Skåne County (Skåne län), also known as Scania County in English, is the southernmost administrative county or län, of Sweden, basically corresponding to the traditional province Scania (which in Swedish is called Skåne). It borders the counties of Halland, Kronoberg and Blekinge. The seat of residence for the Skåne Governor is the town of Malmö. The headquarters of Region Skåne is the town of Kristianstad.
The present county was created in 1997 when Kristianstad County and Malmöhus County were merged, and it covers around 3% of Sweden's total area, but its population of 1,250,000 comprises 13% of Sweden's total population.
When the new county was established in 1997, it was decided to name it after the historical province Scania, or Skåne, as it is called in Swedish, so it was given the name Skåne län. The most common name used in English is Skåne County, even if the form Scania County is not uncommon. It can not be considered wrong to use either form in English.
The coat of arms for Skåne County is the same as for the province of Scania only with the tinctures reversed and the crown, beak and tongue of the Griffin in the same color. When the arms is shown with a royal crown it represents the County Administrative Board, which is the regional presence of (royal) government authority. Blazon: "Gules, a Griffin's head erased Or, crowned and armed the same".