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is a historical Swedish province or landskap in middle Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Värmland, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland. On Närkes 4,100 km² surface area, 187,000 people live. The name of the province is partly derived from an old name for the people of the province, the Njarar (Njars) or Nerikjar (today Närkingar). The root nari, neri is cognate to English narrow and refers to the narrow inlets that characterized the geography in the south and the north-east. In English sometimes also Nerike (an archaic spelling of the province) and Nericia (the Latin name) is used for the province.
County Provinces serve no administrative purpose in Sweden today – that task is performed by the counties of Sweden. Närke makes up the southern part of Örebro County. History Main article: History of Närke Unlike many other regions in Scandinavia (Scandza), Närke was not mentioned by the 6th century scholar Jordanes. It has been suggested that this was because the population of Närke, the Njars or Nerikjar, were already counted among the Swedes, the Suehans. Norse mythology mentions three kings of Nericia, Nidud, Olof the Sharp-sighted and Sporsnjall. Nidud was a villainous king in the lay of Wayland the smith, Olaf aided the Norwegian king Vikar in battle, and Sporsnjall was burnt to death by Ingjald Ill-ruler together with five other petty kings. Närke was renowned for its warlike peasants and when coat-of-arms for the province was granted for the funeral of Gustav Vasa in 1560 two crossbow darts was the central symbol - the crossbow being the favourite weapon of the peasants. In Närke there are also a number of medieval castles. The most important and best preserved one is located in Tarsta at Sköllersta. Heraldry Arms granted in 1560, and revised a decade or so later with the current one. The arms is represented with a ducal coronet. At the centre there are two crossbow darts was - the crossbow being the favourite weapon of the peasants. Blazon: "Gules between four Roses Argent two Arrows in saltire Or points upward pointed Argent." Dukes of Närke Since 1772, Swedish Princes have been created Dukes of various provinces. This is solely a nominal title. Geography The oldest city in Närke was Örebro, receiving its privileges around 1200. After that, Askersund was chartered in 1643 and Kumla in 1942. City status in Sweden was discontinued as of 1971, so these are historical titles. Culture Main article: Culture of Närke The province of Närke has 5,200 ancient remains. Historical subdivisions The old subdivisions of provinces were the Hundreds of Sweden. In Närke, the hundreds were: Fellingsbro Parish that formed a part of Närke, was in turn divided between Fellingsbro Hundred and Linde and Ramsberg, which was a mountain district (bergslag). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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