|
Scania (Skåne in Swedish ) is a geographical region of Sweden on the southernmost tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, a historical province (landskap) of the Kingdom of Sweden, since 1997 a county (''Län'') of Sweden, before 1658 part of the Kingdom of Denmark. To the north, it borders the provinces Halland, Småland and Blekinge, to the east and south the Baltic Sea, and to the west the Oresund strait. It is part of the transnational Oresund Region. Around 130 km long from north to south, it covers less than 3% of Sweden's total area. The population of 1,200,000 represent 13% of Sweden's total population. Due to the historical connection to Denmark, the vast fertile plains and deciduous forests, and the relatively mild climate, Scania is often considered culturally and physically distinct from other regions of Sweden.
County The administrative subdivision in Scania is since 1997 called Skåne County. The boundaries of the subdivision are almost identical to the unofficial boundaries of the province of Scania. Before 1997, Scania was divided into two administrative counties, Kristianstad and Malmöhus counties. The arms for the new county is based on the Danish era arms for the city of Malmö, which was also used to create the arms for the province of Scania. As opposed to the province arms, the arms for the county has the red and yellow colors reversed and a crown, beak and tongue in yellow instead of blue. When the county arms is shown with a Swedish royal crown, it represents the County Administrative Board, which is the regional presence of (royal) government authority. The county of Scania is sub-divided into 33 municipalities (kommuner in Swedish), the largest being Malmö Municipality (270,000 inhabitants), Helsingborg Municipality (122,000), Lund Municipality (103,000 inhabitants) and Kristianstad Municipality (75,000 inhabitants). The seat of residence for the Governor (Landshövding in Swedish) is the town of Malmö. The County Administrative Board is nominally a Government Agency headed by a Governor. See List of Skåne Governors. Politics For politics see Skåne Regional Council The Regional Council of Scania (Region Skåne in Swedish) is the overall political organisation of Scania. Its county assembly is the highest political body in the region and its members are elected by the Scanians themselves, as opposed to the county administrative council that guards the interest of the state in the region under the chairmanship of the county governor. History Main articles: History of Scania and Terra Scania Historically the province of Scania was a part of Terra Scania (Skåneland in Swedish and Skånelandene in Danish), which together with Jutland (Jylland), Zealand (Sjælland), Funen (Fyn) and the smaller islands in the Danish archipelago, constituted Denmark. Following the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, the entire Terra Scania became a possession of the Swedish Crown. Bornholm was returned to Denmark, while the other provinces were successively incorporated into Sweden. The region was split into three counties in 1658, but retained its old laws and customs until 1719, when new laws and county borders were introduced. Geography and environmental factors The geography of Scania was shaped by the last ice age, the Weichsel glaciation, a time when it was totally covered with ice. Hallandsåsen and Söderåsen are major landmarks but contrary to popular belief, they are not ridges left behind by the retreating ice but horsts formed by tectonic activity along the Tornquist zone. Scania has no mountains. With the exception of the lake-rich and densely forested northern parts (Göinge), the rolling hills of the Bjäre and Kulla peninsulas in the north-west, and the beech-woods clad areas extending from the slopes of the horsts, a sizeable portion of Scania's terrain consists of plains. The low profile and the open landscape distinguish Scania from the other geographical regions of Sweden which consist mainly of waterway-rich, cool mixed, coniferous forests, boreal taiga and alpine tundra. Stretching from the north-western to the south-eastern parts of Scania is a belt of deciduous forests following the Linderödsåsen ridge, and previously marking the border between Malmöhus County and Kristianstad County. Denser fir forests are found in the north-eastern Göinge parts along the border with the forest dominated province of Småland. The two major plains, Söderslätt in the south-west och Österlen in the south-east, consist of highly fertile agricultural land very important for the rest of Sweden. For instance, 90% of Sweden's sugar beets are grown in Scania. The soil is among the most fertile in the world. The Kullaberg Nature Preserve in northwest Scania is home to several rare species including Spring vetchling, Lathyrus sphaericus. Scania was historically divided into 14 chartered towns and 23 hundreds. Cities
Hundreds Culture
Heraldry Scania was granted its coat of arms at the funeral of Charles X Gustav of Sweden in 1660, based on the arms of the town of Malmö. The arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazon: "Or, a Griffin's head erased Gules, crowned Azure and armed Azure, when it should be armed". Dukes of Skåne Since 1772, Swedish Princes have been created Dukes of various provinces. Although this is a solely nominal title, it may result in an emotional bond between the royal duke and the people of the province. From his marriage, in 1905, King Gustaf Adolf had his summer recidence at Sofiero castle in Helsingborg. He and his family spent their summers there, and the cabinet meetings held there during the summer months forced the ministers to arrive by night train from Stockholm. He died at Helsingborg Hospital in 1973. See also Official links | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| |