Blekinge

Infobox Landskap
fullname=Blekinge
name=Blekinge
land=Götaland
county=Blekinge County
area=2,900
flower=Mullein
flower_swe=Kungsljus
flower_lat=Verbascum thapsus
animal=Stag beetle
bird=Nuthatch
fish=Cod

Audio|sv-Blekinge.ogg|Blekinge is a one of the provinces of Sweden ("landskap"), situated in the south of the country. It borders Småland, Skåne and the Baltic Sea.

The name "Blekinge" comes from the adjective "bleke", which corresponds to the sea term for "dead calm".

Administration

The historical provinces of Sweden serve no administrative function. Blekinge is, however, the only province, besides Gotland, which covers exactly the same area as the administrative county, which is Blekinge County.

Heraldry

During the sixteenth century, the province used a coat of arms depicting a crowned hill rising from the sea, and the symbol is known from several official Danish documents. The colours are uncertain, but expert Anders Thiset suggested a green hill on a red shield. This symbol was only used during the Danish administration and replaced by the current coat of arms by the Swedish administration.

Blekinge was granted its current arms at the funeral of Charles X Gustav of Sweden in 1660, based on a seal from the 15th century. Symobolically the three crowns from the Coat of arms of Sweden had been placed on the trunk of the tree to mark the change in status of the former Danish province, that now belonged to Sweden. The arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazon: "Azure, an Oak Tree eradicated Or ensigned with three Crowns palewise of the same."

Geography

Blekinge has a scenic archipelago and is sometimes called the "Garden of Sweden".

History

Historically Blekinge belonged to the Danish crown together with the provinces Skåne and Halland, making up the eastern part of the Danish kingdom. Blekinge has been a Swedish province since 1658, following the Treaty of Roskilde.

Towns in Blekinge with Swedish city privileges were: Karlshamn (chartered in 1664), Karlskrona (1680), Ronneby (1387), Sölvesborg (1445)

Of these towns, Karlskrona is for more than 300 years the principal naval base in Sweden, and in 1998 it became a site of the UNESCO World heritage program.

Sub-divisions

Hundreds of Sweden were the historical sub-divisioning of a province. Blekinges hundreds were: Bräkne Hundred, Eastern Hundred, Lister Hundred, Medelstad Hundred.

Culture

Tongue

In Blekinge two main dialects appear. The divider of this has historically been the Mörrumsån, near the historical sight of Elleholm. West of this divider, the dialect was historically closely related to Danish and eastern Scanian. East of this divider, the dialect has more in common with Småland. Today, this divider is not as significant as before, with the exception of Listerlandet with its special language. The eastern dialect of Danish can also be found on the Danish island of Bornholm.

The variety is called "Blekingska" but should rather be divided into Western "Blekingska" (or "Västblekingska") and Eastern "Blekingska" (or "Östblekingska").

External links

* [http://www.blekingeturism.com/ Blekinge] - Official tourist site