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Conference turris::scandia

Title:All about Scandinavia
Moderator:TLE::SAVAGE
Created:Wed Dec 11 1985
Last Modified:Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:603
Total number of notes:4325

17.0. "A geographical sketch of Sweden" by TLE::SAVAGE () Thu Dec 19 1985 18:47

  In land area, Sweden is the fourth largest country in Europe - 
  approximately 174,000 sq. miles or 450,000 sq. kilometers,
  including inland waters.  This makes Sweden nearly twice the size of
  Great Britain and somewhat larger than California. 
  
  The most northerly point is 69 degrees, 4 minutes north latitude,
  185 miles above the Arctic Circle.  The most southerly point is
  55 degrees, 20 minutes north latitude (about the same as the 
  southern tip of the Alaskan panhandle)
   
  Sweden's tallest mountain is Kebekaise (6966 ft. or 2123 meters 
  above sea level).  Her largest lake is V�nern (2156 sq. miles or
  5585 sq. kilometers).

  Thanks to the influence of the Gulf Stream, the climate is milder
  than would otherwise be the case for so northern a land.  The   
  average winter temperature is about the same as New York city in 
  the south, and about the same as in New England thoughout much of
  the rest of Sweden.  There are no 'heat waves' in summer; average
  July temperatures are in the low to mid 60s (Fahrenheit) throughout
  Sweden, except in the extreme north where the mid 50s are average.

    
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17.1Map of Finland, Sweden, and vicinityTLE::SAVAGEMon Oct 25 1993 12:3278
  From: [email protected] (Kimble)
  Subject: European Cartography Project (1993)
  Sender: [email protected] (Usenet News admin)
  Organization: The Royal Imperial Mutual Alliance Consolidated Insurance Co Ltd
  Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1993 19:27:02 GMT

     
                                   __,----._                              
                                 _/         ~-_                           
                               _/              >        Arctic Ocean      
    Atlantic Ocean          __-           ___-~    ___                    
                          _-             `---___,--' -'___                
                      _-.~            _./\___   |     ~   |/~~----.__     
                   _-~ Tromsoe       / Utsjoki /          `Murmansk  ~~--.
                 _-           NORWAY |       (/                           
                _-        __/\_      <       |         RUSSIA             
              _-Narvik___/ \_  \__/\_/    .Ivalo                          
             -_   .  /       ~~-.            \_                           
              /    _/           \ FINLAND      \         ,-.___          _
             /   _/     .Kiruna  \      .Sodankyla       ~--.__~-----~~~~ 
           _/   /                 )            (               ~~---,     
         _/    /                  \    .Rovaniemi                   )     
        /     /                   /            .Kuusamo             \     
      _/     /                    \Tornio        \                   \    
     /      |                 ,----+-.Kemi       (                    \___
   _/      /           Lule�.'        )           \_                      
  /       |                 |         \.Oulu       (_                     
 /       /                  |        /~      .Kajaani\       RUSSIA       
        \                   >       / FINLAND        <                    
NORWAY  _)                  /      /                  ~-_                 
..     /~   SWEDEN      Ume�.     .Kokkola   Kuopio      ~-_               
Trondheim                _/     /             .      .Joensuu             
    <     .�stersund    /     .'Vaasa                    /  _             
    >         Sundsvall.      |           .Jyvaskyla    /  / ~-_          
    |                 /       | FINLAND                /  / Lake Ladoga   
    \                 |       \          Lappeenranta./  ~--_      >      
    /                 |        |     .Tampere       _/_.Vyborg  ,--'      
Oslo|            Gavle.        .Rauma        __,--~~      `--~~-.St       
*   >                  \    _   ~-.Turku  _*~Helsinki      _/~~~Petersburg
   /  SWEDEN            \  <_>      ~---~~              <~~               
| |             Uppsala. >   �land   Tallinn    _____,_.'                 
\/            Stockholm*/                _-*~~~~   Narva>    RUSSIA       
 \        Norrk�ping. /~              <><               |                 
  \                 _/   __          <__>\   ESTONIA  .Tartu              
   .Gothenburg     /    < /Gotland        ~-,____       |                 
    \             |/|   | >          .-^-_  |    ~------|                 
     .Varberg     |||   |/          /     --*Riga       \                 
      \           ||/Oland         |         _   LATVIA_/                 
       >     ____/                 |--~~~~~~~ ~~-_  _-~|                  
  _/~\ |Malm�                      | LITHUANIA    ~~   >                  
 (    *\Lund>                      |                   <                  
 <Copen>~~~~ <>                  __>     Kaunas.    *  /     RUSSIA       
  ~~hagen     Bornholm          |              Vilnus /                  
                                `,---------~-_      _/                   
                                              \___-~                     

     
 
	-- Kimble.
 
