Östergötland County

Östergötland County (Östergötlands län) is a county or län in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the northeast. It also has a sea border with Västra Götaland to the west (across lake Vättern), and borders the Baltic Sea to the east.

Östergötland County has a population of 429 852 (March 31, 2011) and the capital and biggest city is Linköping. Linköping and neighbouring twin city Norrköping together form one of Sweden's metropolitan areas; The Linköping-Norrköping Corridor is therefore sometimes marketed as The Fourth Metropolitan Region of Sweden, the other three being Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.

Province

For History, Geography and Culture see: Östergötland Östergötland has virtually the same boundaries as the current administrative entity, the Östergötland County.

Administration

The main aim of the County Administrative Board is to fulfil the goals set in national politics by the Riksdag and the Government, to coordinate the interests of the county, to promote the development of the county, to establish regional goals and safeguard the due process of law in the handling of each case. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a Governor. See List of Östergötland Governors.

Östergötland

Östergötland (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈœsːtərˈjøːtland]; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (landskap in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, one might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia. The corresponding administrative county, Östergötland County, covers the entire province and parts of neighbouring provinces.

Heraldry

From 1560, Östergötland was represented with two separate coat-of-arms seals until 1884, when the current one was granted. The coat of arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazon: "Gules a Griffin with Dragon Wings, Tail and Tongue rampant Or armed, beaked, langued and membered Azure between four Roses Argent."

Geography

From west to east, in the middle parts, extends the Östgöta Plain (Östgötaslätten). It is largely agricultural. In the southern part of the province, the terrain becomes marked by the south Swedish highlands, with hills and countless lakes. The northern parts are also hilly, and are otherwise dominated by forests.