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Sweden
Geographic coordinates:
62°00' N, 15°00' E
Population:
9,031,088 (July 2007 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Swede(s)
adjective: Swedish
National Hymn:
 | "Du gamla, Du Fria" (You Old, You Free)  |
Languages:
Swedish
small Sámi and Finnish speaking minorities
Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Sweden
conventional short form: Sweden
local long form: Konungariket Sverige
local short form: Sverige
Government type:
constitutional monarchy
Area:
total: 449,964 sq km
land: 410,934 sq km
water: 39,030 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than California
Land boundaries:
total: 2,233 km
border countries: Finland 614 km, Norway 1,619 km
Coastline:
3,218 km
Climate:
temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north
Terrain:
mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Lake Hammarsjon, near Kristianstad -2.41 m
highest point: Kebnekaise 2,111 m
Natural resources:
iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, tungsten, uranium, arsenic, feldspar, timber, hydropower
Geography - note:
strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 80.63 years
male: 78.39 years
female: 83 years (2007 est.)
Capital:
name: Stockholm
geographic coordinates: 59°20 N, 18° 03 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Independence:
6 June 1523 (Gustav Vasa was elected king)
Background:
An early military power, Sweden has not participated in any war in almost two centuries. An armed neutrality was preserved in both World Wars. Sweden's has a long-successful economic formula of a capitalist system interlarded with substantial welfare elements. Sweden joined the EU in 1995, but the public rejected the introduction of the euro in a 2003 referendum.
Sweden was one of the first countries to develop 'an embassy' in the virtual world of Second Life. Visit the Swedish House in Second Life
Watch a 4-minute movie on Sweden
Visit Sweden.Se to Learn More
Source and images courtesy of: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sw.html