                                                        o ___  .
                                                       o /o""\/|
      ,---------------------------,                      \_~_/\|
      |~~~~~~~~~ Kimmo Ketolainen |                        `   `
      |~~__~~~~~                  |  Telephone: +358 21 237 8227 GMT 08-20
   /| |~|\/|~~~~ Yo-kyla 84 A 10  |
  < | |~`--'~~~~ FIN-20540 Turku  |  E-mail: [email protected]
   \| |~~~~~~~~~ Finlande         |
      |---------------------------|        @cc.utu.fi @cs.utu.fi @tukkk.fi
      |TELECARTISTE 23 ////////// |      @f151.n222.z2.fidonet.org @csc.fi
      `---------------------------'
 
 
 
      o ___  .       ....................................................
     o /o""\/|_______Kimble "[email protected]" at 602750N, 221912E
       \_~_/\|       Independent signature designer and Amiga enthusiast.
         `   `       ````````````````````````````````````````````````````
17.2LakesTLE::SAVAGEFri Jan 14 1994 11:4627
   From: [email protected] (Anders Sundin)
   Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
   Subject: Lakes in Sweden
   Date: 14 Jan 1994 11:31:07 GMT
   Organization: Organic Chemistry 2, Lund University, Sweden
 
    The lakes of Sweden larger then 1 hectare (2.5 acres) have been mapped.
    In Sweden there are 92,409 such lakes that covers a total of 9% of
    Sweden. Of these lakes 4000 are larger than 1 square km and 400 are
    larger than 10 square km. Like many other geographical features of
    Sweden, the large number of lakes is a result of inland ice of the last
    ice age.
 
    50 000 of the lakes are named using one of 30,000 names. The most
    common names are L�ngtj�rn, Svarttj�rn, Stortj�rn, and Abborrtj�rn.
    Examples of unique names are L�rdagstj�rn, Namnl�sen, L�skvattnet, and
    Lilla Pinketj�rn.
 
    It should be noted that Finland which is known as "The land of a
    thousand lakes" only has 56,000 lakes larger then 1 hectare. ;-)
 
    -Anders
 -- 
 Anders Sundin                   e-mail: [email protected]
 Organic Chemistry 2                     [email protected]
 Lund University, P.O. Box 124   voice:  +46 46 104130
 S-22100 Lund, Sweden            fax:    +46 46 108209
17.3L�n and landskapTLE::SAVAGEFri Apr 22 1994 17:01140
  From: [email protected] (Per Wahlund)
  Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
  Subject: Re: Landscapes (Areas ?) in Sweden
  Date: 22 Apr 1994 12:07:43 GMT
  Organization: Uppsala University
 
 
 Sweden is also divided into administrative units ( L�n ),
 and historical areas without present administrative importance ( Landskap ).
 
 There are 24 l�n:
 
    Malm�hus            Kristianstad          Blekinge
    Halland              Kronoberg             Kalmar
    Gotland              J�nk�ping           �sterg�tland
    G�teborg och Bohus   �lvsborg             Skaraborg
 
    Stockholm            Uppsala               S�dermanland
    V�stmanland         �rebro               V�rmland
    Kopparberg
 
    G�vleborg           V�sternorrland       J�mtland
    V�sterbotten        Norrbotten
 
 The three main parts of Sweden are called  G�taland, Svealand and
 Norrland, and they correspond approximately to the grouping of
 l�n  that I made above, but strictly they are defined as consisting
 of several  landskap  , of which there are 25, namely:
 
  G�taland:    Sk�ne            Blekinge          Halland
                Sm�land          �land            Gotland
                �sterg�tland    V�sterg�tland   Dalsland
                Bohusl�n
 
  Svealand:     Uppland           S�dermanland     V�stmanland
                N�rke            V�rmland         Dalarna
 
  Norrland:     G�strikland      H�lsingland      H�rjedalen
                J�mtland         Medelpad          �ngermanland
                V�sterbotten     Norrbotten        Lappland
 
 Very often, but not always, the boundaries between  l�n  and  landskap
 coincide. In general, in the south part of Sweden, one  landskap
 consists of several  l�n , in the northern part one  l�n  consists
 of several  landskap.
 
