Blechingia
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Blechingia (Blekinge) is a historical Province (landskap) in the south of Sweden. It borders Smalandia, Scania and the Baltic Sea.
County
For current affairs see: Blekinge County
Blekinge County has virtually the same boundaries as the province of Blechingia.
History
Main article: History of Blechingia
Historically Blechingia belonged to the Danish Crown, as a part of Terra Scania, together with provinces Scania and Hallandia, which made up the eastern part of the Danish kingdom. Blekinge became a Swedish province in 1658 following the Treaty of Roskilde.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Blechingia
Blechingia was historically divided into chartered cities and into hundreds.
Cities
- Karlshamn (1664)
- Karlskrona (1680)
- Ronneby (1387)
- Sölvesborg (1445)
Hundreds
Blekinge has a scenic archipelago and it is sometimes called the "Garden of Sweden".
Culture
Main article: Culture of Blechingia
In Blechingia a variety of the South Swedish dialect is spoken, formerly Eastern Danish. The variety is called Blekingska. The name "Blekinge" comes from the adjective bleke, which correspons to the sea term "dead calm". In western Blechingia, on the small peninsula called Listerlandet, an almost extinct separate germanic language is spoken called Listerländska. Allthough it has very few speakers, whom all are bilingual in Swedish.
The town of Karlskrona was for almost 300 years the principal Naval Base in Sweden, and in 1998 it be came a site of the UNESCO World heritage program.
Heraldry
Main article: Heraldry of Blechingia
Blechingia was granted its arms at the funural of Charles X Gustav of Sweden in 1660, based on an seal from the 15th century. Symobolically the three crowns from the Coats 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 dukal coronet. Blazon: "Azure, an Oak Tree eradicated Or ensigned with three Crowns palewise of the same."
External links
- Blekinge (http://www.blekingeturism.com/) - Official tourist site
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