Everything about Sweden totally explained
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"Sverige" redirects here. For other uses, see Sweden (disambiguation) and Sverige (disambiguation).
Sweden, officially the
Kingdom of Sweden (
Swedish: [ˈko:.nɵ.ŋa.ˌri:.kətˈsvær:.jə]), is a
Nordic country on the
Scandinavian Peninsula in
Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with
Norway and
Finland, and is connected to
Denmark by the
Oresund Bridge. It has been a member of the
European Union since
January 1,
1995. Its
capital city is
Stockholm.
At, Sweden is the third largest country by area in
Western Europe and fifth in all of Europe. With a total population slighly over 9 million, Sweden has a low
population density of 20 people per km² (52 per sq. mi). About 84% of the population live in urban areas. The inhabitants of Sweden enjoy a high standard of living, and the country is generally perceived as modern and
liberal, with an organisational and corporate culture that's non-hierarchical and
collectivist compared to its
Anglo-Saxon counterparts.
Nature conservation,
environmental protection and
energy efficiency are generally prioritized in policy making and embraced by the general public in Sweden.
Sweden has long been a major exporter of
iron,
copper and
timber.
Improved transportation and
communication has allowed for the large scale utilization of remote natural assets, most notably
timber and
iron ore. In the 1890s, universal schooling and
industrialization enabled the country to develop a successful manufacturing industry and by the twentieth century, Sweden emerged as a
welfare state, consistently achieving high positions among the top-ranking countries in the
UN Human Development Index (HDI). Sweden has a rich supply of water power, but lacks significant oil and coal deposits.
Modern Sweden emerged out of the
Kalmar Union formed in 1397, and by the unification of the country by King
Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. In the 17th century the country expanded its territories to form the
Swedish empire. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula, were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden constituted by the eastern half of
Norrland and
Österland was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced
Norway into a
personal union with Sweden, a union which lasted until 1905. Since 1814, Sweden has been at peace, adopting a
non-aligned foreign policy in peacetime and
neutrality in wartime.
Etymology
The modern name
Sweden is derived through "back-formation" from Old English
Sweoðeod, which meant "people of the Swedes" (Old Norse
Svíþjóð, Latin
Suetidi). This word is derived from
Sweon/Sweonas (Old Norse
Sviar, Latin S
uiones). The Swedish name
Sverige literally means "Realm of the
Swedes", excluding the
Geats in
Götaland.
The etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but suggestively deriving from
Proto-Germanic *
Swihoniz meaning "one's own", referring to one's own Germanic tribe.
History
Prehistory
Sweden's prehistory begins in the
Allerød warm period c. 12,000
BCE with Late Palaeolithic reindeer-hunting camps of the
Bromme culture at the edge of the ice in what is now the country's southernmost province. This period was characterised by small bands of hunter-gatherer-fishers using flint technology.
Farming and animal husbandry, along with monumental burial, polished flint axes and decorated pottery, arrived from the Continent with the
Funnel-beaker Culture in c. 4,000 BCE. Sweden's southern third was part of the stock-keeping and agricultural
Nordic Bronze Age Culture's area, most of it being peripheral to the culture's Danish centre. The period began in c. 1700 with the start of
bronze imports from Europe. Copper mining was never tried locally during this period, and Scandinavia has no tin deposits, so all metal had to be imported though it was largely cast into local designs on arrival.
The Nordic Bronze Age was entirely pre-urban, with people living in hamlets and on farmsteads with single-story wooden long-houses.
In the absence of any
Roman occupation, Sweden's Iron Age is reckoned up to the introduction of stone architecture and monastic orders about 1100
CE. Much of the period is
proto-historical, that is, there are written sources but most hold a very low source-critical quality. The scraps of written matter are either much later than the period in question, written in areas far away, or local and coeval but extremely brief.
The climate took a turn for the worse, forcing farmers to keep cattle indoors over the winters, leading to an annual build-up of manure that could now for the first time be used systematically for soil improvement.
A Roman attempt to move the Imperial border forward from the Rhine to the Elbe was aborted in AD 9 when Germans under Roman-trained leadership defeated the legions of Varus by ambush in the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. About this time, a major shift in the material culture of Scandinavia occurred, reflecting increased contact with the Romans.
Starting in the 2nd century CE, much of southern Sweden's agricultural land was parcelled up with low stone walls. They divided the land into permanent infields and meadows for winter fodder on one side of the wall, and wooded outland where the cattle was grazed on the other side. This principle of landscape organisation survived into the 19th century. The Roman Period also saw the first large-scale expansion of agricultural settlement up the Baltic coast of the country's northern two thirds.
Sweden enters proto-history with the
Germania of
Tacitus in 98 CE. Whether any of the brief information he reports about this distant barbaric area was well-founded is uncertain, but he does mention tribal names that correspond to the Swedes (
Suiones) and the
Sami (
Fenni) of later centuries. As for literacy in Sweden itself, the
runic script was invented among the south Scandinavian elite in the 2nd century, but all that has come down to the present from the Roman Period is curt inscriptions on artefacts, mainly of male names, demonstrating that the people of south Scandinavia spoke
Proto-Norse at the time, a language ancestral to Swedish and other
North Germanic languages.
Viking and Middle ages
The Swedish
Viking Age lasted roughly between the eighth and eleventh centuries CE. During this period, it's believed that the
Swedes expanded from eastern Sweden and incorporated the
Geats to the south. While Vikings from what is today Norway, Denmark and the west coast and south of Sweden travelled south and west,
Swedish vikings and
Gutar travelled east and south, going to
Finland, the Baltic countries,
Russia, the Mediterranean and further as far as
Baghdad. Their routes passed the
rivers of Russia down south to
Constantinople (
Byzantine Empire) (present-day
Istanbul,
Turkey) on which they did numerous raids. The Byzantine Emperor
Theophilos noticed their great skills in war, and invited them to serve as his personal bodyguard, these were called the
varangian guard. The Swedish vikings are believed to have taken great part in the creation of Russia. The adventures of these Swedish Vikings are commemorated on many
rune stones in Sweden, such as the
Greece Runestones and the
Varangian Runestones. There was also considerable participation in expeditions westwards, which are commorated on stones such as the
England Runestones. The last major Swedish Viking expedition appears to have been the ill-fated expedition of
Ingvar the Far-Travelled to
Serkland, the region south-east of the
Caspian Sea. Its members are commemorated on the
Ingvar Runestones, none of which mentions any survivor.
