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.
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
Malmo
. These cities are all in the southern half of the country, where it is not as cold as in the north. Swedes drink filmjolk, it is a traditional fermented milk product from Sweden. It is made by fermenting cow's milk. Glogg, 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
,
Meankieli
, 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).
Sweden 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 was neutral, meaning it did not take sides. During
World War II
, it traded with both the
British
and the
Germans
in order to protect its neutrality.
Sweden has 25 historical provinces (
landskap
). They are found in three different regions:
Norrland
in the North,
Svealand
in the central region, and
Gotaland
in the South.
Sweden is divided into 21 counties. They are
Stockholm
,
Uppsala
,
Sodermanland
,
Ostergotland
,
Jonkoping
,
Kronoberg
,
Kalmar
,
Gotland
,
Blekinge
,
Skane
,
Halland
,
Vastra Gotaland
,
Varmland
,
Orebro
,
Vastmanland
,
Dalarna
,
Gavleborg
,
Vasternorrland
,
Jamtland
,
Vasterbotten
, and
Norrbotten
.
County governments largely regulate regional public transportation and healthcare.
Sweden 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.
Sweden 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]
In
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.
Sweden is a country with many talented athletes, such as soccer player
Zlatan Ibrahimovi?
. 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 Parson
. Other champions include biathlete
Magdalena Forsberg
and tennis players
Bjorn Borg
,
Mats Wilander
,
Stefan Edberg
, and
Jonas Bjorkman
. Swimmer
Sara Sjostrom
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
.
- Sweden - Sverige
-
Stockholm
-
Stockholm
-
Stockholm
-
Drottningholm
-
Kalmar
-
Lund
-
Malmo
-
Gamla Uppsala
- ↑
"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
.
- ↑
"Ar svenskan ocksa officiellt sprak 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
Media related to
Sweden
at Wikimedia Commons
Sweden
travel guide from Wikivoyage
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Transcontinental country
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