Uppsala County, Uppsala län, is in eastern Svealand in middle Sweden, and has around 360,000 inhabitants. The county makes up most of the Uppland province; the south-eastern part belongs to Stockholm County. It borders Västmanland in the west, and Gästrikland in the north, and nearly has a quadripoint with Dalarna in the north-west.
As other Swedish counties, Uppsala County is divided between municipalities (kommuner), each with a dominant city or town.
The Saga Of Uppland
In her Wonderful Adventures of Nils Selma Lagerlöf writes that Uppland was originally the poorest among Sweden's provinces. To make ends meet, Uppland went begging for alms around the country. From Dalarna Uppland got the mouth of Dal River, from Scania the fertile Uppsala plain, from Bergslagen rich deposits of ore, from Bohuslän Stockholm archipelago, and so on, and soon Uppland prospered. When the other provinces saw this they agreed that Uppland was the most clever among Sweden's provinces, and that she ought to rule the others.
See also: Vikings and the Old Norse
Though Swedish provinces are usually the foundation of folk culture and local patriotism, Uppland lacks a unifying identity, and very few inhabitants think of themselves as "Upplanders". The area is very diverse, with rich mining deposits and dense forests in the north, fertile plains in the south, and a maritime coastal region in the east. Historically, the people of Uppland have been the first to adopt international trends arriving in Sweden via Stockholm, creating a more cosmopolitan but less traditional local culture. If anything is typical for Uppland, it would be the very absence of typical traits. Today, the province is much characterized by the gap between the bustle of Stockholm and Uppsala, and the quiet northern forests.
Without tall mountains, Uppland was one of the last Swedish provinces (landskap) to rise from the Baltic Sea after the Ice Age. Still in 1,500 BC, at the beginning of the Iron Age, most of today's land surface was below sea level. Though the land is young, it is among the most fertile in Sweden, and allowed the Suiones, svear to found a cities, such as Uppsala, Birka and Adelsö during the Viking Age in the 8th to 11th century.
Around AD 1000 Sweden was christianized and the organized into a unified kingdom, with Sigtuna as its first capital. As Sigtuna was sacked by pirates in 1187, Stockholm was founded to protect Mälaren, and later became the national capital. Uppsala was the site of a pagan temple, which was torn down in the late 11th century, as Christianity arrived. A century later, the city became the seat of the Church of Sweden.
From the Middle Ages, Uppland was an international forerunner in metallurgy. In the early 17th century, blacksmiths from Wallonia founded several workshops around Östhammar, and forged weapons which were used to establish the Swedish Empire (see Nordic history).
Since the Industrial Revolution, Stockholm and Uppsala have grown, while the minor towns now function as extended suburbs of these cities. With nearly 1.5 million inhabitants, Uppland is Sweden's most populous province.
Roslagen is the coast and archipelago of Uppland, also consisting of Norrtälje, Lidingö, and the northern Stockholm archipelago.
The search engine Resrobot can be used for all domestic public transport in the area.
Ferries from Finland and Estonia arrive at Stockholm and Kapellskär (in Norrtälje). See Tallink Silja Line and Viking Line.
Trains from Copenhagen, Oslo and Gothenburg end at Stockholm Central Station. Change train in Stockholm to go to Uppsala or Enköping. Trains from Northern Sweden stop in Uppsala. Tickets are sold by SJ. There are frequent trains from Stockholm to Uppsala, both SJ trains, and local Stockholm trains. If you travel between Stockholm and Uppsala on the local Stockholm (SL) trains you need both SL and UL tickets. Such multiple tickets can bought over desk on SL centers in Stockholm or UL Center at Uppsala station, or from SJ, not onboard or in SL machines.
Public transport in Stockholm county (including Sigtuna and Norrtälje) is run by SL. In Uppsala County it is run by Upplands lokaltrafik. There is a fairly large city bus network in Uppsala.
In the countryside, driving is the most practical option. The E4 passes through Knivsta, Uppsala, Tierp, and Älvkarleby; see E4 through Sweden.
Uppsala has several historical buildings, including the cathedral (Uppsala domkyrka), the castle (Uppsala slott) and the Carolina Rediviva library.
Öregrund, Älvkarleby and Tierp have several metal works, bruk. Many of them were founded by Walloons during the 17th century.
Uppsala County has a large collections of palaces and castles, slott, most of them open to the public to some extent. Noblemen and industrialists built themselves buildings in rural Uppland.
Except Uppsala, most of the county is rural, and good for outdoor life, such as hiking, water sport, and cross-country skiing.
See also: Nordic cuisine
A maritime province, fish has been a staple of the Uppland cuisine. Fish is distributed through a market in Stockholm.