Sweden

The Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish Konungariket Sverige listen^{? /i} or simply Sverige listen^{? /i}) is a parliamentary monarchy in northern Europe. Its territory includes the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the islands of Gotland and Öland. Sweden is a member of the Nordic Council and since 1995 of the European Union, but not a member of NATO and militarily non-aligned. The capital as well as the most populous Swedish city is Stockholm.

Geography

Sweden borders the Kattegat, the states of Norway and Finland as well as the Baltic Sea and the easternmost part of the North Sea; since the opening of the Öresund Bridge in 2000, there is also a direct land connection to Denmark. Sweden has about 221,800 islands, Gotland (2994 km²) and Öland (1347 km², both in the Baltic Sea) and Orust (346 km², north of Gothenburg) are the three largest. The longest extension from north to south is 1572 km, from east to west 499 km. The land border with Norway is 1619 km long, that with Finland 586 km.

While large parts of the country are flat to hilly, along the Norwegian border the mountain massifs of the Skanden rise to over 2000 m altitude. The highest peak is the Kebnekaise with about 2100 m. There are 30 national parks throughout the country. The largest in terms of area are located in the northwest of the country.

Topography

Southern and central Sweden (Götaland and Svealand), which comprises only two-fifths of Sweden, is divided into three major landscapes from south to north; northern Sweden (Norrland), which comprises the remaining three-fifths, is divided into three landscapes from west to east.

The longest rivers in Sweden are Klarälven, Torne älv, Dalälven, Ume älv and Ångermanälven. The largest lakes are Vänern, Vättern, Mälaren and Hjälmaren.

South and Central Sweden

The southernmost part, the historic province of Skåne, is a continuation of the lowlands of northern Germany and Denmark. Skåne is home to Sweden's lowest point (excluding waters) at 2.4 metres below sea level and Sweden's southernmost point, Smygehuk. North of this is the Southern Swedish Highlands, a plateau surrounded by a hilly landscape with a large number of elongated lakes formed by glacial erosion. The third major landscape is the Central Swedish Depression, a flat, rugged landscape with large plains, horsts, mesas, fjords and a number of lakes.

Northern Sweden

The west of northern Sweden is characterised by the Scandinavian Mountains, which form the border with Norway. The mountain range - whose mountain tundra is called fell in Sweden - has heights between 1000 and 2000 meters above sea level. Sweden's highest mountain, the 2100 m high Kebnekaise, is also located in the Scandinavian Mountains. Sweden's northernmost point, Treriksröset, is located in the border triangle of Norway/Sweden/Finland.

To the east lies the foothills, Sweden's most extensive large landscape. Along the mountains there are large upland plains at an altitude of 600 to 700 metres above sea level, which merge into undulating hill country that slopes down towards the east. This landscape also contains the great ore deposits (iron, copper, zinc, lead) of Sweden. Sweden's major rivers, which originate in the Scandinavian Mountains, flow almost parallel in deep valleys towards the Baltic Sea.

The flat coastal landscape stretches along the Baltic Sea coast, interrupted between Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik by a foothill reaching to the Baltic Sea coast (Höga Kusten, National Park).

Geology

The Proterozoic basement crystalline of Sweden is part of the Baltic Shield and is built up of metamorphic rocks (e.g. gneiss) and plutonites (e.g. granite). In Jämtland and parts of central and southern Sweden, as well as on the islands of Öland and Gotland, Paleozoic series composed of shales, limestones and sandstones are also encountered.

The Scandinavian peninsula was at times completely covered by ice during the ice ages. The pressure and movement of the ice masses has significantly shaped the landscape in many parts. The great Scandinavian glacier of the last ice age (soft-sea ice age) created the present landscape of Sweden with its numerous lakes, rivers (see also list of rivers in Sweden) and waterfalls (see also list of waterfalls in Sweden). The accompanying grinding and hollowing has left behind, in addition to the moraines, the characteristic deposits of pebbles and round stones, which in Sweden are called åsar (Engl. Os).

A factor that is still important today is postglacial land uplift. The melting of the ice masses that had depressed the earth's crust has resulted in land uplift of 800 m since the last ice age (about 10,000 BC). Today, land uplift is up to 10-11 mm per year in Höga Kusten, and about 6 mm per year in the Stockholm area.

