SwedenThe '''Kingdom of Sweden''' (Swedish language|Swedish: ''Konungariket Sverige'' {{Audio|sv-Konungariket_Sverige.ogg|listen}}) is a Nordic countries|Nordic country in Scandinavia, in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the northeast, the Skagerrak Strait and the Kattegat Strait on the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia on the east. Sweden has a low population density in all but its Metropolitan Areas of Sweden|metropolitan areas, with most of the inland consisting of large peaceful forests and mountainous wilderness. Sweden has been a kingdom for a thousands years, about as long as it has been Christian. After the allegedly notorious Vikings, Sweden spent a couple of centuries in battles with its neighbouring countries Denmark and Norway; in the 16th and 17th century, Kings Gustav II Adolph and Charles XII|Charles XII of Sweden further ravaged in Northern Germany, Poland, and the Baltic States and extended the Realm of Sweden to twice its size – all lost later. Since 1816, Sweden has been a peaceful country without being involved in a single armed conflict, allthough its neutrality during World War II has been Sweden during World War II|disputed. As a result of massive poverty in the 18th century, whereby it was one of the poorest countries in Europe (second to Ireland), and suffering the results of alcohol, Sweden was shaped by the yoke of a dogmatic Protestantism, until its natural assets – timber, iron, grains – allowed it to fund a social democratic welfare state in the early 20th century. The country is today defined by libral tendencies and a strong national quest for equality – especially among the sexes.  {{Infobox Country | common_name = Sweden | native_name = Konungariket Sverige | image_flag = Sweden flag large.png | image_coat = Sweden_coat of arms large.png | national_motto = none1 | image_map = LocationSweden.png | official_languages = None 2 | national_anthem = ''Du gamla, Du fria'' (Swedish language|Swedish: "Thou Ancient, Thou Free") | government_type = Constitutional monarchy, Parliamentarism | leader_titles = Monarch of Sweden|King Prime Minister of Sweden|Prime Minister | leader_names = Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden|Carl XVI Gustaf Göran Persson | capital = Stockholm | latd=59|latm=21|latNS=N|longd=18|longm=4|longEW=E| largest_city = Stockholm | sovereignty_type = Foundation of Modern Sweden|Independence | established_events = | established_dates = 6 June 1523 | area = 449,964 | area_rank = 54th | area_magnitude = 1 E11 | percent_water = 8.67% | population_estimate = 9,006,405 | population_estimate_year = 2004 | population_estimate_rank = 84th | population_census = 8,940,788 (est.) | population_census_year = 2002 | population_density = 20 | population_density_rank = 155th | GDP_PPP_year = 2005 | GDP_PPP = $267 billion | GDP_PPP_rank = 34th | GDP_PPP_per_capita = $29,544 | GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 13th | currency = Swedish krona | currency_code = SEK | time_zone = central European Time|CET | utc_offset = +1 | time_zone_DST = Central European Summer Time|CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | calling_code = 46 | cctld = .se | footnotes = 1 För Sverige i tiden (English language|English: ''For Sweden; with the times'') is adopted by Carl XVI Gustaf as his personal motto in his role as Swedish monarch. 2 The Swedish language is the ''de facto'' national language of Sweden. Five languages are minority languages in Sweden|officially recognized as minority languages. }} == History == ''Main article: History of Sweden'' Conclusive archaeological evidence exists that the area now comprising Sweden was settled during the Stone Age (6,000 BC – 4,000 BC), as the inland ice of the Weichsel glaciation, i.e. the last ice age, receded. The earliest inhabitants are thought to have been hunter-gatherer|hunters and gatherers, living primarily off what the sea (later called the Baltic Sea) could offer. Some evidence supports the theory that southern Sweden was densely populated during the Nordic Bronze Age, as remains of large trading communities from this period have been found. Sweden was first mentioned in the 1st century, by Tacitus, who wrote that the Suiones lived out in the sea and were powerful in both arms and ships. However, laters sources are scarce. Jordanes wrote, in the 6th century, that the Swedes were the suppliers of black fox skins for the Roman market and had the best horses beside the Thuringians. This part of Swedish history is reflected darkly in the Norse sagas and in Beowulf. Sweden (etymology)|''Sweden'' as a name was originally a plural form of Swedes|Swede and is a so-called "back-formation", from Old English ''Sweoðeod,'' the land of the Suiones. During the Scandinavian Viking culture of the 9th century| 9th and 10th century, the sphere of interest|spheres of interest were so distributed, that trade, raiding and colonisation from present-day Sweden primarily went eastward, to Balticum, Russia and the Black Sea, while the Daner|Danes (including those in present-day South-Sweden) went southward, and the Norwegians concentrated on Scotland, Ireland and Iceland. Christianization in the 12th century led to the consolidation of a Swedish state centered at the water-ways of the northern Baltic and the Gulf of Finland. The East-West Schism between Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy