Sweden

**Sweden** () is a Nordic country in the part of Europe called Scandinavia. Its neighbors are Finland and Norway. It is a developed country. It is famous for its welfare state. People who live in Sweden are called Swedes.

The population of Sweden is about 10 million people. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also Sweden's largest city, with almost one million people. Other large cities are Gothenburg and Malmö. These cities are all in the southern half of the country, where it is not as cold as in the north. Swedes drink filmjölk, it is a traditional fermented milk product from Sweden. It is made by fermenting cow's milk. Glögg, is spiced mulled wine which people drink around Christmas. It normally contains red wine, sugar, orange peel, and spices. Swedes eat yellow pea soup with pork (or pork sausages) along with mustard.

Sweden is a constitutional monarchy because it has a king, Carl XVI Gustaf, but he does not have any real power. Sweden is a parliamentary state meaning that the government is elected by the parliament which is appointed by the people. The country is democratically ruled by a government headed by an elected prime minister. Ulf Kristersson was elected Prime Minister in September 2022. He took office in October 2022.

Sweden has an official majority language, Swedish (the Swedish word for the language is _svenska_). Sweden has five official minority languages: Finnish, Yiddish, Sami, Meänkieli, and Romani.

Sweden became a member of the European Union (EU) on 1 January 1995 and NATO on 7 March 2024. Unlike most countries in the European Union, Sweden is not a member of the Eurozone and has not begun to use the euro as currency. This is because the people have voted against using the euro. The currency remains the Swedish krona (Swedish crown).

## History

Sweden has been a kingdom for a thousand years. In the 15th century, during the Kalmar Union, Sweden had the same king as Denmark and Norway. In the early 16th century Sweden got a new king, Gustav Vasa. During the 17th century Sweden was a great power. Sweden had taken Estonia, Latvia, and Finland and parts of Norway, Germany, and Russia. In the 18th century Sweden became weaker and lost these places. In the early 19th century, Sweden's king died without an heir and the Swedish parliament voted for Jean Baptiste Bernadotte as the new king. Bernadotte fought Denmark and made them allow Norway to enter a personal union with Sweden.

This was Sweden's last war, and Sweden has not been at war for 200 years. In 1905, the Swedish-Norwegian personal union was dissolved. In many wars, including World War I and the Cold War, the country did not take sides. During World War II, it traded with both the British and the Germans in order to protect its neutrality.

## Region

Sweden has 25 historical provinces (_landskap_). They are found in three different regions: Norrland in the North, Svealand in the central region, and Götaland in the South.

### Counties

Sweden is divided into 21 counties. They are Stockholm, Uppsala, Södermanland, Östergötland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Kalmar, Gotland, Blekinge, Skåne, Halland, Västra Götaland, Värmland, Örebro, Västmanland, Dalarna, Gävleborg, Västernorrland, Jämtland, Västerbotten, and Norrbotten.

County governments largely regulate regional public transportation and healthcare.

### Municipalities

Sweden is further divided into 290 municipalities. The municipalities are responsible for many social issues, like schools, daycare centers, the care for older and disabled people and fire departments.

## Religion

Sweden has been Christian for a thousand years. Sweden is traditionally a Protestant country, but it is now one of the least religious countries in the world. Statistical surveys say 46-85% of all people in Sweden are agnostics or atheists. This means that they doubt or they do not believe in the existence of a god. About 6.4 million people in Sweden, which is 67% of all the people, are members of the Church of Sweden, but only 2% of members go to church often.

## Music

In popular music, ABBA, Roxette, The Cardigans, Europe, Entombed, At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Hypocrisy, Grave, Dissection, Avicii, Tove Lo, Laleh, Watain, and Ace of Base have had several hits throughout the years.

## Sports

Sweden is a country with many talented athletes, such as soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimović. Sweden (men and women's teams combined) has five bronze medals and two silver medals from the World Cup in football (soccer). The soccer league in Sweden is called Allsvenskan (men's) and Damallsvenskan (women's). Sweden has also performed well in ice hockey. The men's ice hockey top division in Sweden is called SHL and the women's SDHL. Sweden has also had several successful table tennis players, including Stellan Bengtsson and Jan-Ove Waldner, as well as alpine skiers including Ingemar Stenmark, Pernilla Wiberg, and Anja Pärson. Other champions include biathlete Magdalena Forsberg and tennis players Björn Borg, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, and Jonas Björkman. Swimmer Sara Sjöström has several gold, silver and bronze medals from the Olympic Games and holds several world records.

Sweden also succeeds in cross-country skiing, having won several medals in the Olympic Games.

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Kingdom of Sweden
- **common name**: Sweden
- **native name**: _Konungariket Sverige_
- **image flag**: Flag of Sweden.svg
- **image coat**: Great coat of arms of Sweden.svg
- **symbol type**: Coat of arms of Sweden, Greater coat of arms
- **national motto**:  ""

- **national anthem**: **'

- **royal anthem**: **'

- **image map**: EU-Sweden.svg
- **capital**: Stockholm
- **largest city**: capital
- **official languages**: Swedish language, Swedish
- **languages type**: Official minority languages
- **leader title1**: Monarchy of Sweden, Monarch
- **leader name1**: Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf
- **leader title2**: Speaker of the Riksdag
- **leader name2**: Andreas Norlén
- **leader title3**: Prime Minister of Sweden, Prime Minister
- **leader name3**: Ulf Kristersson
- **legislature**: Riksdag
- **sovereignty type**: History of Sweden, History
- **established event1**: A unified Swedish kingdom established
- **established date1**: By the late 10th century
- **established event2**: Part of Kalmar Union
- **established date2**: 1397–1523
- **established event3**: Part of Swedish-Norwegian Union
- **established date3**: 4 November 1814 – August 1905
- **established event4**: 1995 enlargement of the European Union, Joined the European Union
- **established date4**: 1 January 1995
- **established event5**: Joined NATO
- **established date5**: 7 March 2024
- **area km2**: 450,295
- **area rank**: 55th
- **area sq mi**: 175,896
- **percent water**: 8.37 (as of 2015)
- **population estimate**: 10,402,070
- **population estimate year**: February 2021
- **population estimate rank**: 88th
- **population density km2**: 25
- **population density sq mi**: 65
- **population density rank**: 198th
- **gdp ppp year**: 2020
- **gdp ppp rank**: 39th
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $52,477
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 16th
- **gdp nominal year**: 2020
- **gdp nominal rank**: 23rd
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $50,339
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 12th
- **gini**: 26.9
- **gini year**: 2020
- **gini change**: decrease
- **hdi**: 0.945
- **hdi year**: 2019
- **hdi change**: increase
- **currency**: Swedish krona
- **currency code**: SEK
- **time zone**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset**: +1
- **utc offset dst**: +2
- **time zone dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **date format**: yyyy-mm-dd
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: Telephone numbers in Sweden, +46
- **cctld**: .se
- **footnote a**: "" has been adopted by Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf as his personal motto.
- **footnote b**: __ has never been officially adopted as national anthem, but is so by convention.
- **footnote c**: Since 1 July 2009. Five other languages are Minority languages of Sweden, officially recognised as minority languages: Finnish language, Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani language, Romani, Sami language, Sami, and Yiddish. The Swedish Sign Language also has a special status.
- **footnote d**: , approximately 27% of the population had a full or partial foreign background.
- **footnote e**: Since Dagen H, 3 September 1967
- **footnote f**: The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.