Sweden
Updated: Sep 15, 2022
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Country Name
Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden.
Location
Sweden is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund Strait.
Capital
Stockholm.
Reason for Naming
The word Sweden is derived from 17th century Middle Dutch and Middle Low German. In Old English, the country was named Swéoland and Swíoríce (Old Norse Svíaríki). Early Modern English used Swedeland. The etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic *Swihoniz meaning "one's own", referring to one's own Germanic tribe.
Flag
The first use of the Swedish flag was in 1562. The current flag was adopted on 22 June 1906.
The Swedish flag was most likely inspired by the oldest Nordic flag -
Danish Dannebrog.
The flag consists of a yellow cross on a blue background that reaches the edges of the flag and its shorter arm is located closer to the hoist side (left side of the flag), The blue color represents justice, loyalty, and truth, and the yellow color on the cross represents generosity.
Language
Swedish is the official language of Sweden, Nearly the entire population of Sweden speaks Swedish with most speaking it as a first language and the rest as a second language. Several different dialects of Swedish are spoken in various parts of Sweden. These include: Westrobothnian (coastal areas of Westrobothnia and Norrbotten), Dalecarlian (spoken primarily in the Älvdalen Municipality and other northern parts of the Dalarna province), Modern Gutnish (spoken in Gotland and Fårö), Jamtlandic ( spoken mainly in Jämtland but with scattered speakers throughout Sweden), Scanian (spoken in the province of Scania). Five minority languages have been formally recognized in Sweden since 1999 as follows: Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami, Romani, and Yiddish, Foreign languages spoken in Sweden are German, English, French, Spanish, Danish, and Norwegian.
Religion
The major religion in Sweden today remains the Church of Sweden, with 63.2% of the population adhering. However, irreligion is also on the rise in the country.
With a population of more than 6 million members, the Lutheran Church of Sweden prides itself on being among the three largest churches in the world.
In more recent times between the years 2005 and 2015, the church has suffered a significant loss of more than 11% of the entire church population.
Christians who do not belong to the Church of Sweden and are not Catholic account for 3.8% of the population. These include evangelical churches, Calvinist, and Pentecostal denominations among others.
Muslim Swedes make up around 1.4% of the population. This number has grown slightly over recent years due to an increase in immigration.
Across the whole world, one of the countries where it is most acceptable for one to practice atheism in Sweden due to the high level of acceptance.
Currency
Swedish krona (SEK).
Time Zone
+02:00 GMT. (Summer Time).
+01:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy.
Climate
Sweden has different types of climates: subpolar in Lapland and the Scandinavian Mountains, Baltic semi-continental on the south-central coasts, and almost oceanic on southern coasts and islands. Swedish climate is usually less rainy and more continental, so it is colder in winter and warmer and sunnier in summer. In winter the average temperatures vary greatly between the different areas the temperature hovers around freezing (0 °C or 32 °F) in much of the country in January and February in the far south and around -1.5 °C (29 °F) in Stockholm, while it's around -10 °C (14 °F) in the north-central part and -15 °C (5 °F) in the far north. winter is also characterized by the length of the days: in December, the days are very short, and the sun doesn't even rise in the far north; February is typically colder than December, but the days begin to lengthen fairly clearly. Summer (June-July-August) is usually mild or pleasantly warm, and with small differences between north and south, the temperature rises steadily above freezing; daytime temperatures are mild, around 18/21 °C (64/70 °F), and sometimes even hot, while nights remain very cool, around 10 °C (50 °F) or below. The peaks of summer heat are similar across the country as well, around 28/32 °C (82/90 °F); hot periods are typically short and do not last more than two or three days (even though in the summer of 2018, the heat lasted for long periods). The best time to visit Sweden is in the summer, from June to August. June is the month with the longest days, with the midnight sun in the north and the white nights (i.e. midnight twilight) in the south, but July is the warmest month. By mid-August, both the increase in rainfall and the decrease in temperature show how soon the summer tends to decline at these latitudes.