They are not regarded as geographical areas by Swedes as they are not connected to dialects or identity, which is a role fulfilled by the historical provinces of Sweden (Swedish: landskap).

Beginning in the 2000s, many major government agencies have reorganised from a county-based subdivisional structure into larger geographical or functional areas.

Sweden's provinces, or landskap, and the "lands", or landsdelar, lack political importance today but are common denominations culturally and historically.

The province of Norrbotten is a relatively recent creation; it was part of Västerbotten which extended all the way to Österbotten in today's Finland before 1809.

Historically, the provinces were grouped in three lands: Götaland, being southern and western Sweden; Svealand being eastern and south-eastern, and Norrland being the entire northern half.

The boundaries have changed over time, with the most significant in 1658 (the cession of provinces from Denmark-Norway to Sweden) and 1812 (due to the loss of Finland to Russia in 1809).

After the Finnish War, Sweden was forced to cede the counties in Finland to Russia following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in (1809).

After this discussion the following proposal has in 2016 emerged: The main difference is that the proposed Bergslagen is divided to other counties, and Stockholm is on its own (plus the small Gotland which has air connections to Stockholm) The counties in Sweden correspond to the third level of division in the European Union's system of Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics.