Jamtland, "Republic" of (Sweden)

Jämtland is both a historical province (landskap) and a modern county (län) in the middle of Sweden and on the border of Norway. The modern county of Jämtland is larger in area than the traditional province, and includes the historical province of Harjedålen and the district Ravund (also called Ragunda). Today the county of Jämtland covers ca. 50,000 square km. The population is about 136.000.

From the 1100's Jämtland and Härjedålen were a part of Norway, and later went with Norway into the union with Denmark. The Kingdom of Denmark-Norway lost Jämtland to the Kingdom of Sweden in 1645, and the area has been under Sweden since.

The Republic of Jamtland, or in full the United Republics of Jamtland, Herjeadålen and Ravund, has been proclaimed by the Liberation Movement and its quasi-militant faction the Jamtland Republican Army (JRA). The Republic and the Republican movement is far from as militant their names indicate. In fact, the movement and the Republic is closely associated with the Storsjöyran cultural festival ('Great Lake Dizzy festival'). The Republic is somewhat of a gimmick, though it also reflects deeper sentiments and channels regional protest. This protest surfaced first in the 1960's, with suggestions of administrative- territorial reforms that proposed to unite Jämtland with other parts of Norrland and move the county capital from Ostersund in Jämtland. At the same time, more and more people moved southwards, and regions such as Jämtland experienced population losses.
Jan Oskar Engene, 25 August 1995

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Something about Herjeådalen, Jamtland and Ravund: Herjeådalen has from early Viking age to the time of Swedish permanent occupation been a province in Norway like any other now existing provinces of Norway - when the king was to be selected Herjeådalen had a representative. But the case of Jamtland was different: we have never joined this event, that is, we didn't participate in the election (I'm talking of the medieval time). What about Ravund then? Ravund was an area in the of Swedes colonized Norrland (which Jamtland and Her