was mirrored in frequent wars between Sweden and Novgorod, but stabilized in 1323 by the Treaty of Nöteborg with a border established along a line from the Eastern tip of the Gulf of Finland to the Northern tip of the Gulf of Bothnia. Like the similarly newly consolidated states of Norway and Denmark, in the 14th century Sweden was struck by crisis that was further aggravated by the Black Death, although Sweden's expansion into the wilderness of the Scandinavian peninsula and present-day Finland continued. The political incorporation into Sweden proper of what would later become Finland is usually dated to 1362, and would last until 1809. Image:Gustav Vasa.jpg|thumb|left|King Gustav I of Sweden In 1389, the three countries of Norway, Denmark and Sweden were united under a single monarch. The Kalmar Union was entered into as a personal union|personal, not a political, union; and during the 15th century, the Swedes resisted attempts to centralise rule under the Danish The Crown|crown, even to the point of armed rebellions. Sweden ultimately broke away in 1521, when Gustav Eriksson Vasa, from 1523 known as king Gustav I of Sweden, re-established separation of the Swedish crown from the union. Gustav Vasa's reign was signified by the Protestant Reformation, a renewed consolidation and centralization of the state, the formalization of the taxation|taxed yeomanry's participation in decisions on taxes and their use through a Riksdag of the Estates|four-chamber parliament, and of relatively peaceful international relations. Gustav Vasa is the closest to a Father of the Nation the Swedes know. The 17th century saw Rise of Sweden as a Great Power|the rise of Sweden as one of the great powers in Europe, due to successful participation, initiated by King Gustavus Adolphus, in the Thirty Years' War. This position would crumble in the 18th century when Imperial Russia took the reins of northern Europe in the Great Northern War, and eventually in 1809, splitting off the eastern half of Sweden, thereby creating the Imperial Russia|Russian Grand Duchy of Finland. In between, Sweden with Finland had experienced 50 years of early Parliamentarism. Recent Swedish history has been peaceful, the last war being the Campaign against Norway, 1814, establishing a Sweden-dominated personal union with Norway. The union was peacefully dissolved in 1905, despite some sabre-rattling. A threatening Socialist Revolution was avoided in 1917, following the re-introduction of Parliamentarism, and the country was democratized. Sweden remained a neutral country during World War I and World War II (with a brief exception for the Winter War). It continued to stay non-aligned during the Cold War and still today is not a member of any military alliance. The first ceremony to award the Nobel Prize, founded by the :Category:Swedish industrialists|Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, was held at the Old Royal Swedish Academy of Music|Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm in 1901; beginning in 1902, the prizes have been formally awarded by the King of Sweden. Remaining outside of World War II military action, except for lucrative contracts with Germany [http://www.dhh-3.de/biblio/news/1997/0607/], gave the Swedes a great advantage when Europe was rebuilt after the war, ensuring them a particularly high standard of living for many decades and allowing the foundation of an extensive welfare state. == Politics == ''Main articles: Politics of Sweden'' Sweden has been a monarchy for almost a millennium, with taxation controlled by the parliament. Until 1866, the taxed peasantry was represented in one of the Riksdag of the Estates|four chambers, then Sweden became a Constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament, with the First Chamber indirectly elected by local governments, and the Second Chamber directly elected. Legislative power was shared between king and parliament until 1975. In 1971, the Parliament, the ''Parliament of Sweden|Riksdag,'' became unicameral. Constitutionally, the 349-member ''Riksdag'' holds supreme authority in Sweden, and its acts are not subject to judicial review. However, acts of the parliament must at every level be made inapplicable if they obviously are against constitutional laws. Legislation may be initiated by the Cabinet of Sweden|Cabinet or by members of Parliament. Members are elected on the basis of proportional representation for a four-year term. The Constitution of Sweden|constitution, "Regeringsformen" (the fundamental law of constitutional level), can be altered by the ''Riksdag'', which requires a supermajority and confirmation after the following general elections. Sweden has three other laws of constitutional level; successionsordningen (The Act of Royal Succession), tryckfrihetsförordningen (The Freedom of the Press Act) and yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen (The Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression). Executive power was shared between the King and a noble Privy Council until 1680, followed by the King's autocracy|autocratic rule initiated by the common estates of the Parliament. As a reaction to the failed Great Northern War, Parliamentarism was introduced in 1719, followed by three different flavours of Constitutional Monarchy in 1772, 1789 and 1809, Swedish constitution of 1809|the latter granting several civil liberties. Parliamentarism