Västergötland in the context of "Vänern"

The Geats (/ɡiːts, ˈɡeɪəts, jæts/ GHEETS, GAY-əts, YATS; Old English: gēatas [ˈjæɑtɑs]; Old Norse: gautar [ˈɡɑu̯tɑr]; Swedish: götar [ˈjø̂ːtar]), sometimes called Goths, were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited Götaland ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of the progenitor groups of modern Swedes, along with the tribes of Swedes and Gutes. The name of the Geats also lives on in the Swedish provinces of Västergötland and Östergötland, the western and eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other toponyms.

The Swedish dialects spoken in the areas that used to be inhabited by Geats form a distinct group, Götamål.

The Kattegat (/ˈkætəɡæt/; Danish: [ˈkʰætəkæt]; Swedish: Kattegatt [ˈkâtːɛˌɡat]) is a 30,000 km (12,000 sq mi) sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Sweden in the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Danish straits. The sea area is a continuation of the Skagerrak and may be seen as a bay of the North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, though it is not called a bay in traditional Scandinavian usage.

The Kattegat is rather shallow and can be dangerous to navigate due to many sandy, stony reefs and the tricky shifting currents. In modern times, artificial seabed channels have been dug, many reefs have been dredged either by sand pumping or boulder clearance, and a well-developed light signaling network has been installed to protect the heavy international traffic on this small sea.

Västgötalagen (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈvɛ̂ɧːœtaˌlɑːɡɛn] or [ˈvɛ̂sːtjøːta-]) or the Västgöta (Westrogothic) law is the oldest Swedish text written in Latin script and the oldest of all Swedish provincial laws. It was compiled in the early 13th century, probably at least partly at the instigation of Eskil Magnusson and was the code of law used in the provinces of Västergötland and Dalsland and in Mo härad during the latter half of that century. The earliest complete text is dated 1281. Small fragments of an older text have been dated 1250.

This legal code exists in two versions, Äldre Västgötalagen and Yngre Västgötalagen (the Elder and Younger Westrogothic law, respectively). A first printing in modern times was published by Hans Samuel Collin [sv] and Carl Johan Schlyter in 1827 (which made the text the subject of the earliest known stemma), and a new edition by Gösta Holm [sv] in 1976.

Götaland (Swedish: [ˈjø̂ːtaˌland] ; also Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland or Gautland) is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep woods of Tiveden, Tylöskog and Kolmården marking the border.

Götaland once consisted of petty kingdoms, and their inhabitants were called Gautar in Old Norse. However, the term mainly referred to the population of modern Västergötland. It is agreed that these were the same as the Geats, the people of the hero Beowulf in England's national epic, Beowulf.

Östergötland (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈœ̂sːtɛrˌjøːtland] ; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (landskap in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, the Latinized version Ostrogothia is also used. The corresponding administrative county, Östergötland County, covers the entire province and parts of neighbouring provinces.

Götamål is one of the six dialect areas of the Swedish language, mostly heard in Västergötland, Dalsland, northern Halland, northern Småland and Östergötland. However, it is also heard in Bohuslän and Värmland. Examples of Götamål features are vowel reduction, vowel shortening in front of endings and loss of /r/ in suffixes, such as in hästa instead of hästar, eng. horses.

Småland (Swedish: [ˈsmǒːland] ) is a historical province (landskap) in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means "small lands", referring to many small historic provinces from which it was composed. The Latinized form Smolandia has been used in other languages. The highest point in Småland is Tomtabacken, at 377 metres (1,237 ft). In terms of total area, Småland is similar in size to Belgium.