Швецияның тарихи Вестергётланд провинциясы

Historical province of Sweden

Västergötland , also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non administrative provinces of Sweden (landskap in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Västergötland is home to Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden, which is situated along a short stretch of the Kattegat strait. The province is bordered by Bohuslän, Dalsland, Värmland, Närke, Östergötland, Småland and Halland, as well as the two largest Swedish lakes Vänern and Vättern. Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden is Duchess of Västergötland.

The provinces of Sweden serve no administrative function. Instead, that function is served by counties of Sweden. From the 17th century up until 31 December 1997, Västergötland was divided into Skaraborg County, Älvsborg County and a minor part of Gothenburg and Bohus County. From 1 January 1998 nearly all of the province is in the newly created Västra Götaland County, with the exception of Habo Municipality and Mullsjö Municipality, which were transferred to Jönköping County, and smaller parts of the province which are in Halland County and Örebro County.

Västergötland was granted its arms at the time of the funeral of King Gustav Vasa in 1560. The province is also a duchy and the arms can be represented with the ducal coronet. Blazon: "Per bend sinister Sable and Or, a Lion rampant counterchanged langued and armed Gules between two Mullets Argent in the Sable field."

In 1634, the province was modernized with the establishment of two counties: Skaraborg County (with Skara as capital) and Älvsborg County (Capital first in Gothenburg but after 1679 in Vänersborg).

In Västergötland, the Götamål dialect of Swedish is spoken. The dialect has several varieties like the ones spoken in Gothenburg and Sjuhärad, but the main dialectal variety is the Western Götaland dialect, Västgötska. The dialect was first dealt with as early as 1772, by S. Hofs in his Dialectus vestrogothica, which was a vocabulary with a grammar introduction.

Läckö Castle is situated on the island Kållandsö in the Vänern lake. It is generally regarded as one of Sweden's finest Baroque castles. The island was actually the location of a fortress as early as 1298, but the current building was begun in 1615, supervised first by Jacob De la Gardie and then finished by his son Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie. Karlsborg Fortress, the largest fortress in Europe, is situated in the town of Karlsborg. It is a testament to the "Central Defence Principle" of the 19th century, a reaction to the loss of Finland as a buffer state in 1809. Bjurum manor, one of the largest Swedish manors in the country, is located in Västergötland. Skara Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in the original parts of Sweden, i. e. if Scania is not included.

Football in the province is administered by Västergötlands Fotbollförbund.

Nordisk familjebok, Owl edition, volume 33, p. 373 (373–374 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 33. Väderlek – Äänekoski)).