Västergötland is home to Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden, which is situated along a short stretch of the Kattegat strait.

The province is bordered by Bohuslän, Dalsland, Värmland, Närke, Östergötland, Småland and Halland, as well as the two largest Swedish lakes Vänern and Vättern.

[3] The northern and western portions of the province belong to the Central Swedish lowland, which in this part is referred to as the Västgöta-plains or Västgötaslätten.

Among the most notable of these remains are the dolmens from the Funnelbeaker culture, in the Falköping area south of lake Vänern.

[5] The population of Västergötland, the Geats appear in the writings of the Greek Ptolemaios (as Goutai), and they appear as Gautigoths in Jordanes' work in the 6th century.

The province of Västergötland represents the heartland of Götaland, once an independent petty kingdom with a long line of Geatish kings.

Västergötland received much early influence from the British Isles and is generally considered to be the bridgehead of Christianity's advance into Sweden.

[6] Around 1000, King Olof Skötkonung is held to have received baptism in Husaby, near lake Vänern.

The Christian faith spread, and by the time the provincial law Västgötalagen was written in the 13th century, Västergötland had 517 churches.

The seat of the area's diocese seems to originally have been Husaby, but since 1150 the city of Skara (just some 20 kilometers; 10 miles south) held that distinction.

From the election of King Stenkil in the 11th century, Swedish and Geatish dynasties vied for the control of Sweden during long civil wars.

Located along the borders of Denmark (with the so-called Scanian lands) and Norway (with Bohuslän), the area was often involved in armed disputes and invaded by hostile armies.

[7] It is a testament to the "Central Defence Principle" of the 19th century, a reaction to the loss of Finland as a buffer state in 1809.