Uppland

Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The name literally means up land, a name which is commonly encountered in especially older English literature as Upland. Its Latinised form, which is occasionally used, is Uplandia. Uppland is often called the province of "castles, ancient remains and runestones" and is famous for having the highest concentration of runestones in the world, with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone left by the Vikings, many of whom came from Roslagen on the coast of Uppland. Many of its castles and places of historical interest include Drottningholm Palace, Skokloster Castle, Salsta Castle, the medieval Uppsala Cathedral, where many royals are buried, and Uppsala Castle. Famous people from Uppland or who lived in Uppland include Ingmar Bergman, St. Bridget of Sweden, Carl Linnaeus, Anders Celsius and Gustav Vasa. It has Sweden's oldest town, Sigtuna, thought to have been established around AD 980 and Uppsala University, Sweden's oldest university.