Schonen

Schonen, the collective name outside of Sweden for the two southern regions of Skane and Blekinge, is next to Stockholm the most densely populated area of the country. This extremely fertile region, called “Sweden’s Garden” – and rightly so – was a bone of contention between Denmark and Sweden for centuries, until it was eventually granted to Sweden in the 17th century. In spite of this, the Danish influence is still very noticeable even the Swedish language has a slight Danish touch here.

Schonen lies directly adjacent to the regions of Halland and Smaland to the north, the Baltic Sea to the south and east, and Oresund to the west. At its narrowest point, between Helsingor in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden, the sound (sung is only four kilometers wide. This is where the majority of import/export business is conducted. In addition, most of the tourists come and go via the so-called “as-the-crow-flies” line,
which requires only two short trips by ferry for the Germany-Denmark-Sweden connection.