Västerås is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, 100 kilometres west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653.
Västerås is the seat of Västerås Municipality, the capital of Västmanland County and an episcopal see.
Clockwise from top left: Skrapan, Västerås City Hall, half-timbered buildings alongside Svartån river, Västerås Cathedral and Ottarkontoret
Västerås c. 1700, in Suecia antiqua et hodierna.
Gustav I of Sweden in Västerås, 1527. Watercolor reproduction from 1722.
Öster mälarstrand residential area in Västerås harbour.
Mälaren, historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden. Its area is 1,140 km2 and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west. The lake drains, from south-west to north-east, into the Baltic Sea through its natural outlets Norrström and Söderström and through the artificial Södertälje Canal and Hammarbyleden waterway. The easternmost bay of Mälaren, in central Stockholm, is called Riddarfjärden. The lake is located in Svealand and bounded by the provinces of Uppland, Södermanland and Västmanland. The two largest islands in Mälaren are Selaön (91 km2) and Svartsjölandet (79 km2). Mälaren is low-lying and mostly relatively shallow.
Lake Mälaren at dusk
The barrow of Björn Ironside (Björn Järnsidas hög) on the island of Munsö, in lake Mälaren, Sweden. The barrow is crowned by a stone containing the fragmented Uppland Runic Inscription 13.
