Skåne question, Skåne also called Scania, in medieval and modern Baltic and Scandinavian history, international problem involving the control of the southern Scandinavian Peninsula province of Skåne, which affected the political and economic power relationships of the northern European maritime powers.

Although contiguous with the Swedish polity, Skåne belonged to Denmark when the Middle Ages began (c. 500). The Danes thus controlled the Baltic–North Sea passageway, and this accounted in large part for Denmark’s great power status. Skåne was coveted by other Baltic powers at least since the 14th century when the Danes lost complete control of it for brief periods. It became a serious “question” in the 17th century when the ascendant Swedish state wrested it from the Danes (1658).