Skåne

▪ county and province, Sweden

also called  Scania  

      län (county) and traditional landskap (province), southern Sweden. Skåne county was created in 1997 from the counties of Malmöhus and Kristianstad and is coextensive with Skåne province. Occupying the peninsular southern tip of Sweden, it is bounded by water on three sides—the Baltic Sea on the east and south, The Sound (Sound, The) (Öresund) on the west, and the Kattegat (strait) on the northwest. On the north it borders the traditional provinces of Halland and Småland and on the northeast the province of Blekinge. The capital of the county is Malmö.

      In the southern part of the county, geologic faulting has produced a series of ridges trending northwest-southeast. The area is drained by the Kävlinge River and several streams, but the fault-formed coast has few harbours. Farther north and inland from the flat coastal region, with its beaches and summer resorts, are plains that are among the most fertile in Sweden. Deciduous trees, notably beech, predominate in the southern part, while coniferous trees are found toward the north. Medieval churches and 16th- and 17th-century castles and manor houses are characteristic of the area. After numerous battles Skåne was ceded to Sweden by Denmark in the Peace of Roskilde (1658).

      Although the county is of only moderate size, it is of great importance as Sweden's chief food producer, which is why it is often called the “granary of Sweden.” Among the chief crops are wheat, rye, barley, oats, potatoes, and sugar beets. Though grain production is Skåne's most significant industry, food processing, shipbuilding, metalworking, manufacturing, stone quarrying, and fishing also are important.

      Besides Malmö—Skåne's principal city and Sweden's third largest—leading towns include Helsingborg, Landskrona, and Kristianstad. Trelleborg is the country's southernmost port, while Lund is the cultural centre of southern Sweden. In addition to good transportation links with the rest of Sweden, there are ferry connections with Denmark, Germany, and Poland, as well as an international airport near Skurup, east of Malmö. The Öresund Link, completed in 2000, now connects this region to Copenhagen and Zealand. Area 4,389 square miles (11,369 square km). Pop. (2005 est.) 1,160,919.

* * *