 There are 285-290 communes, (I don't remember the exact number), the
 two youngest, (Gnesta and Trosa), formed Jan. 1, 1992, as part of
 a larger commune (Nyk�ping) which was split up into three.
 
 Sk�ne consists of  Malm�hus l�n  and  Kristianstads l�n.
 
 In the northenmost part of Sweden, the tradition of  landskap  is not
 so deeply rooted, so there one seldom talks about the landskap Lappland,
 but uses V�sterbotten and Norrbotten, thereby talking about  l�n .
 V�sterbottens and Norrbottens l�n is the same area as the three
 landskap  V�sterbotten, Norrbotten and Lappland.
 
 
 Per Wahlund
 Dept. of Scientific Computing
 Uppsala university
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
  From: [email protected] (Ulf Sundin)
  Subject: Re: Landscapes (Areas ?) in Sweden
  Sender: [email protected] (USENET News System)
  Organization: DaCapo AB
  Date: Fri, 22 Apr 1994 12:49:07 GMT
 
    Some additions to the almost exhaustive answer by Per:
 
    Actually, Norrbotten is not a 'landskap'. This means that the 24
    landskap does not partition the land area, but a relatively small area
    of north east Norrland does not belong to any 'landskap'. I don't know
    the reason behind it, but landskap is (as in Norway) an older structure
    than 'l{n' (fylker), I I guess that the administration didn't reach
    that far in the days of the 'landskap' , i.e., the medieval times.
 
    There are quite many exceptions [to the boundaries between l�n and
    landskap coinciding] in particular in svealand and northen g�taland. In
    particular the l�ns and landskaps around lake M�laren, i.e., the
    landskap Uppland, S�dermanland, V�stmanland, N�rke are really messed
    up, and this also spread to neighboring landskaps as �sterg�tland,
    V�rmland and Sm�land.
 
    To mess things up even worse, some communes are split in several
    landskap, althogh I don't think this can happen with l�n.
 
 
    /Ulf Sundin
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: [email protected] (Ahrvid Engholm)
  Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
  Subject: Re: Landscapes (Areas ?) in Sweden
  Date: 22 Apr 1994 16:36:08 GMT
  Organization: Stacken Computer Club, Stockholm, Sweden
 
    Well, Sweden is administravively divided into 24 "l�n" (� = a with two
    dots, the word is derivated from "f�rl�ning", my encyclopedia says, ie
    an area given to a duke, or another of the king's men, to take up taxes
    from). The Swedish l�n of today are administrative areas with two
    parallel institutions. One is l�nsstyrelsen (the l�n governing board),
    headed by landsh�vdingen (the chief of the l�n) who is appointed by the
    government. The other one is landstinget (the local parliament of the
    l�n), elected by the people and in charge of health care and local
    transports in the l�n. Landstinget is, I guess, the more powerful of
    these institutions. L�n- styrelsen will take care of things like
    building permits etc.

    In medieval days we had something called "landskap" (you could maybe
    translate it to "landscapes", but it sounds a bit funny), which also
    are 24 - but with totally different borders. The concept of landskap
    has however lived on in the minds of people. They will rather identify 
    themselves with the landskap they were born in than the l�n. For
    instance people from Scania will say they are Scanians, and not
    residents of Malm�hus (one of the two l�n Scania is divided into). For
    modern admini- stration the landskap has no meaning at all. Stockholm
    is divided between to landskap: S�dermanland and Uppland.

    There is also a division in three major parts of the country: G�taland
    (o = o with two dots), Svealand and Norrland, listed from south to
    north. The grounds for this division is more unclear. I suppose it has
    to do with areas of influences of early kings. We would for instance
    have the king of the Svea. The people of G�taland would have their own
    king. (Norrland didn't have their own kings, as far as I know. That
    area was colonized from the south and simply called Norrland anyway -
    the name means the land in the north. The kings of the Svea was most
    important, and conquered the surrounding areas. The name Sweden (in
    Swedish "Sverige", ie the country of the Svea) comes from this. Some
    people will talk about "Mother Svea" in the same way as Americans will
    talk about Uncle Sam. She is a fat, blond lady with a crown and two
    lions, one on each side.

    I won't list all l�n and landskap. But someone else could maybe do it
    if there's an interest.