It isn't known when and how the kingdom of Sweden was born, but the
list of Swedish monarchs is drawn from the first kings who ruled
Svealand (Sweden) and
Götaland (Gothia) as one with
Erik the Victorious. Sweden and Gothia were two separate nations long before that. It isn't known how long they existed,
Beowulf described semi-legendary
Swedish-Geatish wars in the
sixth century CE.
During the early stages of the Scandinavian
Viking Age,
Ystad in
Scania and
Paviken on
Gotland, in present-day Sweden, were flourishing trade centers. Remains of what is believed to have been a large market have been found in Ystad dating from 600–700 CE.
St. Ansgar introduced Christianity around 829, but the new religion didn't begin to fully replace
paganism until the twelfth century and onward. During the 11th century, Christianity became the most prevalent religion, and from the year 1050 Sweden is counted as a Christian nation. The period between 1100 and 1400 was characterized by internal power struggles and competition among the Nordic kingdoms, including struggles for territory and comparative power. Swedish kings also began to expand the Swedish-controlled territory in
Finland, creating conflicts with the
Rus.
In the 14th century, Sweden was struck by the
Black Death (the Plague). During this period the Swedish cities also began to acquire greater rights and were strongly influenced by German merchants of the
Hanseatic League, active especially at
Visby. In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united under King
Magnus Eriksson and in 1397 Queen
Margaret I of Denmark effected the personal union of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark through the
Kalmar Union. However, Margaret’s successors, whose rule was also centred in Denmark, were unable to control the Swedish nobility. Real power was held for long periods by regents (notably those of the
Sture family) chosen by the Swedish parliament. King
Christian II of Denmark, who asserted his claim to Sweden by force of arms, ordered a massacre in 1520 of Swedish nobles at Stockholm. This came to be known as the “
Stockholm blood bath” and stirred the Swedish nobility to new resistance and, on
6 June (now Sweden's national holiday) in 1523, they made
Gustav Vasa their king. This is sometimes considered as the
foundation of modern Sweden. Shortly afterwards he rejected
Catholicism and led Sweden into the
Protestant Reformation. Gustav Vasa is considered to be Sweden's "
Father of the Nation".
Swedish Empire
the rise of Sweden as one of the
Great Powers in Europe. Sweden also had colonial possessions as a minor
colonial Empire that existed from 1638—1663 and later 1785—1878.
Sweden was during Imperial times the most powerful country of northern Europe and the
Baltic Sea. Sweden's Imperial status took its start with
Gustav II Adolph as king, and his successful participation in the
Thirty Years' War, which made Sweden the recognized leader of continental Protestantism in Europe until 1721, when the Empire collapsed.
Sweden's Imperial status during this period is largely credited to
Gustav I's major changes on the Swedish economy in the mid-1500s, and his introduction of
Protestantism (Lutheran).
The mid 1600s and the early 1700s were Sweden's most successful years as a great power. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent as an empire during the rule of
Charles X (1622–1660) after the
treaty of Roskilde in 1658. However, Sweden's largest territorial extent lasted from 1319 to 1343 with
Magnus Eriksson ruling all of the
traditional lands of Sweden and Norway. After more than a half century of almost constant warfare the Swedish economy had deteriorated. It would become the lifetime task of Charles' son,
Charles XI (1655-1697), to rebuild the economy and refit the army. His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden
Charles XII, was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet. Sweden's largest threat at this time, Russia, had a larger army but was far behind in both equipment and training. The Swedish army crushed the Russians at the
Battle of Narva in 1700, one of the first battles of the
Great Northern War. This led to an overambitious
campaign against Russia in 1707, however, ending in a decisive Russian victory at the
Battle of Poltava in 1709. The campaign had a successful opening for Sweden, which came to occupy
Poland and change their rule into a more Swedish friendly king. But after a long march exposed by
cossack raids, the Russian Tsar
Peter the Great's scorched-earth techniques and the
cold Russian climate, the Swedes stood weakened with a shattered confidence, and enormously outnumbered against the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant the beginning of the end for Sweden as Empire.
After building up a new army Charles XII attempted to invade Norway 1716, however he was shot at
Fredriksten fortress in 1718. The Swedish military wasn't defeated at Fredriksten. However, when Karl died the whole structure and organisation of the Norwegian campaign fell apart and the army withdrew back home. However this led to defeat, the Swedish head of state signed the
Treaty of Nystad in 1721. Forced to cede large areas of land, Sweden also lost its place as an empire and as the dominant state on the Baltic Sea. With Sweden's lost influence, Russia began to emerge as an
empire, and become one of Europe's dominant nations.
In the 18th century, Sweden didn't have enough resources to maintain its territories outside Scandinavia and most of them were lost, culminating with the 1809 loss of the eastern part to Russia: forming the semi-autonomous (
Duchy) of Finland of
Imperial Russia.
After Denmark-Norway was defeated in the
Napoleonic Wars, Norway was ceded to the king of Sweden on
14 January 1814, at the
Treaty of Kiel. The Norwegian attempts to keep their status as a sovereign state were rejected by the Swedish king,
Charles XIII. He launched a military campaign against Norway on
July 27,
1814, ending in the
Convention of Moss, which forced Norway into a
personal union with Sweden, which wasn't dissolved until 1905. The 1814 campaign was also the last war in which Sweden participated as a combatant.
Modern history
The 18th and 19th centuries saw a significant population increase, which the writer
Esaias Tegnér in 1833 famously attributed to
"the peace, the (smallpox) vaccine, and the potatoes". Between 1750 and 1850, the population in Sweden doubled. According to some scholars, mass emigration to America became the only way to prevent famine and rebellion; over 1 percent of the population emigrated annually during the 1880s.
Nevertheless, Sweden remained poor, retaining a nearly entirely agricultural economy even as Denmark and Western European countries began to industrialize.
