Situated in Northern Europe, Sweden lies west of the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia, providing a long coastline, and forms the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. To the west is the Scandinavian mountain chain (Skanderna), a range that separates Sweden from Norway. Sweden is surrounded by Norway (west), Finland (northeast), the Skagerrak, Kattegat and Öresund straits (southwest) and the Baltic Sea (east). It has maritime borders with Denmark, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and it is also linked to Denmark (southwest) by the Öresund Bridge.

Sweden has three main regions. Norrland, covering about three-fifths of the country, is mountainous, densely forested, has large ore deposits and contains the majority of the country's 90,000 lakes. Svealand consists of the Central Swedish lowland with its vast lakes and archipelagos and the hilly, forested inland regions of Dalarna and Värmland. Götaland in the south comprises the stony Småland highlands and the rich plains of Skåne, Västergötland and Östergötland. About 15% of Sweden lies north of the Arctic Circle. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, with increasing forest coverage northward. The highest population density is in the Öresund region in southern Sweden, and in the valley of lake Mälaren in central Sweden. Gotland and Öland are Sweden's largest islands; Vänern and Vättern are Sweden's largest lakes.

Sweden enjoys a mostly temperate climate despite its northern latitude, mainly because of the Gulf Stream. In the south of Sweden, leaf-bearing trees are prolific, further north pines, spruces and in the very north hardy birches dominate the landscape. In the mountains of northern Sweden a sub-Arctic climate predominates. North of the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets for part of each summer, and in the winter, night is similarly unending.

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Counties Sweden is divided into twenty-one counties (län). They are Stockholm County, Uppsala County, Södermanland County, Östergötland County, Jönköping County, Kronoberg County, Kalmar County, Gotland County, Blekinge County, Skåne County, Halland County, Västra Götaland County, Värmland County, Örebro County, Västmanland County, Dalarna County, Gävleborg County, Västernorrland County, Jämtland County, Västerbotten County and Norrbotten County.

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As of April 2007, the total population of Sweden was estimated to be 9,131,425. The population exceeded 9,000,000 for the first time as of approximately August 12, 2004, according to the Statistics Sweden. Of the 2004 population, 1.1 million, or 12%, were foreign-born and approximately 16.7% (1.53 million) had at least one parent born abroad or were themselves born abroad.[38] This reflects the inter-Nordic migrations, earlier periods of labour immigration, and later decades of refugee and family immigration. Sweden has been transformed from a nation of emigration ending after World War I to a nation of immigration from World War II onwards. In 2006, immigration to Sweden reached its highest level since records began.

Immigration from the other Nordic countries reached a peak of more than 40,000 per year in 1969-70 when the new immigration rules introduced in 1967 had made it more difficult for immigrants from outside the Nordic region to settle in Sweden for labour market policy reasons. Immigration by refugees and immigrating relatives of refugees from outside the Nordic region increased drastically during the late 1980s, with many of the immigrants arriving from Asia and Latin America, especially from Iran and Chile. During the 1990s and onwards another large immigrant group came from former Yugoslavia and the Middle East.[40]

The largest immigrant group living in Sweden as of 2005 consists of people born in Finland, followed by people born in Turkey, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Russia, Iran, Iraq and Former Yugoslavia. The official list of immigrant arrivals in 2005 by country of birth, compiled by the Swedish Integration Board, shows that biggest group of immigrants to Sweden still comes from the Nordic countries: of the 20,162 Nordic born immigrants moving to Sweden in 2005, more than half (11,066) were people born in Sweden returning to Sweden, while 3,494 were born in Denmark, 2,793 born in Finland and 2,425 in Norway. Of the other groups arriving in 2005, 16,739 were immigrants born in Asia, 5,625 were immigrants born in Africa and 2,655 were born in Latin America.

A sizable community from the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) arrived during the Second World War, but most of them returned to their countries of birth after the war.

