Välkommen till Sverige!
(Welcome to Sweden!) By: Alexandria Gemeinhardt
Population of Sweden
Sweden's population on the last day of 2013 was 9,644,864.
Country Size
173,732 sq miles (449,964 km²) is Sweden's country size. A lot of room to have fun and eat those Swedish meatballs and Saffransbullar and Pepparkakor!
Climate
Sweden enjoys a generally temperate climate, thanks to the Gulf Stream. Above the Arctic Circle, winter can be crisp and invigorating. In the south, winter is generally mild with an average of temperature above 0C/32F degrees, but temperatures can vary markedly in different parts of the country. Sweden's northerly position has a definite summer advantage in that temperatures are rarely extreme and humidity levels are not high. You can divide the country into three regions; central and southern Sweden, the northeast, and the northwest, or far north to describe the weather in Sweden.
Language
Swedish language, Swedish Svenska, the official language of Sweden and, with Finnish one of the two national languages of Finland. Swedish belongs to the East Scandinavian group of North Germanic languages. Until World War ll, it was also spoken in parts of Estonia and Latvia. Swedish was spoken by about eight million Swedes in the early 21st century. It is closely related to Norwegian and Danish.
Goverment
The Swedish government operates as a collegial body with collective responsibility and consits of the Prime Minister appointed and dismissed by the Speaker of the Riksdag (following an actual vote in the Riksdag before an appointment can be made) and other cabinet ministers (Swedish: Statsråd), appointed and dismissed at the sole discretion of the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for its actions to the Riksdag.
Religion
For hundreds of years, the Church of Sweden, an Evangelical Lutheran church, represented the religion of state. However, in 2000, the Church and government placed into effecta formal separation of church and state, with a stipulation that the Church of Sweden will continue to receive a certain degree of state support. According to recent estimates, about 84% of the population belong to the Church of Sweden. Roman Catholics constitute about 0.02% of the populace, with about 150,000 members. About 100,000 people are members of Christian Orthodox churches, including Greek, Serbian, Syrian, Romanian, and Macedonian. The number of Muslims is at about 350,000, with about 100,000 active practitioners primarily of the Sunni and Shi'a branches. There are also about 20,000 Jews (Orthodox, Conservative, and reformed), with about half being active. Buddists and Hindus number around 3,000 to 4,000 each. It is estimated that about 15% to 20% of the adult population are atheists.
Flag
The foundations of contemporary Swedish design started by a national awakening in the arts during the last decade -- a concept of "create things new for the world" and "more beautiful things for everyday use." Aesthetic inspiration also came from the German Deutscher Werkbund and Bauhaus.
Culture
Swedish culture and lifestyle, through literature and film is hot stuff. The books of Stieg Larrson (Millennium Trilogy), Henning Mankell (Detective Wallander books and TV series) and Camilla Läckberg (‘Ice Princess’, ‘the Stonecutter’) lay bare the underbelly of Swedish society and delve into the collective Swedish psyche, admittedly in gorgeous natural settings. The popularity of Swedish crime fiction books, TV series and movies is astonishing, particularly with the international release of Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’. If you are visiting Stockholm, take the Millennium Tour.
Food
The Vikings, who inhabited all of Scandivina more than one thousand years ago, were some of the first to develop a method for preserving foods. In preparation for long voyages, foods were salted, dehydrated, and cured. Though modern-day technology (such as the refrigerator and freezer) has eliminated the need for such preserving methods, Swedes continue to salt, dehydrate, and cure many of their foods, particularly fish. Due to Sweden's large north-south expanse there have always been regional differences in Swedish cuisine. Historically, in the far North, meats such as reindeer, and other (semi-) game dishes were eaten, some of which have their roots in the Sami culture, while fresh vegetables have played a larger role in the South. Many traditional dishes employ simple, contrasting flavours, such as the traditional dish of meatballs and brown cream sauce with tart, pungent Lington jam (slightly similar in taste to cranberry sauce)
Top sites
- Stockholm
The Stockholm Archipelago
Gothenburg
Malmö
ICEHOTEL
Kosterhavet
Marstrand
“Wallander’s Ystad”
Skåne
Visby/Gotland