Gästrikland

Gästrikland
Basic data
Part of the country (landsdel) :	Norrland
Province (län) :	Gävleborg County
Surface:	4,696 km²
Residents:	147,070 (December 31, 2008)
Population density:	31 inhabitants per km²
Highest elevation:	Lustigknopp 402  m
Largest lake:	Storsjön

Gästrikland is a Swedish landscape (historical province - schwed. Landskap ) in the southeast of the part of Norrland . Together with the Hälsingland region, it belongs to the Gävleborg County Administrative District .

The most important towns in Gästrikland are Gävle (seat of the regional government of Gävleborgs län ) and the industrial town of Sandviken , where the headquarters of the global Sandvik AB group is located.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden bears the title “ Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland”, a purely honorary title with no powers.

geography

Geographically, the landscape is in central Sweden. In the 13th century it was considered part of Uppland , after which it was assigned to the north of the country.

Gästrikland is also known as the “gateway to Norrland”. The landscape advertises itself with the slogan "This is where the wilderness begins".

Most of Gästrikland are plains that are fertile in the south and east and are used for agriculture. The north and west are hilly and largely covered with forest. There are many small and medium-sized lakes; about a tenth of the total area is covered with water.

history

In Gästrikland there are over 1,800 prehistoric and early historical sites, including the Järvsta burial ground .

According to an old chronicle, the heir to the throne Holmger Knutsson fled from the Folkung family to Gästrikland in 1247 after he had an uprising against King Erik XI. had directed. There he was tracked down and executed. Holmger's father was Knut II , who briefly held the title of king.

Communities

Since a community reform in 1971, there are four large communities in the landscape . According to the Swedish municipal code, these are unitary municipalities, which are no longer differentiated according to the old municipality types city (stad) , market (köping) and rural municipality (landskommun) .

• Gävle (includes the former municipality of Gävle and the former municipalities of Hamrånge, Hedesunda and Valbo)
• Sandviken (includes the former township of Sandviken, the former market town of Storvik and the former local communities Järbo, Ovansjö, Årsunda and Österfärnebo)
• Hofors (includes the former municipalities of Hofors and Torsåker)
• Ockelbo

All four municipalities belong to the judicial district of the district court (Swedish tingsrätt ) in Gävle. The court of appeal is the Hovrätten för Nedre Norrland in Sundsvall .

Gästrikland and the effects of the Chernobyl disaster

The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 had an extremely unfavorable effect on the northern half of Sweden due to the weather conditions prevailing at the time. About 5% of the radioactive isotopes released in Chernobyl were precipitated over Swedish territory, especially in Gästrikland and in neighboring Uppland around the city of Uppsala and in the landscapes of Västerbotten , Västernorrland and Västmanland . According to the Swedish radiation protection institute SSI, increased radiation can still be measured today; People who particularly frequently enjoy game, fish, mushrooms and berries from affected regions would expose themselves to a somewhat higher level of radiation in the long term. However, an accumulation of cancer cases has not been observed. At the same time, the level of radioactive cesium is constantly falling . Hunted game as well as berries and mushrooms can be voluntarily brought for measurements; In addition, measurements are continuously carried out in the region. Cesium-137 accumulated in the trees , which is why the SSI radiation protection institute and the municipalities in the countryside are giving special advice to households with wood stoves on how to dispose of the ash. Wood from the eastern parts of the municipality of Sandviken is particularly affected.

Landscape symbols

• Flower: Lily of the valley ( lat. Convallaria majalis )
• Animal: Capercaillie ( Tetrao urogallis )
• Fish: Herring ( Clupea harengus membras )
• Stone: sandstone

Web links

Commons : Gästrikland  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (Swedish, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Folkmängd i landskapen ( Memento from August 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Metro.se: 20 år sedan olyckan i Tjernobyl
3. ↑ Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten: 2005: 17 Utveckling, övervakning och åtgärder när det gäller radioaktivt cesium i renar efter Tjernobylolyckan  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Svenska Jägareförbundet: Spåren efter Tjernobyl finns kvar ( Memento of the original from December 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Hur mår miljön i Gävleborg? Report nr 4 i Länsstyrelsen Gävleborgs miljömålsserie  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Sandvikens kommun: Vedeldning ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.