The history of Västernorrland

The country´s first counties were formed in 1634. Most of the county lines followed the traditional provincial borders. Northern Sweden or Norrland, though, which included Österbotten in Finland, was divided into two counties. Today´s Österbotten became Vasa County and the western side was called Norrland County. Three years later, Norrland County was divided into Västerbotten County, which included today´s Västerbotten and Norrbotten counties, and the southern county, which included today´s provinces of Ångermanland, Medelpad, Hälsingland and Gästrikland. This county was called Västernorrland and Gävleborg County.

In 1645, new county lines were drawn. Medelpad and Ångermanland were combined with Jämtland to form Västernorrland County with Härnösand as its seat. Gästrikland and Hälsingland made up Härjedalden Gävleborg County, with Gävle as the county seat. Nine years later, the two counties were combined. This union lasted for more than 100 years until in 1762 the county lines were returned to their 1645 order but now with Sundsvall was the county seat of Västernorrland. At the time, the parliament´s decision had not officially assigned a county seat to Västernorrland. The county had two equally large cities, Härnösand and Sundsvall. Gustav III´s government decided in 1778 that the county administrative board would move to Härnösand. An key reason for choosing Härnösand was that the town had offered to build a county governor´s residence, unlike Sundsvall.

When Sweden gave up possession of Finland, new county lines were drawn. Västernorrland lost Jämtland, which was combined with Härjedalen to form Jämtland County.

Länsstyrelsen Västernorrland    871 86 HÄRNÖSAND    Tel: 0611-34 90 00    Fax: 0611-34 93 72    E-post