In the early 20th century, more Swedes lived in
Chicago than in
Gothenburg (Sweden's second largest city). Most Swedish immigrants moved to the
Midwestern United States, with a large population in
Minnesota. Some Swedes moved to
Delaware. Some also moved to
Canada and others in smaller numbers to
Argentina.
Despite the slow rate of industrialization into the 19th century, many important changes were taking place in the agrarian economy due to innovations and the large population growth. These innovations included government-sponsored programs of
enclosure, aggressive exploitation of agricultural lands, and the introduction of new crops such as the potato. the Swedish farming culture began to take on a critical role in the Swedish political process, which has continued through modern times with modern Agrarian party (now called the Centre Party). Between 1870 and 1914, Sweden began developing the industrialized economy that exists today.
Strong grassroots movements sprung up in Sweden during the latter half of the nineteenth century (trade unions, temperance groups, and independent religious groups), creating a strong foundation of democratic principles. These movements precipitated Sweden's migration into a modern parliamentary democracy, achieved by the time of
World War I. As the
Industrial Revolution progressed during the twentieth century, people gradually began moving into
cities to work in factories, and became involved in
socialist unions. A socialist revolution was avoided in 1917, following the re-introduction of
parliamentarism, and the country was
democratized.
World Wars
.
Sweden remained officially
neutral during
World War I and
World War II, although its neutrality during World War II has been vigorously debated. Sweden was under German influence for most of the war, as ties to the rest of the world were cut off through blockades. Swedish volunteers in Nazi SS units were among the first to invade the
Soviet Union in
Operation Barbarossa. Sweden also supplied steel and machined parts to Germany throughout the war. Toward the end of the war however, when the defeat of Germany seemed imminent, Sweden began to play a role in humanitarian efforts and many refugees, among them many Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe, were saved partly because of the Swedish involvement in rescue missions at the internment camps and partly because Sweden served as a haven for refugees, primarily from
Norden and the
Baltic states.
Cold War
Following the war, Sweden took advantage of an intact industrial base, social stability and its natural resources to expand its industry to supply the rebuilding of Europe. By the 1960s, Sweden, like the other Nordic countries, had become an affluent consumer society and welfare state. In the 1980s pillars of Swedish industry were massively restructured. Shipbuilding was discontinued, wood pulp was integrated into modernized paper production, the steel industry was concentrated and specialized, and mechanical engineering was
roboticized.
Prime Minister
Olof Palme was murdered in 1986.
Between 1970 and 1990 Sweden increased overall tax burden by over ten percentage points and the growth was very low compared to most other countries in Western Europe. Sweden steadily lost its position in rankings such as GDP per capita.
Recent history
A bursting
real estate bubble caused by inadequate controls on lending combined with an
international recession and a policy switch from anti-unemployment policies to anti-inflationary policies resulted in a fiscal crisis in the early 1990s. Sweden's GDP declined by around 5%. In 1992 there was a run on the currency, the central bank briefly jacking up interest to 500% in an unsuccessful effort to defend the currency's fixed exchange rate. Total employment fell by almost 10% during the crisis.
The response of the government was to cut spending and institute a multitude of reforms to improve Sweden's competitiveness, among them reducing the
welfare state and
privatizing public services and goods. Much of the political establishment promoted EU membership, and the Swedish referendum passed by 52-48% in favour of joining the EU on
14 August 1994. Sweden joined the EU on
1 January 1995.
Sweden joined the
European Union in 1995, after the collapse of the
Soviet Union. During the
Cold War, Europe's non-aligned Western countries, except Ireland, had considered membership unwise, as the EU predecessor, the
European Community, had been strongly associated with NATO countries. Following the end of the Cold War, however, Sweden,
Austria and
Finland joined, though in Sweden's case without adopting the
Euro. Sweden remains non-aligned militarily, although it participates in some joint military exercises with
NATO and some other countries, in addition to extensive cooperation with other European countries in the area of defence technology and defence industry. Among others, Swedish companies export weapons that are used by the American military in Iraq. Sweden also has a long history of participating in international military operations, including most recently,
Afghanistan, where Swedish troops are under NATO command, and in EU sponsored peacekeeping operations in
Kosovo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
Cyprus.
Foreign minister
Anna Lindh was murdered in 2003.
Geography and climate
Situated in
Northern Europe, Sweden lies west of the
Baltic Sea and
Gulf of Bothnia, providing a long coastline, and forms the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. To the west is the
Scandinavian mountain chain (Skanderna), a range that separates Sweden from
Norway.
Sweden is surrounded by
Norway (west),
Finland (northeast), the
Skagerrak,
Kattegat and
Öresund straits (southwest) and the
Baltic Sea (east). It has maritime borders with
Denmark,
Germany,
Poland,
Russia,
Lithuania,
Latvia, and
Estonia, and it's also linked to
Denmark (southwest) by the
Öresund Bridge.
At, Sweden is the 55th largest country in the world. It is the 5th largest in Europe, and the largest in Northern Europe. The country is slightly larger than the
U.S. state of
California, with a population in 2006 of 9.1 million people.
The lowest elevation in Sweden is in the bay of
Lake Hammarsjön, near
Kristianstad at below sea level. The highest point is
Kebnekaise at above sea level.
Sweden has 25
provinces or
landskap (
landscapes), based on
culture, geography and
history;
Bohuslän,
Blekinge,
Dalarna,
Dalsland,
Gotland,
Gästrikland,
Halland,
Hälsingland,
Härjedalen,
Jämtland,
Lapland,
Medelpad,
Norrbotten,
Närke,
Skåne,
Småland,
Södermanland,
Uppland,
Värmland,
Västmanland,
Västerbotten,
Västergötland,
Ångermanland,
Öland and
Östergötland. While these provinces serve no political or administrative purpose, they're common in everyday language. The provinces are usually grouped together in three large
lands, parts,
Norrland,
Svealand and
Götaland.
About 15% of Sweden lies north of the
Arctic Circle. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, with increasing forest coverage northward. The highest population density is in the
Öresund region in southern Sweden, and in the valley of lake
Mälaren in central Sweden.
Gotland and
Öland are Sweden's largest
islands;
Vänern and
Vättern are Sweden's largest lakes.