Climate

Sweden's climate is quite mild for its geographical location. It is mainly determined by the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean with the warm Gulf Stream. Large parts of Sweden therefore have a humid climate with abundant precipitation and relatively low temperature differences between summer and winter. Continental influenced climate with lower precipitation and higher temperature differences is found in the interior of the southern Swedish highlands and in some parts of the foothills of the Scandinavian Mountains. Polar climate occurs only in the northern high mountains. The average temperature for January is 0 °C to -2 °C in the south and -12 °C to -14 °C in the north (excluding the high mountains), and the average temperature for July is 16 °C to 18 °C in the south and 12 °C to 14 °C in the north. Cold records were set on 2 February 1966 in Vuoggatjålme, Arjeplog municipality, with -52.6 °C, and on 13 December 1941 in Malgovik, Vilhelmina municipality, with -53 °C.

As Sweden stretches between latitudes 55 and 69 degrees and part of it lies north of the Arctic Circle, the difference between the long daylight in summer and the long darkness in winter is considerable.

flora and fauna

In northern Sweden, the vast borealconiferous forests dominate the landscape. From south to north, the tree silhouettes become increasingly narrow as a result of adaptation to the longer winters. In addition, the proportion of birch trees increases, forming the transition to the treeless fells of the Skanden and the far north. The further south you go, the more often there are mixed forests. Pure deciduous forests only occur in southern Sweden. However, many of them have had to make way for agriculture or have been replaced by coniferous forests because of their faster growth. The so-called limes norrlandicus is a striking border area for flora and fauna.

The islands of Gotland and Öland have a particularly rich flora due to the climate and geological conditions. There is a unique mixture here, including plants that are otherwise found in Europe only in the Balkan region. Particularly worthy of mention are the numerous orchid species.

The wild boar is now widespread again in southern Sweden, although it had been completely eradicated in the 18th century. However, it was able to re-establish a viable wild population in the 1970s following escapes of wild boar from game pens established in the 1940s, which now numbers around 80,000-100,000 animals. The population has grown by 13% annually since the 1990s and continues to increase today. In addition, the wild boar continues to spread northwards, and today it can be found as far as Dalarna and Hälsingland. In the meantime, around 25,000 wild boar are shot annually in Sweden.

Like the wild boar, the red deer is distributed in Sweden mainly in the southern half of the country. It is mainly found in Götaland, but there are also isolated populations in Dalarna, Jämtland and even Västerbotten. Most populations are based on deliberate releases, only in Skåne is there still an original population. The roe deer is somewhat more widespread than the red deer and is found in large numbers northwards to Dalarna. Areas further north are only sparsely populated by roe deer.

Sweden is particularly known for having the largest number of moose in Europe. They are quite a danger on the roads - 4,957 road accidents involving moose were recorded in 2006. The moose also cause great damage to forest plantations. During the autumn hunting season, up to a quarter of the moose population is killed. The population is not endangered due to the high reproduction rate.

Predators such as brown bears, wolves, lynxes and wolverines have been on the rise again in recent years thanks to strict environmental regulations. The many lakes and long coastlines provide plenty of habitat for aquatic animals: freshwater and saltwater fish are abundant, and beavers, otters and seals are also common.

A total of 52 freshwater fish species are found in Sweden, with water temperature limiting their natural distribution. The Swedish river and lake environment is internationally renowned for its excellent salmonid population. The predominant species are brown trout, rainbow trout, lake trout, salmon, sea trout, brown trout and Arctic char. The Mörrum in southern Sweden has an internationally renowned reputation as one of the best salmon rivers in Europe. Furthermore, the oxygen-rich and fast-flowing forest rivers of central Sweden are home to numerous European grayling and Arctic grayling. Predatory fish such as pike, perch, pike-perch and asp are the most popular among sport fishermen, who practise a popular sport in Sweden. With its 90,000 lakes, numerous streams, rivers and 3,200 kilometres of coastline, the country is considered an "angler's paradise". Pike (gäddar in Swedish) grow to heavy weights in the archipelago of the Baltic Sea. Smelt seek out river mouths in large numbers on their spawning migration. Large shoals of vendace can be found in the larger lakes such as Lake Vänern. Peaceful fish such as carp, tench, bream, roach, rudd and aland are mainly found in southern Sweden, depending on their warmth requirements.

