Sweden 
Infos about the region Småland
No other historical province of Sweden is probably as well known as Småland. This is partly because of the immense popularity of the childrens' books of Astrid Lindgren, who allowed many of her stories to take place there, where she grew up herself. Småland has more to offer though than the idyll of Katthult While the vast majority of the stories in Lönneberga or the children of Noisy Village are known, few know about the highly interesting history of this historic province. This once consisted of many small areas (in Swedish: små land). They had the right on own legal systems and assemblies. This evolved into the areas differences and quirks that are still characteristic for the region: The historical Småland is now divided into five provinces Jönköping län, Kalmar län Kronoberg, Halland and Östergötlands län. Småland is located in the southern part of Sweden, extending from the Baltic coast to the northwest by the Vättern lake. It borders to the historic provinces of Skåne and Blekinge in the south and to Östergötland, Västergötland and Halland in the north west. As different as the regions is the nature of Småland: Extensive coniferous forests interspersed with large swamps, and again there are many smaller and larger lakes. Just as we know it from the film adaptations of the childrens' books of Astrid Lindgren. Småland is not only famous as the scene of Astrid Lindgren's stories, which can be admired at the amusement park "Astrid Lindgren's World" in Vimmerby. Småland is also known for its glass factories. In the Kingdom of Crystal (Swedish: Glasriket) around the city of Växjö you can visit the glass blowers craft in 14 active glass blowing workshops, and exhibitions of glass art invite you to admire the crafts. Other cities well worth a visit are for example Jönköping and Oskarshamn. So visit the varied Småland and you enter into the idyllic scenery of the stories of Astrid Lindgren, in typically Scandinavian nature and the fascinating world of glass art!