Page "Uppsala University" Paragraph 76

Up until June 2010 students at Uppsala University were obliged to become members of one of the nations, corporations of students traditionally according to province of origin ( not strictly upheld now, for practical reasons ).

The system of dividing students into nations according to origin can ultimately be traced back to the nations at the medieval University of Paris and other early medieval universities, but the Uppsala nations appear only about 1630 – 1640, most likely under influence of the Landsmannschaften which existed at some of the German universities visited by Swedish students.

In Sweden, nations exist only in Uppsala and Lund.

The nations were originally seen as subversive organisations promoting less virtuous aspects of student life, but in 1663 the consistory made membership in a nation legal, each nation being placed under the inspectorship of a professor.