Sweden has many authors of worldwide recognition including August Strindberg, and nobel prize winners Selma Lagerlöf and Harry Martinson. In total 7 Nobel prizes of literature has been awarded to Swedes. The nation's most well-known artists are painters such as Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn, and the sculptors Tobias Sergel and Carl Milles. Swedish twentieth-century culture is noted by pioneering works in the early days of cinema, with Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. In the 1920s–1980s, the filmmaker Ingmar Bergman and actors Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman became internationally noted people within cinema. More recently, the films of Lukas Moodysson and Lasse Hallström have received international recognition. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Sweden was seen as an international leader in what is now referred to as the "sexual revolution", with gender equality having particularly been promoted.[70] At the present time, the number of single people is one of the highest in the world.

Midsummer's Eve by Anders Zorn.

The early Swedish film I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) reflected a liberal view of sexuality, including scenes of love making that caught international attention, and introduced the concept of the "Swedish sin". Sweden has also become, in recent decades, fairly liberal regarding homosexuality, as is reflected in the popular acceptance of films such as Fucking Åmål, which is about two young lesbians in the small Swedish town of Åmål. In the absence of legislation on same-sex marriages, Sweden offers both registered partnerships and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.

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Sweden has a rich musical tradition, ranging from medieval folk ballads to hip hop music. The music of the pre-Christian Norse has been lost to history, although historical recreations have been attempted based on instruments found in Viking sites. Instruments used were the lur (a sort of trumpet), simple string instruments, wooden flutes and drums. It is possible that the Viking musical legacy lives on in some of the old Swedish folk music.

Sweden has a significant folk-music scene, both in the traditional style as well as more modern interpretations which often mix in elements of rock and jazz. Väsen is more of a traditionalist group, using a unique traditional Swedish instrument called the nyckelharpa while Garmarna, Nordman, and Hedningarna have more modern elements. There is also Saami music, called the joik, which is actually a type of chant which is part of the traditional Saami animistic spirituality but has gained recognition in the international world of folk music as well. Sweden has a major market for new age and ecologically or environmentally aware music, as well a large portion of pop and rock music have liberal and left-wing political messages.

Sweden also has a prominent choral music tradition, deriving in part from the cultural importance of the Swedish folk songs. In fact, out of a population of 8.9 million, it is estimated that between five hundred thousand and six hundred thousand people sing in choirs.

ABBA was one of the first well-known popular music band from Sweden, and the only one that ranks among the most well-known in the world. With ABBA, Sweden entered into a new era, in which Swedish pop music gained international prominence. Sweden is sometimes referred to as the third largest exporter of pop and rock music in the world, after the US and the UK, but this is disputable and difficult to verify.There have been many other internationally successful bands since. Sweden has also become known for a large number of heavy metal (mostly death metal and melodic death metal,), as well as progressive- and power metal bands.

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Swedes are among the greatest consumers of newspapers in the world, and nearly every town is served by a local paper. The country's main quality morning papers are Dagens Nyheter (liberal), Göteborgs-Posten (liberal), Svenska Dagbladet (conservative) and Sydsvenska Dagbladet (liberal). The two largest evening tabloids are Aftonbladet (social democratic) and Expressen (liberal). The ad-financed, free international morning paper, Metro International, was originally founded in Stockholm, Sweden. The country's news is reported in English by, among others, The Local (liberal).

Until 1991, the Swedish Public Service company, with its two television channels SVT1 and SVT2 (plus three digital channels), had a monopoly on broadcasting television on the terrestrial network. Swedes were not able to receive any other television channels until satellite dishes became available in the 1980s. In 1987, TV3 began sending commercial television to Sweden via satellite in London. Two other channels, TV4 and Kanal 5, soon followed suit.

In 1991 the government announced it would begin taking applications from private television companies wishing to broadcast on the terrestrial network. TV4, which had previously been broadcasting via satellite, was granted a permit and began its terrestrial broadcasts in 1992, becoming the first private channel to broadcast television content from within the country.

In 2007, CNN reported that Sweden became the first country to open an embassy in virtual world Second Life. The Embassy serves to promote Sweden's image and culture, rather than providing any real or virtual services.

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The famous Coca Cola bottles introduced in 1916 were designed by the Swedish-American Alex Samuelsson.[73] The zipper was invented in 1913 by Swedish-American Gideon Sundbäck who improved the primitive zip-lock to the model we are using in nowadays. Carl Richard Nyberg got a patent on the blow torch in 1881.[74] The kerosene stove or "Primus" kitchen was invented by Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist in 1892 which was a huge Swedish export success. The 100-scale Celsius temperature scale was invented in the mid 18th century by Anders Celsius. Probably the most famous Swedish invention, dynamite was created by Alfred Nobel in 1867. Gustaf Dalén invented the life-saving gas-driven lighthouse used in shorelines all around the world. Dalén received the Nobel Prize in 1912 for his invention. In 1907 Sven Wingquist created the spheric bearing, since 1907 the world's only bearing factory, Svenska Kullager Fabriken was set up by Wingquist. In the 1920's Baltzar von Platen and Carld Munters created a gas-absorption refrigerator with no mechanic parts based on the absorptions-principle. This was a world sensation and was retailed worldwide by Electrolux which still is a market leading company. Baltzar von Platen also created worlds first arificial diamond by compressing coal in a special pressure chamber. The first pacemaker ever installed in a living person was built by the inventor Rune Elmqvist and the surgery was completed by Åke Senning in 1958. In 1878, Gustaf de Laval created the separator, separating milk from cream and making production of butter much easier and faster. The heritage of Gustav de Laval is still existent in the world leading company Alfa Laval. The modern propeller used in ships was created by John Ericsson in 1839. The safety match, invented in 1844 by Gustaf Erik Pasch, still makes Swedish Match a world leading company. The improvement of Alexander Graham Bell's invention in 1876, Lars Magnus Ericsson constructed the first hand held phone for which he got patents in 1895. Ericsson is today one of the world's largest Telecom corporations. In 1930 Ruben Rausing and Erik Åkerlund founded the company "Åkerlund & Rausing" which invented the plastic-covered cardboard cases. Tetra Pak is still the world leading producer of this kind of packages. Johan Petter Johansson invented the adjustable spanner in 1888 which was designed so that the grip gets tighter while the wrench is being pulled. Bluetooth is also a Swedish invention. Absolut Vodka is a Swedish brand of vodka, owned by V&S Group and started in 1879 by the entrepreneur Lars Olsson Smith. IKEA is a international wholesaler of home products founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden. AstraZeneca PLC formed on 6 April 1999. MySQL creator and owner of MySQL Databas, founded 1995 in Uppsala, Sweden. SAAB is an aviation and defense company based in Sweden and founded in 1937. Volvo Group is a Swedish supplier of commercial transport solutions founded on April 14, 1927 in the city of Gothenburg. Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin, it was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden by Ruben Rausing and Erik Wallenberg.

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