Greetings Members, hope things are warm enough for you? What a season. This weeks Sunday Showcase features a musician, a poet, a spiritual man and a friend to all. Mattias Kroon, he hails from Jonkoping,Smaland, Swedan.
Jönköping is an old trading center (Köping), since it was located on a crossroad for the roads following along the rivers Nissan and Lagan, and the road between the provinces Östergötland and Västergötland. This was rather natural due to the geographical position of the city at the southern end of lake Vättern, which divided the two counties. On May 18, 1284, Jönköping received rights as a City in Sweden as one of the first communities in the country, by King Magnus Ladulås, who at that time largely ruled the nation from Vättern's largest island Visingsö. In the name of the city "Jön-" is derived from a creek, "Junebäcken", which was situated in the nowadays western part of the city, Talavid. This was the location of the first known settlement in the area. The second part of the name "-köping", as mentioned above, is an old word for a trading center or market place. 
However, the geographical position of the city also left it vulnerable to foreign attacks, mainly from the Danes, coming from the south with the river roads; at that time, the provinces of what is today southern Sweden — Scania, Halland and Blekinge — belonged to Denmark. Consequently, the city was plundered and burned several times, until a fortification was built in the 16th and 17th century.
Jönköping is known for its matchstick industry 1845-1970. Still today it is an important Swedish logistical center, with many companies' central warehouses situated there (like IKEA, Electrolux and Husqvarna).
The urban area of Jönköping today includes the eastern industrial town of Huskvarna, with which it has grown together.
A major fair and exhibition center, Elmia is also located in Jönköping, with fairs including Elmia Wood, the world’s largest forestry fair. Elmia’s fairs are also the biggest of their kind in Europe for subcontractors, trucks, caravans and railways. Since 2002, Elmia has also been the site of the world's largest LAN party, DreamHack.
The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. The province is divided into the three administrative counties: Jönköping County, Kalmar County and Kronoberg County, which roughly cover the entire Småland province. Smaller areas of Småland are situated in the counties of Halland County and Östergötland County.
The current coat of arms was granted in 1569 and pictures a rampant red lion on a golden shield carrying a crossbow. The arms is represented with a dukal coronet. Blazon: "Or a lion rampant Gules langued and armed Azure holding in front paws a Crossbow of the second bowed and stringed Sable with a bolt Argent."The population of Småland was 716,106, as of December 31 2007, distributed over five counties.
The geography is dominated by a forested high plain where the soil is mixed with sand and small boulders, making it barren in all except the coastal areas, and unsuited for agriculture except in certain locations, notably the Kalmar Plains. The province is rich in lakes and bogs. The coast consists of an archipelago of islands and bays in the north and cultivated flatlands in the south. In total, cultivated land covers 14%, meadows 7% and forest 50%.
Largest towns are Jönköping in the north-west, Växjö in the south, and Kalmar on the east coast near Öland Island.
The area was probably populated in the Stone Age from the south, by people moving along the coast up to Kalmar. Smaland was populated by Stone Age peoples by at least 6000 BC, since the Alby People are known to have crossed the ice bridge across the Kalmar Strait at that time.
The name Småland ("small lands") comes from the fact that it was a combination of several independent lands, Ydre, Kinda, Tveta, Vista, Vedbo, Tjust, Sevede, Aspeland, Handbörd, Möre, Värend, Finnveden and Njudung. Every small land had its own law in the Viking age and early middle age and could declare themselves neutral in wars Sweden was involved in, at least if the King had no army present at the parliamentary debate. Around 1350, under the king Magnus Eriksson a national law was introduced in Sweden, and the historic provinces lost a lot of their old independence.
The city of Kalmar is one of the oldest cities of Sweden, and was in the medieval age the southernmost and the third largest city in Sweden, when it was a center for export of iron, which, in many cases, was handled by German merchants.
Småland was the center of several peasant rebellions, the most successful of which was Dackefejden led by Nils Dacke in 1542–1543. When officials of king Gustav Vasa were assaulted and murdered, the king sent small expeditions to pacify the area, but all failed. Dacke was in reality the ruler of large parts of Småland during the winter, though heavily troubled by a blockade of supplies, before finally being defeated by larger forces attacking from both Västergötland and Östergötland. Dacke held a famous battle defence at the (now ruined) Kronoberg Castle, and was shot while trying to escape to then Danish-ruled Blekinge.
In the 19th century, Småland was characterized by poverty, and had a substantial emigration to North America, which additionally hampered its development. The majority of emigrants ended up in Minnesota, with a geography resembling Sweden, combining arable land with forest and lakes.
Ikea was also founded in the Småland city of Älmhult.
In comparison with much of Sweden, Småland has a higher level of religious intensity and church participation.
In terms of Lutheran ecclesiastical boundaries, most of the province encompasses the diocese of Växjö. Parts of northern Småland are in the diocese of Linköping.
Småland is also known for its free churches.
Politically Småland is the strongest province for Kristdemokraterna (the Swedish Christian Democratic Party), and both the current leader Göran Hägglund and his predecessor Alf Svensson live in Jönköping Municipality in northern Småland.
The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, sw. Carl von Linné, (1707-1778), often called the father of taxonomy or "The flower-king", was born in Älmhult in Småland. He gave the Twinflower its Latin name based on his own (Latin: Linnea borealis), because of his particular fondness of it. The flower has become Småland's provincial flower.
Another notable person from Älmhult is Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of the global concern IKEA. The name "Småland" is used as the name of the children's play areas at some IKEA stores.
The Swedish emigration to North America in the 19th century is best depicted in the suite of novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg, which is also the basis for the musical "Kristina from Duvemåla" by ex-ABBA musicians/composers Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.
Children's book author Astrid Lindgren often portrayed scenes from her own childhood growing up on a farm in Småland, in her writing.
In the 20th century, Småland has been known for its high level of entrepreneurship and low unemployment, especially in the Gnosjöregion. Some suggest the harsh conditions has throughout history forced the inhabitants of the region to be cunning, inventive and cooperative.
This is how the Swedish encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok described the people:
- the Smalandian is by nature awake and smart, diligent and hard-working, yet compliant, cunning and crafty, which gives him the advantage of being able to move through life with little means.
A running joke, or stereotype, in Sweden, is that of the Smalandian being very economical, or even cheap. Ingvar Kamprad said that the Smalandian are seen as the Scotsmen of Sweden.
The local tongue is a Swedish language dialect known as Småländska (Smalandian). This may in turn be separated in two main branches, with the northern related to the Götaland dialects and the southern to the Scanian dialects. Thank you MATTIAS WE LOVE YOU! 
I´m a businessman from Sweden.I´m also a musician and a poet.I have a regular job, but parttime I am marketing different programs.I like to make good friends.A good movie isn´t wrong and filmmusic is my favorite music. http://community.adlandpro.com/go/poetrymusic/default.aspx View 10DollarsWonder's web site