinces:

Stockholm, the Swedish capital, is located in both Uppland and Södermanland, and a border stone can be found in the street Västerlånggatan in Stockholm Old Town (Gamla stan).

History

Svealand was the original Sweden, to which it gave its name. This is supported by linguistics and is based on early medieval sources, such as the sagas. In Old Norse and in Old English, Svealand and Sweden are synonymous, and described as a separate country from Götaland/Gautland/Geatland.

In Sögubrot af Nokkrum for instance, Kolmården between Svealand and Östergötland is described as the border between Sweden and Östergötland (...Kolmerkr, er skilr Svíþjóð ok Eystra-Gautland...).
In Hervarar saga , king Ingold I rides to Sweden through Östergötland: Ingi konungr fór með hirð sína ok sveit nokkura ok hafði lítinn her. Hann reið austr um Smáland ok í eystra Gautland ok svá í Svíþjóð.
The lord Bo Jonsson Grip was probably the one who was best acquainted with the geography of the Swedish kingdom since he owned more than half of it. In 1384, he stated in his will that the kingdom consisted of Swerige (Sweden, i.e. Svealand), Österland (i.e. Finland) and Göthaland (i.e. Götaland).
The 15th century Swedish version of the Þiðrekssaga says that Vilkinaland was formerly a name for Sweden (Swerige) and Götaland: wilcina land som nw är kalladh swerige oc götaland.

There are historians and linguistics, for instance Henrik and Fredrik Lindström, that discuss the veracity of Svealand as the origin of the state of Sweden. They argue that it was not Svealand that conquered the geats and created Sweden but the other way round. The geats where the driving force for in the unification process, they were also more influential in the regional and international politics at that time. The swedes, on the other hand, were local patriotic and socially, politically and religiously conservative. Lindström and Lindström also use linguistical data to show that the dialects of the geats influenced the sveamål (particularly in Attundaland and southern Tiundaland) after the defeat of the last svea opposition in the middle of the 13th century.

A crusade to the east started by the kings of Svealand during the 12th century eventually conquered the provinces of Österland, an older name for Finland.

In the early Middle Ages the modern province of Gästrikland was part of Tiundaland, one of the three constituent parts of the modern province of Uppland, and therefore counted as a part of Svealand.

For a time in the early 19th century, the province of Värmland belonged to the Court of Appeal for Svealand. Even though Värmland historically belonged to Götaland, it has by custom long been considered part of Svealand.