Editing Swedes (tribe) (section)

==Location==
[[File:Royal mounds.JPG|thumb|right|450px|[[Gamla Uppsala]] was the main religious and political centre of the tribe.]]
Their primary dwellings were in eastern [[Svealand]]. Their territories also very early included the provinces of [[Västmanland]], [[Södermanland]] and [[Närke]] in the [[Mälaren Valley]] which constituted a bay with a multitude of islands. The region is still one of the most fertile and densely populated regions of Scandinavia.

Their territories were called ''[[Svealand]]'' – "Swede-land" ("The Voyage of [[Ohthere of Hålogaland|Ohthere]]" ''in'' ''Seven Books of History Against the Pagans'': ''Swéoland''), ''Suithiod'' – "Swede-people" (''Beowulf'': ''Sweoðeod'' [hence Sweden]), ''Svía[[realm|veldi]]'' or ''Svea[[reich|rike]]'' – "Swede-realm" (Beowulf: ''Swéorice''). The political unification with the [[Geats]] in [[Götaland]], a process that was not complete until the 13th century, is by some contemporary historians regarded as the birth of the [[Sweden|Swedish kingdom]], although the Swedish kingdom is named after them, ''Sverige'' in [[Swedish language|Swedish]], from ''Svea rike'' – i.e. the kingdom of the Suiones.

The [[Æsir]]-cult centre in [[Gamla Uppsala]], was the religious centre of the Swedes and where the Swedish king served as a priest during the sacrifices ([[blót]]s). Uppsala was also the centre of the [[Uppsala öd]], the network of royal estates that financed the Swedish king and his court until the 13th century.

Some dispute whether the original domains of the Suiones really were in [[Gamla Uppsala|Uppsala]], the heartland of [[Uppland]], or if the term was used commonly for '''all''' tribes within Svealand, in the same way as old Norway's different provinces were collectively referred to as ''Nortmanni''.