Finns make up about 5% of the whole population and in the areas near the border to Finland, they make up some 50% of the population.[citation needed] The original population of northern Sweden, the Sami people, (a folk group living in 4 countries) is only about 20,000 persons. Approximately 77,500 of the nation's population is of sub-Saharan African ancestry.[citation needed] The majority of Afro-Swedes are immigrants who came for political refuge and economic opportunity, including Ethiopians who fled from Communist rule in the 1970s and 1980s, and Somalians fleeing ongoing fighting there since the 1990s.[citation needed]Soviet intervention against the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the 1968 Czechoslovak liberalization resulted in the first surges of intellectual political refugees. Some American deserters from the Vietnam War also found refuge among the Swedes. The then ruling social democrats, in particular Olof Palme took in international politics a clear stand against what they typically viewed as the imperialism of both the Soviet Union and the United States. [citation needed]Following the 1973 coup in Chile, a large number of Chilean political refugees arrived in Sweden. Others came from South American countries including Argentina and Uruguay following the rise of military dictatorships. Sweden has also taken in refugees from the Middle East, particularly Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. Some East Asian and South Asian immigration (Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis and Vietnamese) into Sweden have notable numbers. [citation needed] The influx of Iraqi refugees also has been notable during the last years, up to 40,000 Iraqis are expected to seeking asylum in 2007.

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The primary language of Sweden is Swedish, a North Germanic language, related and very similar to Danish and Norwegian, but differing in pronunciation and orthography. Norwegians have little difficulty understanding Swedish and Danes can also understand it, with a bit more difficulty than the Norwegians. The area around Malmö (across from Copenhagen) has the most mutual intelligibility.[citation needed] The dominant language has always been Swedish, though this designation was never made official. However, with the recognition of five minority languages of Sweden (Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami, Romani and Yiddish) on April 1, 2000, the issue of whether Swedish should be declared the official language was raised. On December 7, 2005, the parliament voted, but with a count of 147 to 145 and certain voting errors the proposal failed.

A majority of Swedes, especially those born after World War II, understand and speak English thanks to trade links, the popularity of overseas travel, a strong Anglo-American influence and the tradition of subtitling rather than dubbing foreign television shows and films. English became a compulsory subject for secondary school students studying natural sciences as early as 1849, and has been a compulsory subject for all Swedish students since the late 1940s. Depending on the local school authorities, English is currently a compulsory subject between first grade and ninth grade, with all students continuing in secondary school studying English for at least another year. Most students also learn one and sometimes two additional languages, the most popular being Spanish, German, French, and Italian. [citation needed] Some Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic is at times also taught as part of the Swedish course for native speakers to emphasize differences and similarities between the languages.

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Political system

Sweden is a constitutional monarchy, in which King Carl XVI Gustaf is head of state, but royal power has long been limited to official and ceremonial functions. The nation's modern legislative body is the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag), with 349 members, which chooses the Prime Minister. Parliamentary elections are held every four years, on the third Sunday of September.

Political History

The actual age of the kingdom of Sweden is unknown, it depends mostly on whether Sweden should be considered a nation when the Svear (swedes) ruled Svealand or if the emergence of the nation started with the Svear and the Götar (geats) of Götaland being united under one ruler. In the first case, Sweden was first mentioned to have one single ruler year 98 by Tacitus, but it's impossible to know for how long it had been this way. However, historians usually start the line of Swedish monarchs from when Svealand and Götaland were ruled under the same king, namely Erik the Victorious and his son Olof Skötkonung in the 10th century. These events are often described as the consolidation of Sweden, although substantial areas including Österland and Norrland, were added later.

Earlier kings, for which no reliable historical sources exist can be read about in Mythological kings of Sweden and Semi-legendary kings of Sweden, many of these kings are only mentioned in various Norse sagas and blend with Norse mythology.

The title Sveriges och Götes Konung was last used for Gustaf I of Sweden, after which the title became "King of Sweden, of the Goths and of the Wends" (Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung) in official documentation. Up until the beginning of the 1920s, all laws in Sweden were introduced with the words, "We, the king of Sweden, of the Goths and Wends". This title was used up until 1973. The current king of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf was the first monarch officially proclaimed "King of Sweden" (Sveriges Konung) with no additional peoples mentioned in his title.

The term "Riksdag" was used for the first time in the 1540s, although the first meeting where representatives of different social groups were called to discuss and determine affairs affecting the country as a whole took place as early as 1435, in the town of Arboga. During the assemblies of 1527 and 1544, under King Gustav Vasa, representatives of all four estates of the realm (clergy, nobility, townsmen and peasants) were called on to participate for the first time. The monarchy became hereditary in 1544.

Executive power was historically shared between the King and a noble Privy Council until 1680, followed by the King's autocratic rule initiated by the common estates of the Parliament. As a reaction to the failed Great Northern War, Parliamentarism was introduced in 1719, followed by three different flavours of Constitutional Monarchy in 1772, 1789 and 1809, the latter granting several civil liberties. The monarch remains as the formal, but merely symbolic head of state with ceremonial duties.

