Counties of Sweden

The Counties of Sweden (Swedish: län) are the first level administrative and political subdivisions of Sweden. Sweden is divided into 21 counties. The counties were established in 1634 on Count Axel Oxenstierna's initiative, superseding the historical provinces of Sweden (Swedish: landskap) to introduce a modern administration. At that time, they were what the translation of län into English literally means; fiefdoms. The county borders often trail the provincial borders, but the Crown often chose to make slight relocations to suit their purposes. There are controversial proposals to divide Sweden into larger regions, replacing the current counties.