Sweden
Sweden (Swedish: Sverige) is a Nordic country in the part of Europe called Scandinavia. Its neighbors are Finland and Norway. Sweden is also connected to Denmark in the south by a bridge. It is a developed country. It is famous for its welfare state. People who live in Sweden are called Swedes.
Kingdom of Sweden Konungariket Sverige[a] | |
|---|---|
| Motto: (royal) "För Sverige – i tiden"[a] "For Sweden – With the Times"[1] | |
| Anthem: Du gamla, du fria[b] Thou ancient, thou free March: Yor de love | |
![Location of Sweden (dark green) – on the European continent (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) — [Legend]](/wiki/File:EU-Sweden.svg) Location of Sweden (dark green) – on the European continent (green & dark grey) | |
| Capital and largest city | Stockholm 59°21′N 18°4′E / 59.350°N 18.067°E |
| Official languages | Swedish |
| Official minority languages |
|
| Demonym(s) | |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
• Monarch | Carl XVI Gustaf |
| Andreas Norlén | |
| Ulf Kristersson | |
| Legislature | Riksdag |
| History | |
• A unified Swedish kingdom established | By the early 12th century |
• Part of Kalmar Union | 1397–1523 |
• Part of Swedish-Norwegian Union | 4 November 1814 – August 1905[2] |
• Joined the European Union | 1 January 1995 |
• Joined NATO | 7 March 2024 |
| Area | |
• Total | 450,295 km2 (173,860 sq mi) (55th) |
• Water (%) | 8.37 (as of 2015)[3] |
| Population | |
• February 2021 estimate |  10,402,070[4] (88th) |
• Density | 25/km2 (64.7/sq mi) (198th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2020 estimate |
• Total |  $563.882 billion[5] (39th) |
• Per capita | $52,477[5] (16th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2020 estimate |
• Total |  $528.929 billion[5] (23rd) |
• Per capita | $50,339[5] (12th) |
| Gini (2020) |  26.9[6]low |
| HDI (2019) | 0.945[7] very high |
| Currency | Swedish krona (SEK) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Date format | yyyy-mm-dd |
| Driving side | right[e] |
| Calling code | +46 |
| ISO 3166 code | SE |
| Internet TLD | .se[f] |
| |
The population of Sweden is about 10 million people.[11] Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also Sweden's largest city, with almost one million people. Other large cities are Gothenburg and Malmö. These cities are all in the southern half of the country, where it is not as cold as in the north. Swedes drink filmjölk, it is a traditional fermented milk product from Sweden. It is made by fermenting cow's milk. Glögg, is spiced mulled wine which people drink around Christmas. It normally contains red wine, sugar, orange peel, and spices. Swedes eat yellow pea soup with pork (or pork sausages) along with mustard.
Sweden is a constitutional monarchy because it has a king, Carl XVI Gustaf, but he does not have any real power. Sweden is a parliamentary state meaning that the government is elected by the parliament which is appointed by the people. The country is democratically ruled by a government headed by an elected prime minister. Ulf Kristersson was elected Prime Minister in September 2022. He took office in October 2022.
Sweden has an official majority language, Swedish (the Swedish word for the language is svenska). Sweden has five official minority languages: Finnish, Yiddish, Sami, Meänkieli, and Romani.
Sweden became a member of the European Union (EU) on 1 January 1995. Unlike most countries in the European Union, Sweden is not a member of the Eurozone and has not begun to use the euro as currency. This is because the people have voted against using the euro. The currency remains the Swedish krona (Swedish crown).
History
changeSweden has been a kingdom for a thousand years. In the Middle Ages, Sweden had the same king as Denmark and Norway. In the early 16th century Sweden got its own king, Gustav Vasa. During the 17th century Sweden was a great power. Sweden had taken Estonia, Latvia, and Finland and parts of Norway, Germany, and Russia. In the 18th century Sweden became weaker and lost these places. In the early 19th century, Sweden's king died without an heir and the Swedish parliament voted for Jean Baptiste Bernadotte as the new king. Bernadotte fought Denmark and made them allow Norway to enter a personal union with Sweden.
This was Sweden's last war, and Sweden has not been at war for 200 years. In 1905, the Swedish-Norwegian personal union was dissolved. In many wars, including World War I and the Cold War, the country did not take sides. During World War II, it traded with both the British and the Germans in order to protect its neutrality.
