Claim: Sweden never had territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Evidence: In the 17th century , it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire , which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century.
The Swedish Empire -LRB- stormaktstiden , `` the era of great power '' -RRB- refers to the Kingdom of Sweden 's territorial control of much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries , a time when Sweden was one of the great European powers.