The Riksdag of the Estates consisted of two chambers. In 1866 Sweden became a Constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament, with the First Chamber indirectly elected by local governments, and the Second Chamber directly elected in national elections every four years. In 1971 the Riksdag became unicameral. Legislative power was (symbolically) shared between king and parliament until 1975. Swedish taxation is controlled by the Riksdag (parliament).

Modern Political System Constitutionally, the 349-member Riksdag (Parliament) holds supreme authority in modern Sweden. This Riksdag is responsible for choosing the Prime Minister, who then appoints the government (the ministers). The legislative power is then shared between the parliament and the Prime Minister led government. The executive power is exercised by the government, while the Judiciary is independent. Sweden lacks compulsory judicial review, although the non-compulsory review carried out by lagrådet (Law Council) is mostly respected in technical matters but less so in controversial political matters.

The Riksdag following its 2006 renovation (picture of assembly hall).

The Swedish Social Democratic Party has played a leading political role since 1917, after Reformists had confirmed their strength and the revolutionaries left the party. After 1932, the Cabinets have been dominated by the Social Democrats. Only four general elections (1976, 1979, 1991 and 2006) have given the centre-right bloc enough seats in Parliament to form a government. There has been broad political consensus regarding the rapid extension of the welfare state,[citation needed], with government expenditure at its peak being 67% of the gross domestic product. However, poor economical performance since the beginning of the 1970s, and especially the crisis at the beginning of the 1990s, have forced Sweden to reform its political system to become more like other European countries, although it is one of only two European countries with taxes that exceed 50% of GNP (the other being Denmark). In the 2006 general election the Moderate Party, allied with the Centre Party, Liberal People's Party, and the Christian Democrats, with a common political platform, won a majority of the votes. Together they have formed a majority government under the leadership of the Moderate party's leader Fredrik Reinfeldt.

Sweden has a history of strong political involvement by ordinary people through its "popular movements" ("Folkrörelser" in Swedish), the most notable being trade unions, the women's movement, the temperance movement, and – more recently – the sports movement. Gudrun Schyman founded the Feminist Initiative party, commonly referred to simply as F!, in 2005. Ms. magazine quoted Schyman's view of Sweden's reputation for progressive initiatives: "In Sweden there’s a gap between words and reality.... Internationally a lot of people look upon Sweden as equality paradise, but that is not the truth – and now things are actually going backwards."

Election turnout in Sweden has always been high in international comparisons, although it has declined in recent decades, and is currently around 80% (80.11 in general election of 2002, 81.99 in general election of 2006). Swedish politicians enjoyed a high degree of confidence from the citizens in the 1960s but it has since declined steadily and Sweden was by the end of the 1990s one of the Western countries with the lowest degree of trust between citizens and politicians.[citation needed]

Some Swedish political figures that have become known worldwide include Raoul Wallenberg, Folke Bernadotte, former Secretary General of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld, Olof Palme, former Prime Minister, Carl Bildt former Prime Minister and currently Foreign minister, Jan Eliasson former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations and Hans Blix former IAEA inspector in Iraq.

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The Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) is a Government agency responsible for the peacetime operation of the armed forces of Sweden. The primary task of the agency is to train and deploy peace support forces abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to refocus on the defense of the country in the event of war. The Armed Forces is branched into Army, Air Force and Navy. As a Government agency, it reports to the Swedish Ministry of Defence. The head of armed forces is the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces (Överbefälhavaren, ÖB), and beside the Sovereign is the most senior officer in the country.

Sweden's military is built on conscription, and until the end of the Cold War nearly all males reaching the age of military service were conscripted. In recent years, the number of conscripted males has reduced dramatically, while the number of female volunteers has increased slightly. Recruitment has generally shifted towards finding the most motivated recruits, rather than solely those otherwise most fit for service. All soldiers serving abroad must by law be volunteers. In 1975 the total number of conscripts was 45,000. By 2003 it was down to 15,000. After the Defense Proposition 2004, the number of troops in training will decrease even more to between 5,000 and 10,000 each year, while emphasizing the need to recruit only the soldiers later prepared to volunteer for international service. The total forces gathered would consist of about 60,000 men. This could be compared with the 80s before the fall of the Soviet Union, when Sweden could gather up to 1,000,000 men.

Swedish units have taken part in peacekeeping operations, in Congo, Cyprus, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Currently, one of the most important tasks for the Swedish Armed Forces is to form a Swedish-led EU Battle Group to which Norway, Finland and Estonia will also contribute, perhaps also Ireland. The Nordic Battle Group (NBG) is to have a 10-day deployment readiness during the first half of 2008.

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