The County of Blekinge is the easternmost county (or amt) of Denmark on the Scandinavian peninsula. It lies south of Gothenland and to the east of Vähus County. The capital is Ronneby and the population around 79,000.
One of the four Skanish counties, Blekinge was first mentioned as part of the Danish realm during the reign of Cnut II. Though sometimes challenged during Denmark and Gothenland's occasional wars of the medieval period Blekinge would remain an integral part of the Danish kingdom.
Mostly pastoral, Christopher III would spearhead a drive to develop the county. In the midst of the Fifty Years War he looked to build a new, easily defensible shipworks and settled on the island of Trossö in the Blekinge archipelago. Trossö, and several neighbouring islands, was transformed from grazing land into a fortress-dockyard with the establishment of Christofferskrone. It would only blossom as a town in its own right after the close of the war. The county as a whole would receive an influx of settlers from Pomerania which had been devastated during the latter stages of the war.
The county was briefly occupied by Svealand during the Great Baltic War (1761-1774), King Olaf IV coveting the ice-free port. Christofferkrone had been badly damaged during the war but soon rebounded as it became the headquarters of the newly unified Kalmar navy.
A small Diet with limited powers governs the county and is elected every five years.
