Hear it pronouncedSweden
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- "Sverige" redirects here. For other uses, see Sweden (disambiguation) and Sverige (disambiguation).
| Konungariket Sverige
Kingdom of Sweden
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| Motto: (Royal) "För Sverige - I tiden" 1 "For Sweden – With the Times" |
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| Anthem: Du gamla, Du fria2 Thou ancient, thou free Royal anthem: Kungssången The Song of the King |
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 Location of Sweden (dark green)
– on the European continent (light green & dark grey) |
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| Capital (and largest city) |
Stockholm |
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| Official languages | None3 | |||||
| Recognised regional languages | Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami | |||||
| Demonym | Swedish or Swedes | |||||
| Government | Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy | |||||
| - | King | Carl XVI Gustaf | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Fredrik Reinfeldt | ||||
| - | Speaker of the Riksdag |
Per Westerberg |
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| Consolidation | Prehistoric | |||||
| EU accession | 1 January 1995 | |||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 449,964 km² (55th) 173,732 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 8.7 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2008 census | 9,196,2274 | ||||
| - | Density | 20/km² (194th) 52/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2007 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $333.1 billion (33rd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $36,900 (25th) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2007 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $455 billion (20th) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $49,655 (8th) | ||||
| Gini (2005) | 23 (low) | |||||
| HDI (2004) | ▲ 0.956 (high) (6th) | |||||
| Currency | Swedish krona (SEK) |
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| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .se5 | |||||
| Calling code | +46 | |||||
| 1 | För Sverige - I tiden has been adopted by Carl XVI Gustaf as his personal motto. | |||||
| 2 | Du gamla, Du fria has never been officially adopted as national anthem, but is so by convention. | |||||
| 3 | The Swedish language is the de facto national language, but it is not an official language in Sweden. However, the main goal of the Swedish parliament is to keep the Swedish language the main language (huvudspråk). Five other languages are officially recognized as minority languages.[1] [2] | |||||
| 4 | "Population in the country, counties and municipalities on 31/12/2007 and Population Change in 2007". Statistiska centralbyrån. Retrieved on 2008-02-19. | |||||
| 5 | The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states. The .nu domain is another commonly used TLD ("nu" means "now" in Swedish). | |||||
Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige [ˈko:.nɵ.ŋa.ˌri:.kət ˈsvær:.jə]), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by the Oresund Bridge. It has been a member of the European Union since January 1, 1995. Its capital city is Stockholm.
At 449.964 km² (173.732 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country by area in Western Europe and fourth in all of Europe. With a total population slightly over 9 million, Sweden has a low population density of 20 people per km² (52 per sq. mi). About 84% of the population live in urban areas. [3]
Modern Sweden emerged out of the Kalmar Union formed in 1397, and by the unification of the country by King Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. In the 17th century the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish empire. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden constituted by the eastern half of Norrland and Österland was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden, a union which lasted until 1905. Since 1814, Sweden has been at peace, adopting a non-aligned foreign policy in peacetime and neutrality in wartime.[4]
Contents |
[ Etymology
The modern name Sweden is derived through "back-formation" from Old English Sweoðeod, which meant "people of the Swedes" (Old Norse Svíþjóð, Latin Suetidi). This word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas (Old Norse Sviar, Latin Suiones). The Swedish name Sverige literally means "Realm of the Swedes", excluding the Geats in Götaland.
The etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but suggestively deriving from Proto-Germanic *Swihoniz meaning "one's own",[5] referring to one's own Germanic tribe.
[ History
[ Prehistory
Sweden's prehistory begins in the Allerød warm period c. 12,000 BC with Late Palaeolithic reindeer-hunting camps of the Bromme culture at the edge of the ice in what is now the country's southernmost province. This period was characterised by small bands of hunter-gatherer-fishers using flint technology.
Farming and animal husbandry, along with monumental burial, polished flint axes and decorated pottery, arrived from the Continent with the Funnel-beaker Culture in c. 4,000 BC. Sweden's southern third was part of the stock-keeping and agricultural Nordic Bronze Age Culture's area, most of it being peripheral to the culture's Danish centre. The period began in c. 1700 with the start of bronze imports from Europe. Copper mining was never tried locally during this period, and Scandinavia has no tin deposits, so all metal had to be imported though it was largely cast into local designs on arrival.
The Nordic Bronze Age was entirely pre-urban, with people living in hamlets and on farmsteads with single-story wooden long-houses.
In the absence of any Roman occupation, Sweden's Iron Age is reckoned up to the introduction of stone architecture and monastic orders about 1100 AD. Much of the period is proto-historical, that is, there are written sources but most hold a very low source-critical quality. The scraps of written matter are either much later than the period in question, written in areas far away, or local and coeval but extremely brief.
The climate took a turn for the worse, forcing farmers to keep cattle indoors over the winters, leading to an annual build-up of manure that could now for the first time be used systematically for soil improvement.
