Review article
Scanians, Scania and Scanialand − Ethnic Problems and Regionalisation in Northern Europe
Bertil Haggman
Abstract
Scania and Scanialand have been subject to diverse fates. From being the original home of the Lombards (Langobards) via the core of the Danish realm to a province in the periphery of Sweden from 1658. During the eighteenth century Scania was Swedenized, which however did not entirely result in its being incorporated in the new state. Although the masters have changed, the region has kept its identity especially in the case of language and culture. Sweden's membership in the European Union during the 1990s has brought new possibilities for the old contested region. Scania is from the 1st of January 1997 once again one single administrative province and a part of the Oeresund Region (Denmark − Sweden) and of the region Pomerani (with territories in northern Germany and Poland). Fixed links to Denmark increase the growth potential. The fixed link between Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmö (Sweden), to be completed in the year 2000, and possibly a railway tunnel under the Sound between Helsingborg and Helsingoer in the beginning of the 21st century bring added prospects for Scani/Scanialand. It will be part of a region, which can measure up to the foremost in Europe, the United States and Japan.
Keywords
Scanians; Scania; Scanialand; ethnicity; regionalisation; Sweden; Denmark
Hrčak ID:
126503
URI
Publication date:
30.6.1998.
Visits: 1.767 *