Sweden has a
temperate climate despite its northern
latitude, mainly because of the
Gulf Stream. In the mountains of northern Sweden a
sub-Arctic climate predominates. North of the
Arctic Circle, the sun never sets for part of each summer, and in the winter, night is similarly unending.
Common temperatures in the seasons (°C):
- Winter: -1° in the most southern parts, -5 to -15° in south and middle, and down to -20° in the north (locally down to -40°).
- Spring: about 10 to 15°C in the south and middle and a bit colder in the north.
- Summer: 20° to 35° in south, 18° to 33° in middle and around 15° in the north.
- Autumn: a bit under 10° in the south and middle and often under 5° in the north.
Average precipitation is between 500 and 800 mm/year. In some parts though the average is between 1000 and 1700 mm/year.
Politics
Sweden is a
constitutional monarchy, in which
King Carl XVI Gustaf is head of state, but royal power has long been limited to official and ceremonial functions. The
Economist Intelligence Unit, while admitting that democracy is difficult to measure, lists Sweden in first place in its index of democracy assessing 167 countries. The nation's modern legislative body is the
Riksdag (Swedish Parliament), with 349 members, which chooses the
Prime Minister. Parliamentary elections are held every four years, on the third Sunday of September.
Counties
Sweden is a
unitary state, currently divided into
twenty-one counties . Each county has a
County Administrative Board or
länsstyrelse, which is appointed by the
government (the first Swedish County Administrative Board was made up by the Swedish Prime Minister
Axel Oxenstierna in 1634). In each county there's also a separate
County Council or
landsting, which is elected directly by the people. Each county further divides into a number of
municipalities or
kommuner, with a total of 290 municipalities in 2004. There are also older historical divisions, primarily the
twenty-five provinces and
three lands, which still retain cultural significance. The Swedish government is investigating the possibilities of merging the current 21 counties into circa 9 larger
regions along the lines of the current
riksområden used for statistical purposes. If approved, these would come into effect around 2015.
Political history
The actual age of the kingdom of Sweden is unknown. It depends mostly on whether Sweden should be considered a nation when the
Svear (Swedes) ruled
Svealand or if the emergence of the nation started with the
Svear and the
Götar (
Geats) of
Götaland being united under one ruler. In the first case, Sweden was first mentioned to have one single ruler in the year 98 by
Tacitus, but it's almost impossible to know for how long it had been this way. However, historians usually start the line of
Swedish monarchs from when Svealand and Götaland were ruled under the same king, namely
Erik the Victorious and his son
Olof Skötkonung in the 10th century. These events are often described as the
consolidation of Sweden, although substantial areas were conquered and incorporated later.
Earlier kings, for which no reliable historical sources exist can be read about in
mythical kings of Sweden and
semi-legendary kings of Sweden, many of these kings are only mentioned in various
saga and blend with
Norse mythology.
The title
Sveriges och Götes Konung was last used for
Gustaf I of Sweden, after which the title became "
King of Sweden,
of the Goths and
of the Wends" (
Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung) in official documentation. Up until the beginning of the 1920s, all laws in Sweden were introduced with the words, "We, the king of Sweden, of the Goths and Wends". This title was used up until 1973. The present King of Sweden,
Carl XVI Gustaf was the first monarch officially proclaimed "King of Sweden" (
Sveriges Konung) with no additional peoples mentioned in his title.
The term
Riksdag was used for the first time in the 1540s, although the first meeting where representatives of different social groups were called to discuss and determine affairs affecting the country as a whole took place as early as 1435, in the town of
Arboga. During the assemblies of 1527 and 1544, under King
Gustav Vasa, representatives of all four
estates of the realm (
clergy, nobility, townsmen and
peasants) were called on to participate for the first time.
Election turnout in Sweden has always been high in international comparisons, although it has declined in recent decades, and is currently around 80% (80.11 in
general election of 2002, 81.99 in
general election of 2006). Swedish politicians enjoyed a high degree of confidence from the citizens in the 1960s but it has since declined steadily and has a markedly lower level of trust than its Scandinavian neighbours.
Some Swedish political figures that have become known worldwide include
Raoul Wallenberg,
Folke Bernadotte, former
Secretary General of the
United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld, former Prime Minister
Olof Palme, former Prime Minister and
Foreign minister Carl Bildt, former President of the
General Assembly of the United Nations Jan Eliasson, and former
International Atomic Energy Agency Iraq inspector
Hans Blix.
Sweden can be considered to be a present day example of a
Social Democracy, a moderate form of socialism that seeks to reform capitalism through greater government regulation and to implement a
mixed economy.
Popular movements and equality politics
Sweden has a history of strong political involvement by ordinary people through its "popular movements" (
Folkrörelser), the most notable being
trade unions, the independent Christian movement, the
temperance movement, the
women's movement and—more recently—the sports movement.
Sweden is currently leading the EU in statistics measuring
equality in the political system and equality in the
education system.
Gudrun Schyman founded the first Swedish feminist party, the
Feminist Initiative party, commonly referred to simply as
F!, in 2005.
Ms. magazine quoted Schyman's view of Sweden's reputation for
progressive initiatives: "In Sweden there’s a gap between words and reality.... Internationally a lot of people look upon Sweden as equality paradise, but that isn't the truth – and now things are actually going backwards." In fact the pay gap between men and women in Sweden is 16%, higher than the EU average of 15%. Sweden compares unfavourably with the EU average when it comes to providing full-time jobs for women, with a high fraction of employed women working part-time.
Foreign policy
Throughout the twentieth century,
Swedish foreign policy was based on the principle of
non-alignment in peacetime and
neutrality in wartime. At the same time, the country maintained relatively close informal connections with the Western bloc, especially in the realm of intelligence exchange. In 1952, a Swedish
DC-3 was
shot down over the Baltic Sea by a Soviet
MiG-15 jet fighter. Later investigations revealed that the plane was actually gathering information for
NATO. Another plane, a
Catalina search and rescue plane, was sent out a few days later and shot down by the Soviets as well. Olof Palme the former prime minister of Sweden visited
Cuba during the 1970s and showed his support for Cuba in his speech which was in Spanish.