Region
changeSweden has 25 historical provinces (landskap). They are found in three different regions: Norrland in the North, Svealand in the central region, and Götaland in the South.
Counties
changeSweden is divided into 21 counties. They are Stockholm, Uppsala, Södermanland, Östergötland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Kalmar, Gotland, Blekinge, Skåne, Halland, Västra Götaland, Värmland, Örebro, Västmanland, Dalarna, Gävleborg, Västernorrland, Jämtland, Västerbotten, and Norrbotten.
County governments largely regulate regional public transportation and healthcare.
Municipalities
changeSweden is further divided into 290 municipalities. The municipalities are responsible for many social issues, like schools, daycare centers, the care for older and disabled people and fire departments.
Religion
changeSweden has been Christian for a thousand years. Sweden is traditionally a Protestant country, but it is now one of the least religious countries in the world. Statistical surveys say 46-85% of all people in Sweden are agnostics or atheists. This means that they doubt or they do not believe in the existence of a god.[12] About 6.4 million people in Sweden, which is 67% of all the people, are members of the Church of Sweden, but only 2% of members go to church often.[13]
Music
changeIn popular music, ABBA, Roxette, The Cardigans, Europe, Entombed, At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Hypocrisy, Grave, Dissection, Avicii, Tove Lo, Laleh, Watain, and Ace of Base have had several hits throughout the years.
Sports
changeSweden is a country with many talented athletes, such as soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimović. Sweden (men and women's teams combined) has five bronze medals and two silver medals from the World Cup in football (soccer). The soccer league in Sweden is called Allsvenskan (men's) and Damallsvenskan (women's). Sweden has also performed well in ice hockey. The men's ice hockey top division in Sweden is called SHL and the women's SDHL. Sweden has also had several successful table tennis players, including Stellan Bengtsson and Jan-Ove Waldner, as well as alpine skiers including Ingemar Stenmark, Pernilla Wiberg, and Anja Pärson. Other champions include biathlete Magdalena Forsberg and tennis players Björn Borg, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, and Jonas Björkman. Swimmer Sara Sjöström has several gold, silver and bronze medals from the Olympic Games and holds several world records.
Sweden also succeeds in cross-country skiing, having won several medals in the Olympic Games.
Gallery
change- Sweden - Sverige
-
Stockholm -
Stockholm -
Stockholm -
Drottningholm -
Kalmar -
Lund -
Malmö -
Gamla Uppsala
References
change- ↑ "Mottoes of The Kings and Queens of Sweden". www.kungahuset.se. Royal Court of Sweden. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ↑ Norborg, Lars-Arne. "svensk–norska unionen". ne.se (in Swedish). Nationalencyklopedin. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ↑ "Surface water and surface water change". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ↑ [1] Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- ↑ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
- ↑ Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 15 December 2020. pp. 343–346. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ↑ "Är svenskan också officiellt språk i Sverige?" [Is Swedish also an official language in Sweden?] (in Swedish). Swedish Language Council. 1 February 2008. Archived from the original on 6 February 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
- ↑ "Summary of Population Statistics 1960–2012". Statistics Sweden. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ↑ Note that Swedish-speaking Finns or other Swedish-speakers born outside Sweden might identify as Swedish despite being born abroad. Moreover, people born in Sweden may not be ethnic Swedes. As the Swedish government does not base any statistics on ethnicity, there are no exact numbers on the ethnic background of migrants and their descendants in Sweden. This is not, however, to be confused with migrants' national backgrounds, which are recorded.
- ↑ "Sweden website". Statistics Sweden website. 31 May 2013. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ↑ Zuckerman, Phil (2007), Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns PDF i Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-60367-6
- ↑ ""Liturgy and Worship"". Archived from the original on 2000-09-25., Church of Sweden
- ↑ In recognized minority languages of Sweden:
- Finnish: Ruotsin kuningaskunta
- Meänkieli: Ruotsiin kuningaskunta
- Northern Sami: Ruoŧŧa gonagasriika
- Romani: Thagaripen e Suediyako
- Yiddish: קעניגרייך פון שוועדן, romanized: Kenigreykh fun Shvedn
Other websites
change
Media related to Sweden at Wikimedia Commons
Sweden travel guide from Wikivoyage