A Roman attempt to move the Imperial border forward from the Rhine to the Elbe was aborted in AD 9 when Germans under Roman-trained leadership defeated the legions of Varus by ambush in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. About this time, a major shift in the material culture of Scandinavia occurred, reflecting increased contact with the Romans.
Starting in the 2nd century AD, much of southern Sweden's agricultural land was parcelled up with low stone walls. They divided the land into permanent infields and meadows for winter fodder on one side of the wall, and wooded outland where the cattle was grazed on the other side. This principle of landscape organization survived into the 19th century. The Roman Period also saw the first large-scale expansion of agricultural settlement up the Baltic coast of the country's northern two thirds.
Sweden enters proto-history with the Germania of Tacitus in 98 AD. Whether any of the brief information he reports about this distant barbaric area was well-founded is uncertain, but he does mention tribal names that correspond to the Swedes (Suiones) and the Sami (Fenni) of later centuries. As for literacy in Sweden itself, the runic script was invented among the south Scandinavian elite in the 2nd century, but all that has come down to the present from the Roman Period is curt inscriptions on artefacts, mainly of male names, demonstrating that the people of south Scandinavia spoke Proto-Norse at the time, a language ancestral to Swedish and other North Germanic languages.
[ Viking and Middle ages
- See also: Early Swedish history and Foundation of Modern Sweden
The Swedish Viking Age lasted roughly between the eighth and eleventh centuries AD. During this period, it is believed that the Swedes expanded from eastern Sweden and incorporated the Geats to the south.[6] While Vikings from what is today Norway, Denmark and the west coast and south of Sweden travelled south and west, Swedish vikings and Gutar travelled east and south, going to Finland, the Baltic countries, Russia, the Mediterranean and further as far as Baghdad. Their routes passed the rivers of Russia down south to Constantinople (Byzantine Empire) (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) on which they did numerous raids. The Byzantine Emperor Theophilos noticed their great skills in war, and invited them to serve as his personal bodyguard, these were called the varangian guard. The Swedish vikings Template:Early Swedish history. The Swedish vikings (Rus) are, according to the most popular theory, believed to have to have founded Russia. The adventures of these Swedish Vikings are commemorated on many runestones in Sweden, such as the Greece Runestones and the Varangian Runestones. There was also considerable participation in expeditions westwards, which are commorated on stones such as the England Runestones. The last major Swedish Viking expedition appears to have been the ill-fated expedition of Ingvar the Far-Travelled to Serkland, the region south-east of the Caspian Sea. Its members are commemorated on the Ingvar Runestones, none of which mentions any survivor. What happened to the crew is unknown, but it is believed that they died of sickness.
It is not known when and how the kingdom of Sweden was born, but the list of Swedish monarchs is drawn from the first kings who ruled Svealand (Sweden) and Götaland (Gothia) as one with Erik the Victorious. Sweden and Gothia were two separate nations long before that. It is not known how long they existed, Beowulf described semi-legendary Swedish-Geatish wars in the sixth century AD.
During the early stages of the Scandinavian Viking Age, Ystad in Scania and Paviken on Gotland, in present-day Sweden, were flourishing trade centers. Remains of what is believed to have been a large market have been found in Ystad dating from 600–700 AD.[7] In Paviken, an important center of trade in the Baltic region during the ninth and tenth century, remains have been found of a large Viking Age harbour with shipbuilding yards and handicraft industries. Between 800 and 1000, trade brought an abundance of silver to Gotland and according to some scholars, the Gotlanders of this era hoarded more silver than the rest of the population of Scandinavia combined.[7]
St. Ansgar introduced Christianity around 829, but the new religion did not begin to fully replace paganism until the twelfth century and onward. During the 11th century, Christianity became the most prevalent religion, and from the year 1050 Sweden is counted as a Christian nation. The period between 1100 and 1400 was characterized by internal power struggles and competition among the Nordic kingdoms, including struggles for territory and comparative power. Swedish kings also began to expand the Swedish-controlled territory in Finland, creating conflicts with the Rus.[8]
In the 14th century, Sweden was struck by the Black Death (the Plague). During this period the Swedish cities also began to acquire greater rights and were strongly influenced by German merchants of the Hanseatic League, active especially at Visby. In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united under King Magnus Eriksson and in 1397 Queen Margaret I of Denmark effected the personal union of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark through the Kalmar Union. However, Margaret’s successors, whose rule was also centred in Denmark, were unable to control the Swedish nobility. Real power was held for long periods by regents (notably those of the Sture family) chosen by the Swedish parliament. King Christian II of Denmark, who asserted his claim to Sweden by force of arms, ordered a massacre in 1520 of Swedish nobles at Stockholm. This came to be known as the “Stockholm blood bath” and stirred the Swedish nobility to new resistance and, on 6 June (now Sweden's national holiday) in 1523, they made Gustav Vasa their king. This is sometimes considered as the foundation of modern Sweden. Shortly afterwards he rejected Catholicism and led Sweden into the Protestant Reformation. Gustav Vasa is considered to be Sweden's "Father of the Nation".
