Sweden
By: Andrew Smith and Cesar Hernandez
Location
Sweden is one of the fingers of the Scandinavian Peninsula. A peninsula is a piece of land surrounded by water. The northern part of Sweden is near or in the Arctic Circle.
Food
People living in Sweden love to eat seafood such as fish, shrimp, and crawfish. Swedes also like having Lingonberry jam, gravy, and boiled potatoes. Some Swedish dishes are salted herring, cabbage rolls, fried potatoes, and rice pudding.
Major Cities
The major cities of Sweden are Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo, and Uppsala. Stockholm is the largest in population and size being the country's capital, it has a population of 1,253,309 people.
Outdoor Activities and Entertainment
People who live in Sweden like to play soccer in the summertime and like to downhill ski, cross-country ski, ice skate, and play ice hockey in wintertime. Horseback riding is also popular among Swedish people.
Setting
Two thirds of Sweden is covered by forests and lakes. Sweden is mostly flat but there are mountains on the border with Norway. In winter, the land is almost completely covered in snow.
Holidays
Swedes celebrate a number of holidays, but one of the most important is St. Lucia Day. On December 13th, the girl playing St. Lucia wears a white robe with a silk ribbon around her waist and a crown of candles in her hair. The girl then leads a prossession with other children. Both boys and girls wear white robes; the girls carry candles and the boys carry sticks with star tops. The boys also wear paper cone hats. This holiday is centered around bringing light to the darkness of winter, since the sun is out for so few hours each day during that season.
Climate
In summer Sweden has warm summers, and long hours of sunlight. In the north the sun never sets at all during summer, but that all changes in winter. Sweden's winters are freezing and snowy with little daylight especially up north where the sun never rises during the cold months. The average temperature in winter is below freezing and snow coats the land all winter.
Language
The Swedish language is a Germanic language, and was developed from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings. Swedish is related to Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic. The Swedish alphabet is very similar in comparison to the English alphabet but has three extra characters.
Historic Sites, Attractions, and Places to Visit
Three historic palaces in Stockholm are the Royal Palace, the City Hall, and Drottningholm Palace. One attraction is the Vasa Museum that shows the history of a great warship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628. The entire ship is very well preserved. Another attraction is the Ice Festival in Kiruna. They have events like skiing, dog sledding, and even a giant hotel igloo with 60 rooms. Since the ice melts every April, the hotel has to be rebuilt every fall. Stockholm is also famous for having the city hall that awards the Nobel Prize.
Transportation
Sweden has an extensive line of underground trains, commuter trains, and buses making public transportation very easily accessible. Sweden is also connected to Denmark by a gigantic suspension bridge that stretches over the Baltic Sea. Since Sweden is a part of a peninsula, boat traffic is common.