Sweden - Skåne

The first postcard received from Sweden. Sent by Franziska from Helsingborg in Sweden. The postcard shows an aerial view of a place in Skåne, Sweden.

This is from Wikipedia : Scania (Skåne in Swedish) is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces (landskap) of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision (län) Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the province. The largest city is Malmö, which is also the third largest in Sweden and the administrative centre of Skåne County.

To the north, Scania borders the provinces of Halland and Småland to the north-east Blekinge, to the east and south the Baltic Sea, and to the west the Oresund strait. Since 2000 a road and railway bridge, the Oresund Bridge constitutes a fixed link to the Danish island of Zealand. It is part of the transnational Oresund Region.

The province was up until the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 part of the kingdom of Denmark. The transition to Sweden was later confirmed by the Treaty of Copenhagen 1660, the Peace of Lund 1679, the Peace of Travendal 1700. The last serious Danish attempt to retake the province failed in 1710, after the Battle of Helsingborg. Scania is since the beginning of the 18th century fully integrated in the Swedish nation.

Scania's historical connection to Denmark, the vast fertile plains, the deciduous forests and the relatively mild climate make the province culturally and physically distinct from the emblematic Swedish cultural landscape of forests and small hamlets.

Around 130 km long from north to south, Scania covers less than 3% of Sweden's total area, but the population of approximately 1,200,000 represents 13% of Sweden's total population. About 16% of the total population of the province are foreign-born. With 111 inh/km² Scania is the second most densely populated province of Sweden, next only to Södermanland.