Capital: Stockholm
Currency: Swedish Krona (SEK)
Borders: Finland 586 km, Norway 1,619 km
Sweden is situated in the middle of Scandinavia, joined on each side
by Norway and Finland respectively. The south coast faces the Baltic
Sea. The landmass of Sweden is 410,934 sq km. The coast is littered
with thousands of island archipelagos, many of which are inhabited
and connected to the mainland by a series of causeways. In excess of
95,000 lakes have been recorded in Sweden, and it is a particularly
favourite Swedish pastime to picnic at the lakes during the
summertime. Smorgasbord is a Swedish invented dish, consisting of
bread, fish and cheese. This is a popular dish to take on a picnic.
Smorgasbord translated literally means ‘table of bread’.
The capital of Sweden is Stockholm, and it is without a doubt the
largest of Sweden’s cities. It is the commercial hub of Sweden,
although Gothenburg, Helsingborg and Malmo follow close behind in
terms of size and importance. The official language is Swedish
although Norwegian, Finnish and English are also widely understood.
The national unit of currency is the Swedish Krona.
Sweden is one of Europe’s wealthiest countries with a high standard
of living and provision of welfare to match. The wealthy economy of
Sweden is largely represented by industry, services and a highly
skilled national workforce. The Swedes have long been famous for
shipbuilding as well as for the manufacture of cars. Iron and steel
is another important industry. The agricultural sector accounts for
only 2% of the national workforce, producing barley, wheat and sugar
beet. The transport network is represented by 12,821 km of railways
and 210,760 km of highways.
Sweden is one of the iciest, most northerly inhabited countries in
the world and its harsh, dry winter testifies the extremities of the
cold climate. Often temperatures of below –15°C can be recorded in
parts of Sweden during winter. Wintertime is often a time of much
snow, especially in northern Sweden, where many towns may become cut
off in the ‘dark months’. The summer months are very pleasant, and
indeed the opposite can be said about daylight hours during the
summer months. |
