Editing Provinces of Sweden (section)

=== The lands of Sweden===
Historically, Sweden was seen as containing four ”lands” (larger regions):
* [[Götaland]] (southern Sweden)
* [[Svealand]] (central Sweden)
* [[Österland]] (Finland, from the 13th century to 1809)
* [[Norrland]] (northern parts of present-day Sweden and north-western Finland)

In the [[Viking Age]] and earlier, Götaland and Svealand were home to a number of [[petty kingdom]]s that were more or less independent; Götaland in the Iron Age and Middle Ages did not include [[Scania]] and other provinces in the far south, which were then part of [[Denmark]]. The leading tribe of Götaland in the Iron Age was the [[Geat]]s; the main tribe of Svealand, according to [[Tacitus]] ca 100 AD, was the [[Suiones]] (or the ”historical Swedes”). ”Norrland” was all the unexplored northern parts, the boundaries and Swedish control over which were weakly defined into the early modern age.

Due to the [[Northern Crusades]] against [[Finns proper|Finns]], [[Tavastians]] and [[Karelia (historical province of Finland)|Karelians]] and [[Swedish colonisation of Finland|colonisation of some coastal areas]] of the country, Finland fell under the Catholic Church and Swedish rule. ''Österland'' ("Eastern land"; the name had early gone out of use) in southern and central Finland formed an integral part of Sweden. Russia annexed Finland in 1809, and reunited it with some frontier counties annexed earlier to form the [[Grand Duchy of Finland]]. In 1917, Finland became [[Finland|an independent country]].

The regional borders have changed several times throughout history with changing national borders. Norrland, Svealand and Götaland are only ''parts'' of Sweden, and have never superseded the concept of the provinces.