Mälaren Valley

The Mälaren Valley, called Mälardalen in Swedish and sometimes the Stockholm-Mälaren Region, is the easternmost part of Svealand in Sweden. It is the catchment area of Lake Mälaren together with the surrounding municipalities, and the term is often used interchangeably for the extended capital region of Sweden, since Stockholm lies at the eastern end of the lake where it empties into the Baltic Sea. It has never been defined as an official region. Through Swedish history it has been shared by the provinces of Uppland, Södermanland, Västmanland and Närke, and in modern times by the counties of Stockholm, Uppsala, Södermanland, Örebro and Västmanland, with the Lake Hjälmaren area often included for historical and cultural reasons. Its larger cities outside Greater Stockholm include Uppsala, Västerås, Örebro, Södertälje and Eskilstuna, and more than 3.6 million people lived in the region at the end of 2020. The valley is known for its many large mansions, among them the Engelsberg Ironworks World Heritage Site.