Beginning in the late 1960s, Sweden for a period attempted to play a more significant and independent role in international relations. This involved significant activity in international peace efforts, especially through the
United Nations, and in support to the
Third World. Since the murder of
Olof Palme in 1986 and the end of the Cold War, this has been significantly toned down, although Sweden remains comparatively active in peace keeping missions and maintains a generous foreign aid budget.
In 1981 a Soviet
Whiskey class submarine ran aground close to the Swedish naval base at
Karlskrona in the southern part of the country. It has never been clearly established whether the submarine ended up on the shoals through a navigational mistake or if it was a matter of
espionage against Swedish military potential. The incident triggered a diplomatic crisis between Sweden and the Soviet Union.
Since 1995 Sweden has been a member of the
European Union, and as a consequence of a new world security situation the country's foreign policy doctrine has been partly modified, with Sweden playing a more active role in European security co-operation as well.
Military
The
Försvarsmakten (
Swedish Armed Forces) is a government agency reporting to the Swedish
Ministry of Defence and responsible for the
peacetime operation of the armed forces of Sweden. The primary task of the agency is to train and deploy peace support forces abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to refocus on the defence of Sweden in the event of war. The armed forces are divided into Army, Air Force and Navy. The head of the armed forces is the
Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces (
Överbefälhavaren, ÖB), and after the sovereign is the most senior officer in the country.
Until the end of the Cold War, nearly all males reaching the age of
military service were
conscripted. In recent years, the number of conscripted males has reduced dramatically, while the number of female volunteers has increased slightly. Recruitment has generally shifted towards finding the most motivated recruits, rather than solely those otherwise most fit for service. All soldiers serving abroad must by law be volunteers. In 1975 the total number of conscripts was 45,000. By 2003 it was down to 15,000. After the Defence Proposition 2004, the number of troops in training will decrease even more to between 5,000 and 10,000 each year, while emphasizing the need to recruit only the soldiers later prepared to volunteer for international service. The total forces gathered would consist of about 60,000 men. This could be compared with the 80s before the fall of the Soviet Union, when Sweden could gather up to 1,000,000 men.
Swedish units have taken part in peacekeeping operations, in the
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Cyprus,
Bosnia,
Kosovo and
Afghanistan.
Currently, one of the most important tasks for the Swedish Armed Forces is to form a Swedish-led
EU Battle Group to which Norway, Finland, Ireland and Estonia will also contribute.
The
Nordic Battle Group (NBG) is to have a 10-day deployment readiness during the first half of 2008 and, although Swedish led, will have its Operational Headquarters (OHQ) in
Northwood, outside London.
Economy
Sweden is an export-oriented
market economy featuring a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external
communications, and a skilled
labour force.
Timber,
hydropower, and
iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy heavily oriented toward
foreign trade. Sweden's engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. Telecommunications, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical industries are also of great importance.
Agriculture accounts for 2 percent of
GDP and employment. Growth is expected to reach 3.3% in 2006.
The Swedish
Riksbank—founded in 1668 and thus making it the oldest central bank in the world—is currently focusing on price stability with its
inflation target of 2%. Sweden's industry is overwhelmingly in
private control; unlike some other industrialized Western countries, such as Austria and Italy, publicly owned enterprises were always of minor importance. Eighty percent of the workforce is organized through the trade-unions which have the right to elect two representatives to the board in all Swedish companies with more than 25 employees.
Sweden is known for its high
taxes and large
public sector. High taxes have ensured a higher degree of government influence on household consumption decisions than in most other Western nations. Public sector spending amounts to 53% of the GDP; the high figure primarily reflects the large transfer payments of the Swedish welfare state and the large public sector. State and municipal employees total around a third of the workforce, much more in most Western countries. Sweden has the second highest total tax revenue behind Denmark, as a share of the country's income. As of 2007, total tax revenue was 47.8% of GDP, down from 49.1% 2006. After increasing the tax burden after World War II, Sweden's GDP per capita ranking fell from the 4th to 14th place in a few decades. No new net jobs have been produced in the Swedish private sector since 1950. None of top 50 companies on the Stockholm stock exchange has been started since 1970.
Swedish unemployment figures are highly contested, with the Social-Democrats defending the official figure of 5.4% (as of 2006) and the centre-right
Alliance for Sweden claiming a much higher figure. These numbers do not, however, include people in government unemployment programmes (about 2% of the workforce), people on extended sick-leave, those in early retirement or those outside the unemployment system. Unemployment is higher amongst younger people. Many Swedes work abroad in
Denmark,
Norway and the
UK, where they're desired and viewed as a skilled workforce. Because of the contradiction—unemployment despite a growing commercial enterprise economy—politicians and analysts often speak of the "jobless growth". According to Eurostat the unemployment rate in February 2007 was at 6.7% down from 7.4% from February 2006.
Sweden also still bears scars from an economic crisis in the 1990s, which resulted in thousands of people becoming unemployed and a great national debt. Two remnants are an increase in
socioeconomic segregation
and a
national debt of approximately 1 167 billion
Swedish Kronor (approx. €124 billion, December 2007), 39% of the GDP.
According to the book,
The Flight of the Creative Class, by the U.S. economist, Professor
Richard Florida of
George Mason University, Sweden is ranked as having the best
creativity in Europe for business and is predicted to become a talent magnet for the world’s most purposeful workers. The book compiled an index to measure the kind of creativity it claims is most useful to business — talent, technology and tolerance.
Education
Sweden provides an extensive
childcare system that guarantees a place for all young children from 1-5 years old in a public day-care facility (
förskola or
dagis). Between ages 6-16, children attend compulsory comprehensive school, divided in three stages. After completing the ninth grade, 90% continue with a three-year upper secondary school (
gymnasium) leading sometimes to a vocational diploma and (depending on which program you've chosen) to qualifications for further studies at a
university or university college (högskola). Both upper secondary school and university studies are financed by taxes. Some Swedes go straight to work after secondary school. Along with several other European countries, the government also subsidizes tuition of international students pursuing a degree at Swedish institutions, although there has been talk of this being changed. The
Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the
OECD, currently ranks Swedish education as the 22nd best in the world, being neither significantly higher nor lower than the OECD average.