Sweden was the first country in Europe to establish national parks in 1909. Today, almost 15% of the country is protected by nature reserves and 30 national parks. If it is decided to establish eleven new national parks and expand seven existing ones, the proportion of protected area would rise to 15.5 %.

Swedish salmon


The Rapa Delta, a post-glacial river landscape in the Sarek National Park within the Laponia World Heritage Site.


Eurasian lynx


Elk deer in Småland


Kebnekaise, the highest mountain in Sweden


View of the Tarfala valley basin in Lapland


Scandinavia - Norway, Sweden and Finland in Winter


A lake in Norra Kvill National Park in Kalmar län

Population

Demographics

Sweden had 9.982 million inhabitants at the end of November 2016, according to the country's central statistical office SCB. In January 2017, the mark of ten million inhabitants was exceeded for the first time. The population grew by just under 0.8 percent annually.

The birth rate of 1.88 children per woman (2016) is on the one hand below the reproduction threshold of 2.1 children per woman, but on the other hand far above the EU25 average, which was 1.58 children per woman in the same year. Life expectancy in the period from 2010 to 2015 was 81.9 years (women: 83.7, men: 80.0 years). The average age in 2016 was 41.2 years.

Ethnicities

The majority of the inhabitants are ethnic Swedes. There is a larger minority of Swedish Finns in the country. On the one hand, Finns lived in parts of what is now Sweden for several centuries, and on the other hand, there is a larger number of Finns due to migration after the Second World War. Swedish Finns form a large group in Tornedalen. Today there are a total of about 450,000 inhabitants with Finnish roots.

largest groups of residents without Swedish citizenship (2017)
Rank	State	Population
2.	Finland Finland	150.000
4.	Poland Poland	91.000
5.	Somalia Somalia	66.000
1.	Syria Syria	172.000
10.	Denmark Denmark	40.000
9.	Norway Norway	42.000
7.	Germany Germany	50.000
3.	Iraq Iraq	140.000
8.	Afghanistan Afghanistan	43.000
11.	United Kingdom United Kingdom	27.000

Another minority are the Swedish Sámi, who number about 20,000 today. Many live in the municipalities of Gällivare and Kiruna. Traditional reindeer herding still plays a role today. There are 51 Sami local communities, called samebyar (Swedish; literally "Sami villages"), where breeding is practised. The Sami languages became recognised minority languages in 2000. They have their own parliamentary representation in Kiruna in the form of the Sameting.

Sweden is home to immigrants from almost every country in the world. In 2016, the population share of foreign-born residents was just under 18 percent (1.78 million inhabitants). Sweden has had relatively liberal immigration laws for decades. The first large waves of immigration occurred from the 1960s: primarily from other European countries, such as Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia as well as Turkey. In the 1980s there was a surge of asylum seekers, from Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Eritrea and to some extent South America. From the 2000s onwards there was an increased immigration of people from other regions, such as Africa and the Near and Central Asia. Countries of origin were Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.

Due to the refugee crisis in Europe from 2015 onwards and the large number of refugees and migrants admitted, the number of people with a migration background rose sharply. The largest foreign-born group in 2016 was that of Finns, with 153,620. Other large groups include persons from Syria (149,418), Iraq (135,129), Poland (88,704), Iran (70,637), the former Yugoslavia (66,539) and Somalia (63,853).

The proportion of foreigners and people with an immigrant background varies greatly from region to region, with the highest proportions in the major cities of Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg. Relatively few migrants live in the country's rural areas.

Language

The Swedish language has been not only a de facto but also a legal official language since 1 July 2009. In Sweden, Finnish, Tornedal Finnish, Yiddish, Romany, Sami and the Swedish sign language Svenskt teckenspråk have the status of recognised minority languages. Along the Swedish-Finnish border, in Tornedalen, Tornedalfinnish (Meänkieli) is spoken by about half the population. The Sami language is used by a few thousand people as their main language, in addition to Swedish.

Almost 80 % of the Swedish population speak English as a foreign language, as English is the first foreign language in schools and is also very strongly represented on television (foreign-language films are usually not dubbed, but subtitled). The majority (around 45%) of pupils choose Spanish as their second foreign language. German (about 25%) and French (about 20%) are also offered as second foreign languages; German was the first foreign language until about 1945, as it was in the rest of Scandinavia. Norwegian is mostly understood because of strong similarities to Swedish; this is less true of Danish, especially outside the former Danish regions of Halland, Blekinge and Skåne.