[ Swedish Empire
Sweden proper Kexholm County Swedish Ingria Swedish Estonia Livonia Swedish Pomerania, Abp Bremen and Bp Verden Scania, Blekinge, Halland, Gotland and Bohuslän Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal Jämtland, Härjedalen, Idre & Särna
- See also: Rise of Sweden as a Great Power, Swedish Empire, Swedish overseas colonies, Sweden and the Great Northern War, Absolute Monarchy in Sweden, Sweden-Finland, and Union between Sweden and Norway
The 17th century saw the rise of Sweden as one of the Great Powers in Europe. Sweden also had colonial possessions as a minor colonial Empire that existed from 1638—1663 and later 1785—1878.
Sweden was during Imperial times the most powerful country of northern Europe and the Baltic Sea. Sweden's Imperial status took its start with Gustav II Adolph as king, who made Sweden the third biggest nation in Europe by area after Russia and Spain, and his successful participation in the Thirty Years' War, which made Sweden the recognized leader of continental Protestantism in Europe until 1721, when the Empire collapsed.[9] Sweden's Imperial status during this period is largely credited to Gustav I's major changes on the Swedish economy in the mid-1500s, and his introduction of Protestantism (Lutheran).[10]
The mid 1600s and the early 1700s were Sweden's most successful years as a great power. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent as an empire during the rule of Charles X (1622–1660) after the treaty of Roskilde in 1658. However, Sweden's largest territorial extent lasted from 1319 to 1343 with Magnus Eriksson ruling all of the traditional lands of Sweden and Norway. 17th century saw Sweden engaged in warfare with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with both sides competing for territories of today's Baltic states, with the disastrous Battle of Kircholm being one of the highlights[11]. This period also saw the Deluge - the Swedish invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After more than a half century of almost constant warfare the Swedish economy had deteriorated. It would become the lifetime task of Charles' son, Charles XI (1655-1697), to rebuild the economy and refit the army. His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden Charles XII, was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet. Sweden's largest threat at this time, Russia, had a larger army but was far behind in both equipment and training. After the Battle of Narva in 1700, one of the first battles of the Great Northern War, the Russian army was so severely injured, that Sweden had an open chance to invade Russia. Instead, however, Charles XII invaded Poland and changed their king to a more Swedish friendly one. However after the crushing defeat at poltava the old king quickly took his throne back. This gave the Russian Tsar time to rebuild and modernise his army. After the success of invading Poland Charles decided to make an invasion attempt of Russia, which however, ended in a decisive Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. The campaign had a successful opening for Sweden, which came to occupy Poland and change their rule into a more Swedish friendly king. But after a long march exposed by cossack raids, the Russian Tsar Peter the Great's scorched-earth techniques and the cold Russian climate, the Swedes stood weakened with a shattered confidence, and enormously outnumbered against the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant the beginning of the end for Sweden as Empire.
After building up a new army Charles XII attempted to invade Norway 1716, however he was shot at Fredriksten fortress in 1718. The Swedish military was not defeated at Fredriksten. However, when Karl died the whole structure and organisation of the Norwegian campaign fell apart and the army withdrew back home. However this led to defeat, the Swedish head of state signed the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. Forced to cede large areas of land, Sweden also lost its place as an empire and as the dominant state on the Baltic Sea. With Sweden's lost influence, Russia began to emerge as an empire, and become one of Europe's dominant nations.
In the 18th century, Sweden did not have enough resources to maintain its territories outside Scandinavia and most of them were lost, culminating with the 1809 loss of the eastern part to Russia: forming the semi-autonomous (Duchy) of Finland of Imperial Russia.
After Denmark-Norway was defeated in the Napoleonic Wars, Norway was ceded to the king of Sweden on 14 January 1814, at the Treaty of Kiel. The Norwegian attempts to keep their status as a sovereign state were rejected by the Swedish king, Charles XIII. He launched a military campaign against Norway on July 27, 1814, ending in the Convention of Moss, which forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden, which was not dissolved until 1905. The 1814 campaign was also the last war in which Sweden participated as a combatant.
[ Modern history
- See also: Modernization of Sweden and Swedish emigration to North America
The 18th and 19th centuries saw a significant population increase, which the writer Esaias Tegnér in 1833 famously attributed to "the peace, the (smallpox) vaccine, and the potatoes".[12] Between 1750 and 1850, the population in Sweden doubled. According to some scholars, mass emigration to America became the only way to prevent famine and rebellion; over 1 percent of the population emigrated annually during the 1880s.[13] Nevertheless, Sweden remained poor, retaining a nearly entirely agricultural economy even as Denmark and Western European countries began to industrialize.[14][13] Many looked towards America for a better life during this time. It is believed that between 1850 and 1910 more than one million Swedes moved to the United States.[15] In the early 20th century, more Swedes lived in Chicago than in Gothenburg (Sweden's second largest city). Most Swedish immigrants moved to thee Midwestern United States, with a large population in Minnesota. Some Swedes moved to Delaware. Some also moved to Canada and others in smaller numbers to Argentina.
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