(External Link
) Only few countries except Canada, United States and Japan have higher levels of tertiary degree holders.
The conservative government that held office in 1991-1994 introduced a voucher system at primary and secondary school level, enabling free choice among public and independent schools (friskolor) in the community. In 2006, 7% of Swedish primary school students and 13% of secondary school students attended private schools. The support the system is extraordinary strong and applications for new private schools have risen fast.
Energy
Sweden's energy market is largely privatized.
Nordic energy market is one of the first liberalized energy markets in Europe and it's traded in
Nord Pool.
The
1973 oil crisis strengthened Sweden's commitment to decrease dependence on imported fossil fuels. Since then,
electricity has been generated mostly from
hydropower and nuclear power. The use of nuclear power has been limited, however. Among other things, the accident of
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (
USA) prompted the
Swedish parliament to hold a
referendum on nuclear power. The referendum led to a decision that no further nuclear power plants should be built and that a nuclear power phase-out should be completed by 2010.
In 2006, out of a total electricity production of 139
TWh, electricity from hydropower accounted for 61 TWh (44%), and
nuclear power delivered 65 TWh (47%). At the same time, the use of
biofuels,
peat etc. produced 13 TWh (9%) of electricity, while wind power produced 1 TWh (1%). Sweden was a net importer of electricity by a margin of 6 TWh.
Biomass is mainly used to produce heat for
district heating and
central heating and industry processes.
In March 2005, an opinion poll showed that 83% supported maintaining or increasing nuclear power. Since then however, reports about radioactive leakages at a nuclear waste store in
Forsmark, Sweden, have been published, although this doesn't seem to have changed the public support of continued use of nuclear power. Sweden decided to phase out
nuclear fission before 2020, although it's very unlikely that this will happen as the Government has decided to cancel the phase-out.
In an effort to phase out the dependency on nuclear power and
fossil fuels, the Swedish government has launched a multi-billion dollar program to promote
renewable energy and energy efficiency. Also in 2005, Sweden garnered international attention by announcing its intention to break its dependence on foreign oil within 15 years, with the goal of becoming the world's first oil-free economy.
Welfare state
In recent years,
economic liberalization has ensured that Sweden is now more similar to other European countries with comparatively high tax rates. However, some still claim that the
Scandinavian model is mid-way between
socialism and
capitalism, for example a
mixed economy. The Swedish "welfare state" model of the 20th century is an example (some economists and socialists have said) of effective use of national taxes, although others disagree about its continuing effectiveness. The Swedish welfare system remains extensive, but a
recession in the 1990s forced an introduction of a number of reforms, such as
education vouchers in 1992 and decentralization of some types of healthcare services to municipal control.
While similar in form to other governments in Western Europe, the Swedish state is among the most active in the scope of government services provided. These include tax-funded childcare, parental leave, a ceiling on health care costs, tax-funded education (all levels up to, and including university), retirement pensions, tax-funded dental care up to 20 years of age and
sick leave (partly paid by the employer). Parents are entitled to a total of 480 days partly paid leave between birth and the child's eighth birthday, with 60 days reserved specifically for each parent, in effect providing the father with two so-called "daddy-months". The ceiling on health care costs makes it easier, relative to other nations, for Swedish workers to take time off for medical reasons.
Since the late 1960s, Sweden has had the highest tax quota (as percentage of GDP) in the industrialized world, although today the difference between other high-tax countries such as France, Belgium and Denmark has narrowed. Sweden has a two step
progressive tax scale with a municipal income tax of about 30% and an additional high-income state tax of 20–25% when a salary exceeds roughly 300,000 SEK per year. The employing company pays an additional 32% of an "employer's fee". In addition, a national
VAT of 25% or 18% is added to many things bought by private citizens, with the exception of food (12% VAT), transportation, and books (6% VAT). Certain items are subject to additional taxes, for example electricity, petrol/diesel and alcoholic beverages.
Demographics
As of April 2007, the total population of Sweden was estimated to be 9,131,425. The population exceeded 9,000,000 for the first time as of approximately
12 August 2004 according to the
Statistics Sweden. Of the 2004 population, 1.1 million, or 12%, were foreign-born and approximately 16.7% (1.53 million) had at least one parent born abroad or were themselves born abroad. This reflects the inter-Nordic migrations, earlier periods of labour immigration, and later decades of refugee and family immigration. Sweden has been transformed from a nation of
emigration ending after World War I to a nation of
immigration from World War II onwards. In 2006, immigration to Sweden reached its highest level since records began.
The largest immigrant group living in Sweden as of 2005 consists of people born in
Finland, followed by people born in
Turkey,
Germany,
Denmark,
Norway,
Poland,
Russia,
Iran,
Iraq and
Former Yugoslavia.
Language
The primary language of Sweden is
Swedish, a
North Germanic language, related and very similar to
Danish and
Norwegian, but differing in pronunciation and
orthography. Norwegians have little difficulty understanding Swedish, and Danes can also understand it, with slightly more difficulty than the Norwegians. The dominant language is Swedish, though it isn't an
official language. However, with the recognition of five
minority languages of Sweden (
Finnish,
Meänkieli,
Sami,
Romani and
Yiddish) the issue of whether Swedish should be declared the official language was raised. The parliament voted in 2005 but the proposal narrowly failed.
In varying degrees, depending largely on frequency of interaction with English, a majority of Swedes, especially those born after World War II, understand and speak
English thanks to trade links, the popularity of overseas travel, a strong Anglo-American influence and the tradition of
subtitling rather than dubbing foreign television shows and films. English became a compulsory subject for
secondary school students studying
natural sciences as early as 1849, and has been a compulsory subject for all Swedish students since the late 1940s. Depending on the local school authorities, English is currently a compulsory subject between
first grade and
ninth grade, with all students continuing in secondary school studying English for at least another year. Most students also study one and sometimes two additional languages. These include (but are not limited to)
German,
French and
Spanish. Swedish-speakers are found in rural and coastal municipalities. Swedish is an official language in these municipalities and holds the status of an official language of the state. There are
mandatory Swedish courses in the secondary school.
