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Uppland

Historical province of Sweden

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Through UNESCO

The name literally means up land, a name which is commonly encountered in especially older English literature as Upland. Its Latinised form, which is occasionally used, is Uplandia.

Uppland is often called the province of "castles, ancient remains and runestones" and is famous for having the highest concentration of runestones in the world, with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone left by the Vikings, many of whom came from Roslagen on the coast of Uppland. Many of its castles and places of historical interest include Drottningholm Palace, Skokloster Castle, Salsta Castle, the medieval Uppsala Cathedral, where many royals are buried, and Uppsala Castle.

Famous people from Uppland or who lived in Uppland include Ingmar Bergman, St. Bridget of Sweden, Carl Linnaeus, Anders Celsius and Gustav Vasa.

It has Sweden's oldest town, Sigtuna, thought to have been established around AD 980 and Uppsala University, Sweden's oldest university.

Administration

The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. The corresponding administrative county, or län, is Uppsala County, which occupies the larger part of the territory. The bulk of the population, however, is within Stockholm County. Minor parts of the province are also in Västmanland, Gävleborg, and Södermanland Counties.

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