The official list of Swedish monarchs starts about a 1000 years ago, about as long as Sweden has been Christian. After the allegedly notorious Vikings, Sweden spent a couple of centuries in battles with its neighbouring countries Denmark first in the 12th century and Norway; in the 16th and 17th century, Kings Gustav II Adolph and Charles XII of Sweden further ravaged in Northern Germany, Poland, and the Baltic States and extended the Realm of Sweden to twice its size – all lost later. Since 1816, Sweden has been a peaceful country without being involved in a single armed conflict, although its neutrality during World War II has been disputed.

As a result of massive poverty in the 18th century, whereby it was one of the poorest countries in Europe (second to Ireland), and suffering the results of alcohol, Sweden was shaped by the yoke of a dogmatic Protestantism, until its natural assets – timber, iron, grains – allowed it to fund a social democratic welfare state in the early 20th century. The country is today defined by liberal tendencies and a strong national quest for equality – especially among the sexes.

History

Conclusive archaeological evidence that Sweden was inhabited during the Stone Age (6,000 BC – 4,000 BC), after the last ice age, the Weichsel glaciation, receded. The earliest inhabitants were hunters and gatherers. It developed slowly compared to southern Europe, and while the Romans wrote poetry, Scandinavia had just entered the Iron Age.

Sweden was first mentioned in the 1st century, by Tacitus, who wrote that the Suiones lived out in the sea and were powerful in both arms and ships. However, laters sources are scarce. Jordanes wrote, in the 6th century, that the Swedes were the suppliers of black fox skins for the Roman market and had powerful horses. This is also attested in the Norse sagas and in the epos Beowulf.

Sweden as a name was originally a plural form of Swede and is a so-called "back-formation", from the Old English Sweoðeod, the land of the Suiones. During the Scandinavian Viking culture of the 9th and 10th century, the spheres of interest were so distributed, that trade, raiding and colonisation from present-day Sweden primarily went eastward, to Balticum, Russia and the Black Sea.

Christianization in the 12th century led to the consolidation of a Swedish state centered at the water-ways of the northern Baltic and the Gulf of Finland.

Like the similarly newly consolidated states of Norway and Denmark, it was in the 14th century by the Black Death (the plague). But Sweden's expansion into the wilderness of the Scandinavian peninsula and present-day Finland continued. The political incorporation of what is today Finland is usually dated to 1362, and lasted until 1809.

King Gustav I of Sweden

Gustav Vasa's reign was also signified by the Protestant Reformation, a renewed consolidation and centralization of the state, the formalization of the taxed yeomanry's participation in decisions on taxes and their use through a four-chamber parliament, and of relatively peaceful international relations. Gustav Vasa is the closest to a Father of the Nation the Swedes know.

The 17th century saw the rise of Sweden as one of the great powers in Europe, due to successful participation, initiated by King Gustav II Adolph, in the Thirty Years' War. This position would crumble in the 18th century when Imperial Russia took the reins of northern Europe in the Great Northern War, and eventually in 1809, splitting off the eastern half of Sweden, thereby creating the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland. In between, Sweden with Finland had experienced 50 years of early Parliamentarism.

Recent Swedish history has been peaceful, the last war being the Campaign against Norway, 1814, resulting in the Treaty of Kiel, establishing a Sweden-dominated union with Norway that lasted until 1905.

A threatening Socialist Revolution was avoided in 1917, following the re-introduction of Parliamentarism, and the country was democratized. Sweden remained neutral during World War I and World War II. It continued to stay non-aligned during the Cold War and still today is not a member of any military alliance.

Politics

Sweden has been a monarchy for almost a millennium, with its taxation controlled by the Riksdag (parliament). It consisted of four chambers, made up by representatives from the 4 categories peasants, nobility, clerics and townsmen. In 1866, Sweden became a Constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament. Its First Chamber indirectly elected by local governments, and the Second Chamber directly elected in national elections every four years.