Religion
Before the eleventh century, Swedes adhered to
Norse paganism, worshiping
Æsir gods, with its centre at the
Temple in Uppsala. With
Christianization in the 11th century, the laws of the country were changed, forbidding worship of other deities into the late nineteenth century.
After the
Protestant Reformation in the 1530s, a change significantly affected by
Martin Luther's Swedish associate
Olaus Petri, the Church and state were separated and the authority of Roman Catholic bishops abolished, allowing
Lutheranism to prevail. This process was completed by the
Uppsala Synod of 1593. During the era following the
Reformation, usually known as the period of
Lutheran Orthodoxy, small groups of non-Lutherans, especially
Calvinist Dutchmen, the
Moravian Church and
Walloons or
French Huguenots from
Belgium, played a significant role in trade and industry, and were quietly tolerated as long as they kept a low religious profile. The
Sami originally had their own shamanistic religion, but they were converted to Lutheranism by Swedish missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Not until liberalization in the late 18th century, however, were believers of other faiths, including
Judaism and
Roman Catholicism, allowed to openly live and work in Sweden, and it remained
illegal until 1860 for Lutheran Swedes to convert to another religion. The 19th century saw the arrival of various
evangelical free churches, and, towards the end of the century
secularism, leading many to distance themselves from Church rituals. Leaving the
Church of Sweden became legal with the so-called dissenter law of 1860, but only under the provision of entering another denomination. The right to stand outside any religious denomination was established in the Law on
Freedom of Religion in 1951.
Today about 75% of Swedes belong to the Church of Sweden (Lutheran), but the number is decreasing by about 1% every year, and Church of Sweden services are sparsely attended (hovering in the single digit percentages of the population). The reason for the large number of inactive members is partly that until 1996, children became members automatically at birth if at least one of the parents was a member. Since 1996, all children that are christened become members. Some 275,000 Swedes are today members of various free churches (where congregation attendance is much higher), and, in addition,
immigration has meant that there are now some 92,000
Roman Catholics and 100,000
Eastern Orthodox Christians living in Sweden. Because of
immigration, Sweden also has a significant
Muslim population. Almost 500,000 are Muslims by tradition, but approximately 5% (25,000) of these are practising Islam (in the sense of attending Friday prayer and praying five times a day). (See
Islam in Sweden.)
According to the most recent
Eurobarometer Poll 2005, 23% of Swedish citizens responded that "they believe there's a god", whereas 53% answered that "they believe there's some sort of spirit or life force" and 23% that "they don't believe there's any sort of spirit, god, or life force".
Sweden ranks aside with
France and
Russia on having a large minority of its citizens who have
no religion. Independent of these statistics, it's generally known that Swedish society, collectively, is in some ways comparatively secular and
non-religious.
Health
Healthcare in Sweden is developed. Sweden ranks in the top five countries with respect to low
infant mortality. It also ranks high in
life expectancy and in safe
drinking water. World-class hospitals in Sweden include
Lund University,
Karolinska University Hospital,
Sahlgrenska University Hospital,
Linköping University Hospital and
Uppsala University Hospital.
Culture
Sweden has many authors of worldwide recognition including
August Strindberg,
Astrid Lindgren, and
Nobel Prize winners
Selma Lagerlöf and
Harry Martinson. In total seven
Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded to Swedes. The nation's most well-known artists are painters such as
Carl Larsson and
Anders Zorn, and the sculptors
Tobias Sergel and
Carl Milles.
Swedish twentieth-century culture is noted by pioneering works in the early days of
cinema, with
Mauritz Stiller and
Victor Sjöström. In the 1920s–1980s, the filmmaker
Ingmar Bergman and actors
Greta Garbo and
Ingrid Bergman became internationally noted people within cinema. More recently, the films of
Lukas Moodysson and
Lasse Hallström have received international recognition.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Sweden was seen as an international leader in what is now referred to as the "
sexual revolution", with
gender equality having particularly been promoted. At the present time, the number of single people is one of the highest in the world. The early Swedish film
I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) reflected a liberal view of sexuality, including scenes of love making that caught international attention, and introduced the concept of the "Swedish sin". Sweden has also become, in recent decades, fairly liberal regarding
homosexuality, as is reflected in the popular acceptance of films such as
Show Me Love, which is about two young
lesbians in the small Swedish town of Åmål. In the absence of legislation on
same-sex marriages, Sweden offers both
registered partnerships and
domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. Cohabitation (
sammanboende) by heterosexual couples of all ages, including teenagers as well as elderly couples, is widespread although in recent years it has become administratively problematical with regard to proof in claims of "spousal" social security. About half the children in the country are born out of wedlock. Presence of already obtained common-law offspring in newspaper photographs of marrying couples is commonplace.
Music
Sweden has a rich musical tradition, ranging from medieval folk ballads to
hip hop music. The music of the pre-Christian Norse has been lost to history, although historical re-creations have been attempted based on instruments found in Viking sites. Instruments used were the
lur (a sort of trumpet), simple string instruments, wooden flutes and drums. It is possible that the Viking musical legacy lives on in some of the old Swedish folk music.
Sweden has a significant
folk-music scene, both in the traditional style as well as more modern interpretations which often mix in elements of rock and jazz.
Väsen is more of a traditionalist group, using a unique traditional Swedish instrument called the
nyckelharpa while
Garmarna,
Nordman, and
Hedningarna have more modern elements. There is also
Saami music, called the
joik, which is actually a type of chant which is part of the traditional Saami animistic spirituality but has gained recognition in the international world of folk music as well. Sweden has a major market for
new age and
ecologically or
environmentally aware music, as well a large portion of pop and rock music have
liberal and
left-wing political messages.
Sweden also has a prominent choral music tradition, deriving in part from the cultural importance of Swedish folk songs. In fact, out of a population of 8.9 million, it's estimated that five to six hundred thousand people sing in choirs.
ABBA was one of the first internationally well-known popular music bands from Sweden, and still ranks among the most prominent bands in the world, with about 370 million records sold. With ABBA, Sweden entered into a new era, in which Swedish pop music gained international prominence. Sweden is sometimes referred to as the third largest exporter of pop and rock music in the world, after the US and the UK, but this is disputable and difficult to verify. There have been many other internationally successful bands since, and recently there has been a surge of Swedish
Indie pop bands. Sweden has also become known for a large number of
heavy metal (mostly
death metal and
melodic death metal) as well as
progressive- and
power metal bands.
