Editing Norrbotten (section)

== History ==
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2018}}
During the [[Middle Ages]], the area was sparsely populated by [[Sami people]], who lived on hunting, fishing and [[reindeer]] herding. Although [[Swedish people]] have lived near the coast as early as 1335 as documented in the testament of Svenalde from [[Rutvik]]. From the Middle Ages and forward, the Swedish kings tried hard to colonise and Christianize the area. Settlers from the then eastern half of Sweden, [[Finland]]—the most important of which were known as [[Birkarls]]—controlled the trade and even the taxing on the area long into the 16th century.<ref>Vahtola, Jouko. ''Tornionlaakson historia I''. Birkarlit, 'pirkkalaiset'. Malungs boktryckeri AB. Malung, Sweden. 1991.</ref> From the mid-16th century, the area was more firmly tied to Sweden.{{clarify|is it meant the present day majority-swedish-speaking state in contrast to present-day-Finland, or to the Swedish state in contrast to not being state controlled at all? prev. phrasing of text suggest the latter|date=November 2022}} An important sign of Swedish control was the large [[Gammelstad Church Town|Nederluleå stone church]] from 1492. Still today, Finnish and Sami minorities live in Norrbotten and they have kept their culture and language.

Historically, [[Västerbotten]] was the denomination for northern Sweden, together with the [[Laponia (historical province)|Lappland]] areas. The ''Eastern Botten'' or [[Ostrobothnia (historical province)|Ostrobothnia]] was in the Finnish side.

Cultural identification in Sweden is closely related to the historical provinces, and the people in Norrbotten live in this sense in Northern [[Västerbotten]], or ''Norra Västerbotten''. In order not to be confused with people from Southern Västerbotten, i.e. the coastal region of [[Västerbotten County]], they started to identify themselves with the county rather than with the historical province.

Norrbotten had gradually become synonymous with the area that was previously referred to as northern Västerbotten. It started to evolve as a separate province. During the 20th century it got all of the symbols (animals, flowers etc.) which are assigned to the other provinces of Sweden. The coat of arms was granted in 1995.