Västerlandet

Västerlandet, literally “the western land,” is a historical geographic and cultural concept in Swedish history. The term designates the western part of the Swedish realm and stands in contrast to Österlandet, the eastern lands. There is no fixed administrative boundary; the scope varies across periods, reflecting political borders, trade routes, and demographic centers of the time.

Historically, Västerlandet was used in medieval and early modern sources to describe western territories as they appeared to central authorities in Stockholm or Uppsala. The term often related to coastal districts along the North Sea and to inland regions connected by rivers and roads to the western seaboard; defense, taxation, and governance were organized with reference to this subdivision.

Today Västerlandet survives mainly as a historical or cultural concept. It is not an official region, but it appears in historical narratives, regional identity discourse, and some scholarly works on Sweden's past. In modern administrative geography, the western part of Sweden comprises several counties, most notably Västra Götaland and Bohuslän, among others, but these boundaries do not reproduce the medieval notion of Västerlandet.

Notable themes connected to Västerlandet include maritime trade, mining, and agrarian culture in western Sweden, as well as the interaction with neighboring regions and kingdoms throughout history.