The Riksdag in Stockholm

Executive power was shared between the King and a noble Privy Council until 1680, followed by the King's autocratic rule initiated by the common estates of the Parliament. As a reaction to the failed Great Northern War, Parliamentarism was introduced in 1719, followed by three different flavours of Constitutional Monarchy in 1772, 1789 and 1809, the latter granting several civil liberties. The monarch remains as the formal, but merely symbolic head of state with ceremonial duties.

Social Democracy has played a dominant political role since 1917, after Reformists had confirmed their strength and the Revolutionaries left the party. Social Democratic influence over society and government is often described as Hegemony. After 1956, the Cabinets have been dominated by the Social Democrats. It is considered the reason of the Swedish post-war welfare state.

Welfare state

As part of its social welfare system, 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. Between ages 6-16, children attend compulsory comprehensive school. After completing the ninth grade, 90% continue with a three year upper secondary school leading to either an exam in a technical profession, or the qualifications for further studies at a Högskola or University.

Geography

A map of Sweden with largest cities and lakes

East of Sweden is the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia, providing a long coastline, and mellowing the climate further yet. To the west is the Scandinavian mountain chain, a range that separates Sweden from Norway.

The southern part of the country is chiefly agricultural, with forests covering a larger percentage of the land the further north one goes. Population density is also higher in southern Sweden, with centers being in the valley of lake Mälaren and the Öresund region.

Gotland and Öland are the two largest Islands of Sweden.

Counties

Sweden is divided into 21 counties or län. In each county there is a County Administrative Board or länsstyrelse which is appointed by the Government. In each county there is also a separate County Council or landsting, which is the municipal representation appointed by the county electorate. Each county further divides into a number of municipalities or kommuner, making a total of 290 municipalities, in 2004. There are also older historical divisions of the Swedish Realm, primarily into provinces and lands.

Counties of Sweden

Economy

The Swedish Krona

Aided by peace and neutrality for the whole of the 20th century, Sweden has achieved an enviable standard of living under a mixed system of high-tech capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. It has 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.

Privately-owned firms account for about 90% of industrial output, of which the engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. This is one of the reasons why Sweden's Per Capita Income is so high. Agriculture accounts for only 2% of GDP and 2% of the jobs. The government's commitment to fiscal discipline resulted in a substantial budgetary surplus in 2001, which was cut by more than half in 2002, due to the global economic slowdown, revenue declines, and spending increases. The Swedish Riksbank is focusing on price stability with its inflation target of 2%. Growth is expected to reach 3.5% in 2004, assuming a continued moderate global recovery. However, open unemployment has steadily increased since 2001 and stood at 5.5% as of March 2005, although there are a great many more persons of working age without a job. The communications and transportation systems of Sweden are important components of the infrastructure.

Demographics

Sweden has one of the world's highest life expectancies. As of approximately August 12, 2004, the total population of Sweden for the first time exceeded 9,000,000, according to Statistics Sweden.

The country is inhabited by some 17,000 indigenous Samis. Also some 50,000 of the ethnic Finns of Sweden consist an indigenous minority, although many more of the Sweden Finns descend from 20th century immigrants.

The Swedish nation has been transformed from a nation of emigration ending after World War I to a nation of immigration from World War II and on. Currently, almost 12% of the residents are born abroad, and about one fifth of Sweden's population are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. The largest immigrant groups are from Finland, the former Yugoslavia, Iran, Norway, Denmark, and Poland, in that order. This reflects the inter-Nordic migrations, earlier periods of labor immigration, and later decades of refugee and family immigration.

A typical 19th, early 20th century farmer's house on the rural countryside

Soviet intervention against the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the 1968 Czechoslovakian liberalization resulted in the first surges of intellectual political refugees. Some American deserters from the Vietnam War also found refuge among the Swedes, who in international politics took a clear stand against what they typically viewed as imperialism executed by both the Soviet Union and the United States of America. After the 1973 coup in Chile, and the following military dictatorships in Chile and other South American countries, political refugees came to dominate the image of immigration to Sweden, including refugees from Iran, Iraq and Palestine.