was re-introduced in 1917 as Gustav V of Sweden|King Gustaf V, after decades of struggle and ultimately fearing a threatening revolution, accepted to appoint Political minister|ministers that could be expected to have the political confidence of a parliamentary majority. This was followed by common and equal suffrage enacted 1918–21. Parliamentarism was upheld by his successor Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden|Gustav VI Adolf until a new Constitution of Sweden|constitution in 1975 abolished the monarch's political power. The monarch remains as the formal, but merely symbolic, head of state with mainly ceremony | ceremonial duties. Social Democrat|Social Democracy has played a dominant political role since 1917, after Reformists had confirmed their strength and the Revolution|Revolutionaries left the party. Social Democratic influence over society and government is often described as Hegemony. 1932–1956 Social Democrats and Bondeförbundet|Agrarians formed a stable governing majority, that was widened during WWII. After 1956, the Cabinet of Sweden|Cabinets have been totally dominated by the Social Democrats, in the parliament often supported by Vänsterpartiet|the Left Party (formerly the Communists, and still with a large and influential Communist fraction) and Miljöpartiet|the Greens (Environment party), except for six years 1976–1982 and three years 1991–1994. The judicial system is divided between courts with regular civil and criminal jurisdiction and special courts with responsibility for litigation between the public and governmental authorities. Swedish law is codified and its court system consists of local courts (tingsrätter/länsrätter), regional appellate courts (hovrätter/kammarrätter), and a Supreme Court (Högsta Domstolen/Regeringsrätten) where the latter are the administrative benches. == Geography == ''Main article: Geography of Sweden'' Image:Carte_de_la_Suède.png|thumb|250px|left|More detailed map of Sweden (from http://www.aquarius.geomar.de) Sweden enjoys a mostly temperate climate despite its northern latitude, mainly due to the Gulf Stream. In the south of Sweden leaf-bearing trees are prolific, in the north pines and hardy birches dominate the landscape. In the mountains of northern Sweden a sub-arctic climate predominates. North of the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets during the summer, and in the winter night is unending. East of Sweden is the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia, providing a long coastline, and mellowing the climate further yet. To the west is the Scandinavian mountain chain, a range that separates Sweden from Norway. The southern part of the country is chiefly agricultural, with forests covering a larger percentage of the land the further north one goes. Population density is also higher in southern Sweden, with centers being in the valley of lake Mälaren and the Öresund region. Gotland and Öland are the two largest Islands of Sweden. === Counties === ''Main article: Counties of Sweden'' Sweden is divided into 21 county|counties or ''län''. In each county there is a County Administrative Boards of Sweden|County Administrative Board or ''länsstyrelse'' which is appointed by the Government. In each county there is also a separate County Councils of Sweden|County Council or ''landsting'', which is the municipal representation appointed by the county electorate. Each county further divides into a number of Municipalities of Sweden|municipalities or ''kommuner'', making a total of 290 municipalities, in 2004. There are also older historical divisions of the Realm of Sweden|Swedish Realm, primarily into Provinces of Sweden|provinces and Lands of Sweden|lands. Image:Sweden_counties.png|thumb|Counties of Sweden *Blekinge County *Dalarna County *Gotland County *Gävleborg County *Halland County *Jämtland County *Jönköping County *Kalmar County *Kronoberg County *Norrbotten County *Skåne County *Stockholm County *Södermanland County *Uppsala County *Värmland County *Västerbotten County *Västernorrland County *Västmanland County *Västra Götaland County *Örebro County *Östergötland County == Economy == ''Main article: Economy of Sweden'' Image:1 Krona 2001.jpg|thumb|The Swedish Krona Aided by peace and neutral country|neutrality for the whole of the 20th century, Sweden has achieved an enviable standard of living under a mixed system of high-tech capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. It has a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external communications, and a skilled labour force. Timber, hydropower, and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economics|economy heavily oriented toward foreign trade. Privately-owned firms account for about 90% of industrial output, of which the engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. This is one of the reasons why Sweden's Per Capita Income is so high. Agriculture accounts for only 2% of Gross Domestic Product|GDP and 2% of the jobs. The Government of Sweden|government's commitment to fiscal discipline resulted in a substantial budgetary surplus in 2001, which was cut by more than half in 2002, due to the global economic slowdown, revenue declines, and spending increases. The Swedish Sveriges Riksbank|Riksbank is focusing on price stability with its inflation target of 2%. Growth is expected to reach 3.5% in 2004, assuming a continued