Sweden has a rather lively jazz scene. During the last sixty years or so it has attained a remarkably high artistic standard, stimulated by domestic as well as external influences and experiences. The Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research has published an overview of jazz in Sweden by Lars Westin.
Media
Swedes are among the greatest consumers of
newspapers in the world, and nearly every town is served by a local paper. The country's main quality morning papers are
Dagens Nyheter (liberal),
Göteborgs-Posten (liberal),
Svenska Dagbladet (liberal conservative) and
Sydsvenska Dagbladet (liberal). The two largest evening
tabloids are
Aftonbladet (social democratic) and
Expressen (liberal). The ad-financed, free international morning paper,
Metro International, was originally founded in Stockholm, Sweden. The country's news is reported in English by, among others,
The Local (liberal).
The public broadcasting companies held a monopoly on radio and television for long time in Sweden. Licence funded radio broadcasts started in 1925. A second radio network was started in 1954 and a third opened 1962 in response to pirate radio stations. Non-profit community radio was allowed in 1979 and in 1993 commercial local radio started.
The licence funded television service was officially launched in 1956. A second channel,
TV2, was launched in 1969. These two channels (operated by
Sveriges Television since the late '70s) held a monopoly until the 1980s when cable and satellite television became available. The first Swedish language satellite service was
TV3 which started broadcasting from London in 1987. It was followed by
Kanal 5 in 1989 (then known as Nordic Channel) and
TV4 in 1990.
In 1991 the government announced it would begin taking applications from private television companies wishing to broadcast on the
terrestrial network. TV4, which had previously been broadcasting via satellite, was granted a permit and began its terrestrial broadcasts in 1992, becoming the first private channel to broadcast television content from within the country.
Around half the population are connected to cable television.
Digital terrestrial television in Sweden started in 1999 and the last analogue terrestrial broadcasts were terminated in 2007.
Literature
The first literary text from Sweden is the
Rök Runestone, carved during the
Viking Age circa 800 AD. With the conversion of the land to Christianity around 1100 AD, Sweden entered the
Middle Ages, during which monastic writers preferred to use Latin. Therefore there are only a few texts in the
Old Swedish from that period. Swedish literature only flourished when the Swedish language was standardized in the 16th century, a standardization largely due to the full translation of the Bible into Swedish in 1541. This translation is the so-called
Gustav Vasa Bible.
With improved education and the freedom brought by
secularisation, the 17th century saw several notable authors develop the Swedish language further. Some key figures include
Georg Stiernhielm (17th century), who was the first to write classical poetry in Swedish;
Johan Henric Kellgren (18th century), the first to write fluent Swedish prose;
Carl Michael Bellman (late 18th century), the first writer of
burlesque ballads; and
August Strindberg (late 19th century), a socio-realistic writer and playwright who won worldwide fame. The early 20th century continued to produce notable authors, such as
Selma Lagerlöf (
Nobel laureate 1909) and
Pär Lagerkvist (Nobel laureate 1951).
In recent decades, a handful of Swedish writers have established themselves internationally, including the detective novelist
Henning Mankell and the writer of spy fiction
Jan Guillou. But the only Swedish writer to have made a significant mark on world literature is the children's book writer
Astrid Lindgren, and her books about
Pippi Longstocking,
Emil of Maple Hills, and others.
Inventions
scientific revolution took off. Previously, technical progress had mainly come from professionals who had immigrated from mainland Europe. In 1739, the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded, with people such as
Carolus Linnaeus and
Anders Celsius as early members. From the 1870s, engineering companies were created at an unmatched rate and engineers became heroes of the age. Many of the companies founded by early pioneers are still internationally familiar.
Gustaf Dalén founded
AGA, and received the Nobel Prize for his
sun valve.
Alfred Nobel invented
dynamite and instituted the
Nobel Prizes.
Lars Magnus Ericsson started the company bearing his name,
Ericsson, still one of the largest telecom companies in the world. Jonas Wenström was an early pioneer in
alternating current and is along with
Tesla credited as one of the inventors of the three-phase electrical system.
Holidays
Apart from traditional Protestant
Christian holidays, Sweden also celebrates some unique holidays, some of a pre-Christian tradition. They include
Midsummer celebrating the summer
solstice;
Walpurgis Night (
Valborgsmässoafton) on
30 April lighting bonfires; and
Labour Day or Mayday on
1 May is dedicated to socialist demonstrations. The day of giver-of-light
Saint Lucia,
13 December, is widely acknowledged in elaborate celebrations which betoken its Italian origin and commence the month-long Christmas season.
6 June is the
National Day of Sweden and, as of 2005, a public holiday. Furthermore, there are
official flag day observances and a
Namesdays in Sweden calendar. In August many Swedes have
kräftskivor (crayfish dinner parties).
Martin of Tours Eve is celebrated in
Scania in November with
Mårten Gås parties, where roast goose and
svartsoppa ('black soup', made of goose stock, fruit, spices, spirits and goose blood) are served. The
Sami, one of Sweden's indigenous minorities, have their holiday on
February 6 and Scania celebrate their Scanian Flag day on the third Sunday in July.
Cuisine
Swedish cuisine, like that of the other
Scandinavian countries (
Denmark and
Norway), was traditionally simple.
Fish (particularly
herring),
meat and
potatoes played prominent roles. Spices were sparse. Famous dishes include Swedish meatballs, traditionally served with gravy, boiled potatoes and
lingonberry jam; pancakes,
lutfisk, and
Smörgåsbord, or lavish buffet.
Akvavit is a popular alcoholic
distilled beverage, and the drinking of
snaps is of cultural importance. The traditional flat and dry
crisp bread has developed into several contemporary variants. Regionally important foods are the
surströmming (a fermented fish) in Northern Sweden and
eel in
Scania in Southern Sweden. However, Swedes have traditionally also been very open to foreign influences, ranging from the
French cuisine during the eighteenth century, to the
