Republic of Jamtland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Republic of Jamtland, or more thoroughly the United Republics of Jamtland, Herjeådalen and Ravund is a humoristic culture and marketing project, with regionalist and historical elements based in the Swedish County of Jämtland, located in the middle of Scandinavia.
The Republic of Jamtland was founded in 1963 as a reaction to the outmigration from the county, largely caused by Sweden's social welfare politics, though the actual event that triggered its foundation was the centralist plans among Swedish officials that sought to merge Jämtland County with Västernorrland County. The initiators organized themselves in the association The Liberation Movement and mobilized the people in the "freedom festival" Storsjöyran. TV-entertainer Yngve Gamlin was "elected" president and Jamtland was proclaimed a republic of its own, within the Kingdom of Sweden.
In the long run, the Liberation Movement's goal is to restore Jamtland's ancient freedom and independence. However, as an independence movement, the Liberation Movement was described by the second president, the comedian Moltas Eriksson, as "51 per cent seriousness and 49 per cent fun". It's largely seen as a humoristic hoax and the actual support for an independent state among the locals is low. The movement's main focus is to preserve and promote the Jamtlandic culture, language and way of life.
The current president and the third overall is Ewert Ljusberg, also a man from the world of show business. Once a year he makes a beloved speech at the city festival Storsjöyran in Östersund where he agitates towards, and mocks the "Big-Swedes", the Swedish government and the European Union, in a jokingly manner.
