landssamband

Landssamband is a term used in Scandinavian languages to denote a federation or confederation of lands, regions, or states within a larger political unit. The word combines land, meaning country or land, and samband, meaning connection or association, and it conveys the idea of coordinated governance across multiple territories while preserving some degree of autonomy.

Historically, landssamband has been used in scholarly and administrative contexts to describe various forms of inter-territorial cooperation. The exact structure, powers, and legitimacy of such an arrangement vary by time and place, ranging from loose leagues to formal unions within a sovereign state.

In modern usage, the term can function as a generic descriptor for federations of regions in Nordic governance debates, or as part of the proper name of regional or inter-municipal organizations. It is not tied to a single, universal model and should be understood in its specific legal and historical context.

See also: federation, confederation, regionalism, decentralization, intergovernmental organization.