Religion

Church of Sweden
Year	Population	Church members	Share
1972	08.146.000	7.754.784	95,2 %
1980	08.278.000	7.690.636	92,9 %
1990	08.573.000	7.630.350	89,0 %
2000	08.880.000	7.360.825	82,9 %
2005	09.048.000	6.967.498	77,0 %
2010	09.415.570	6.589.769	70,0 %
2015	09.850.452	6.225.091	63,2 %
2016	09.995.153	[00]6.116.480	61,2 %
2017	10.120.242	5.993.368	59,3 %
2018	10.230.185	5.899.242	57,7 %
2019		5.817.634	56,4 %

In 2019, 56.4% of the Swedish population belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden, which was the state church from 1527 to 1999. Since 2000, membership has declined significantly. Between 2005 and 2015, about 740,000 members (11%) left the church. The second largest religious community, that of Muslims, is difficult to estimate in terms of numbers. Their membership was around 500,000 (5.1%) in 2014.

After a ban in the course of the Reformation, Catholics have been allowed to practice their religion publicly again since 1781. In 1783, the first apostolic vicariate for Sweden was established with Abbot Nicholas Oster. The Roman Catholic Church in Sweden had about 113,000 members in 2016 (1.1% of the population), and membership is increasing, mainly due to immigration.

The Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches had about 120,000 (1.2 %) believers. Protestant free churches are more strongly represented, especially in the Jönköping area, in Bohuslän and in Västerbotten, and together have a good 250,000 members, of whom just under half are in the Equmeniakyrkan.

The neo-charismatic movement Livets Ord has its headquarters in Uppsala. In addition, there are about 23,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Sweden (0.25 %). About 10,000 people belong to a Jewish community (0.1%). There is a Mandaean congregation in Stockholm with its own place of worship.

Health

The analyses of the values for healthy life years indicate significant inequalities between the European countries. In Austria in 2016, respondents' self-reported health expectancies were 57.1 years for women and 57.0 years for men, 16 years lower than Sweden's values of 73.3 and 73.0 years, respectively.

Since January 2020, Sweden has also been affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which started in the People's Republic of China in December 2019. The Swedish government has so far followed a more restrained course against the virus compared to other European countries. Most of the measures to contain the epidemic in Sweden are voluntary. However, the high numbers of COVID-19 deaths compared to neighbouring countries led to a decline in public confidence in the Swedish COVID-19 strategy. In this context, trust in the government plummeted from 63 to 45 percent. The Public Health Agency also lost trust, but it still stands at 65 percent, down from 73 percent previously. The measures, such as the opening of schools, are also welcomed by the population.

Education and research

The Swedish education system comprises four sub-sectors: Pre-school, school, colleges and universities, and adult education. Compulsory education is nine years (age 7 to 16), followed by a voluntary three-year period of attendance at a Gymnasium. Approximately 30 percent of a cohort begin university studies within five years of graduating from high school.

In the 2015 PISA ranking, Sweden's students ranked 23rd out of 72 countries in mathematics, 28th in science and 17th in reading comprehension. The performance of Swedish students was thus slightly above the OECD average in all three categories.

A rocket launch site for sounding rockets is operated near Kiruna in Esrange.

Security

The Global Peace Index ranked Sweden 6th in the European Union (out of 27 member states) in the sub-area of internal security in 2019, and 13th globally. U.S. News & World Report ranked Sweden as the sixth best country in the world in terms of perceived security in 2019. In recent years, the situation has improved in some areas and worsened in others. For example, the overall murder rate has fallen since the 1990s, but remains slightly higher than in Germany. On the other hand, as many as 13% of Swedes say they have experienced problems with crime, violence or vandalism in their own neighbourhood, which is one of the highest (subjective) figures in Europe. Among 13 Western European countries studied, between 2010 and 2015, the risk of being a victim of a shooting was average in Sweden for most of the population, but higher for 15-29 year old males than in the other countries studied. Gang-related crime has increased the area at risk in Sweden, especially within the second half of the 2010s.

The threat level for international terrorism has also been elevated since March 2016. The warning level set by the Swedish National Centre for Terrorist Threat Assessment is 3 out of 5.

The Ahmadiyya Mahmood Mosque in Malmö


The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Catherine in Stockholm


Sami flag


Population pyramid Sweden 2016


Population development in Sweden