Language

Culture

Swedish 20th century culture is noted by pioneering works in the early days of cinema, with Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. In the 50's – 80's, the filmmakers Ingmar Bergman and Bo Widerberg received awards at the Academy Awards, and actresseses Greta Garbo, Zarah Leander, Ingrid Bergman and Anita Ekberg made careers abroad. More recently, the films of Lukas Moodysson have gotten international recognition.

Sweden has produced quite a few opera singers of international success, such as the 19th century sopranos Jenny Lind and Christina Nilsson, the 20th century soprano Birgit Nilsson, tenors Jussi Björling and Nicolai Gedda, baritone Håkan Hagegård and the contemporary mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter.

Swedish popular music is in many minds connected with ABBA, although more recently indie bands like Millencolin, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and The Hives have started achieving international fame. Also worthy of mention are Roxette, Ace of Base, The Cardigans, A-Teens and Yngwie J. Malmsteen.

In underground circles, Sweden is known for a large number of death metal and black metal acts, often viewed as pioneering or at the forefront of the scene. Swedish metal bands include Bathory, Opeth, Dark Tranquility, Naglfar, In Flames and Vintersorg.

Swedish literature is also vibrant and active, Sweden ranking third in the list of countries with most Nobel Prize laureates in literature. This, however, might in part be explained by patriotic tendencies of the Swedish Prize Committee, particularly in the early 20th century. On the other hand, no Swedes have received the prize since 1974. Swedish authors of worldwide recognition include Carolus Linnaeus, August Strindberg, Selma Lagerlöf, Vilhelm Moberg, and Astrid Lindgren.

Many well-known inventions and discoveries historical and modern were made by Swedes. Among them the most notable figures are Alfred Nobel, Anders Celsius, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Lars Magnus Ericsson, Svante Arrhenius and Anders Jonas Ångström.

Swedes are among the greatest consumers of newspapers in the world and every town is served by a local rag. The country's main quality dailies are Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter, but in terms of popularity they lag behind Aftonbladet and Expressen, the evening tabloids. The free morning paper, Metro, which is distributed in dozens of cities around the world, began in Sweden, while The Local provides the daily news in English.

• Cuisine of Sweden
  • Systembolaget
  Music of Sweden

Sports

Sport activites are a national movement with half of the population actively participating. Second to soccer, Horse sports have the highest number of practitioners, mostly confined to the female population. Thereafter follow golf, track and field, and the team sports handball, floorball, basketball and, in northern parts, bandy. American sports such as baseball and American football exist but have no widespread popularity.

Sweden has also produced several good tennis players, such as former world No. 1's Björn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg. In skiing sports, Ingemar Stenmark, Pernilla Wiberg and Anja Pärson have been successful in alpine skiing, and Gunde Svan and Thomas Wassberg are example of successful cross country skiers.

In schools the game brännboll, a sport similar to softball, is commonly played on meadows and in parks; on those locations the historical game kubb has also received a revival among older youths, while the older generation prefer boule.

Other famous Swedish athletes include the Heavy Weight Boxing Champion Ingemar Johansson, golfer Annika Sörenstam, former five times World table tennis Champion Jan-Ove Waldner and the World Speedway Champion Tony Rickardsson.

Holidays

The Swedish holiday calendar consists mainly of Christian holidays. Many of these are however a continuation of pre-christian customs, such as Midsummer and Walpurgis Night. Apart from official holidays and a few de facto holidays there are also official flag day observances and minor observances in the namesday calendar. In 2004 the Parliament voted to make the National holiday of Sweden a business free day as of 2005, and instead revoking that status to Whitmonday. Some critique has been brought forward on this, mainly because the National Day may occur on weekends, as opposed to Whitmonday always occurring on Mondays. However, some employers have come up with the solution of granting their employees an extra day off between the National Day and ordinary holiday, should the National Day occur on a Tuesday or Thursday.