Its name means Land of Rocky Slabs (Swedish: hällar) referring to the coastal cliffs of especially the northern part of the region.

The rivers of Viskan, Ätran, Nissan and Lagan flow through the province and reach the sea in Kattegat.

Around Morup and Tvååker hilltops are remnants of the Sub-Cambrian peneplain, an ancient erosion surface that covers much of eastern Sweden.

The worsening climate at the beginning of the Iron Age meant that the local elites no longer could obtain bronze to the same extent as before.

The early Iron Age social structures seem to have been relatively egalitarian, but from around 200 AD there was a trend in which villages formed larger communities and small kingdoms.

According to information from a trader travelling from Skiringssal, close to the Oslofjord to Hedeby in the 870s it can be concluded that Halland was a Danish area at that time.

Halland was the scene of considerable military action from the 13th century and on as Sweden, Denmark and to some degree Norway fought for supremacy in Scandinavia.

Not only were material damages caused by military action, but the social impact of the fighting was devastating; people lacked the motivation to invest in their land and properties as it was likely to be destroyed anyway.

The county was the site of combat and plunder three times during the 13th Century: in 1256 Haakon IV of Norway invaded, followed by Magnus III of Sweden in 1277 and Eric VI of Denmark in 1294.

During the rebellion of Engelbrekt in 1434 the fortress in Falkenberg was burnt down and two years later Lagaholm [sv] was captured by the Swedes.

The Swedo-Danish struggles in the early 16th century came to affect the province as well, as in 1519 when the border regions were sacked by the Swedes as a vengeance for similar Danish action in Västergötland.

Halland was temporarily (for a period of 30 years) transferred to Sweden in 1645 under the terms of the Second Treaty of Brömsebro.

The 20th century has seen the province becoming one of the fastest growing in Sweden, as it has doubled its population since World War II.

The language varieties spoken in Halland are together called halländska, though they belong to two main dialectal groups.