moderate global recovery. However, open unemployment has steadily increased since 2001 and stood at 5.5% as of March 2005, although there are a great many more persons of working age without a job. The Communications in Sweden|communications and Transportation in Sweden|transportation systems of Sweden are important components of the infrastructure. == Demographics == ''Main article: Demographics of Sweden'' Sweden has one of the world's highest life expectancies and one of the lowest birth rates. The country counts at least 17,000 Indigenous people|indigenous Sami people|Samis among its population. Also some 50,000 of the ethnic Finns of Sweden consist an indigenous minority, although many more of the Sweden Finns descend from 20th century immigrants. The Swedish nation has been transformed from a nation of emigration ending after World War I to a nation of immigration from World War II and on. Almost 12% of the residents were born abroad, and about one fifth of Sweden's population are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. The largest immigrant groups are from Finland, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|former Yugoslavia, Iran, Norway, Denmark, and Poland. This reflects the inter-Nordic migrations, earlier periods of labor immigration, and later decades of refugee and family immigration. The Finns were the first large group of immigrants to contemporary Sweden. During World War II some 70,000 Finnish war children|war children were evacuated from Finland. 15,000 of them stayed after the war, and many more returned as adults. Post-war hardship in Finland pushed large contingents of unemployed Finns to Sweden's booming economy in the 1950s–1960s|60s. At its height, over 400,000 Finns lived in Sweden, but following the 1973 energy crisis the unemployment rate in Sweden worsened while steady Soviet trade was to Finland's advantage. Since then, the number of immigrated Sweden-Finns has decreased to below 200,000. image:Smal house.jpg|thumb|right|280px|A typical 19th, early 20th century farmer's house on the rural countryside Soviet intervention against the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the Prague Spring|1968 Czechoslovakian liberalization resulted in the first surges of intellectual political refugees. United States|American deserters from the Vietnam War often found refuge among the Swedes, who in international politics took a clear stand against what they typically viewed as imperialism executed by both the Soviet Union and the United States of America. After the 1973 coup in Chile, and the following military dictatorships in Chile and other South American countries, political refugees came to dominate the image of immigration to Sweden, including refugees from Iran, Iraq and Palestine. Of the refugees from the Yugoslav wars, 135,000 remain in Sweden (2001). Swedish is a Germanic language related to Danish and Norwegian but different in pronunciation and orthography. English is by far the leading foreign language, particularly among students and those under age 50. The Swedish language has held a ''de facto'' dominant position to such a degree that making it an official language never has been a political issue. However, the recognition of Minority languages of Sweden|five minority languages on April 1, 2000 has raised the issue of whether Swedish should be declared official language of Sweden. Sami language|Sami, Meänkieli language|Meänkieli and Finnish language|Finnish may be used in dealing with Municipalities of Sweden|municipal and Government agencies in Sweden|government agencies, courts, preschools and nursing homes in parts of Norrbotten County. Sweden has an extensive child-care|childcare system that guarantees a place for all young children from 1-5 years old in a public day-care facility. From ages 6-16, children attend compulsory comprehensive school. After completing the ninth grade, 90% attend upper secondary school for either academic or technical education. Swedes benefit from an extensive social welfare system, which provides for childcare and maternity and paternity leave, a ceiling on health care costs, old-age pensions, and sick leave among other benefits. Parents are entitled to a total of 480 days paid leave between birth and the child's eighth birthday, with 30 days reserved specifically for each parent. A ceiling on health care costs makes it easier for Swedish workers to take time off for medical reasons. As of approximately August 12, as of 2004|2004, the population of Sweden for the first time exceeded 9,000,000, according to Statistics Sweden. == Culture == ''Main article: Culture of Sweden'' Swedish 20th century culture is noted by pioneering works in the early days of cinema, with Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. In the 50's – 80's, the filmmakers Ingmar Bergman and Bo Widerberg received awards at the Academy Awards, and actresseses Greta Garbo, Zarah Leander, Ingrid Bergman and Anita Ekberg made careers abroad. More recently, the films of Lukas Moodysson have gotten international recognition. Swedish music is in many minds connected with ABBA, although more recently indie bands like Millencolin, Soundtrack Of Our Lives and The Hives have started achieving international fame. Also worthy of mention are Ebba Grön, Imperiet, bob hund, Roxette, Ace of Base, The Cardigans, A-Teens and Yngwie J. Malmsteen In underground circles, Sweden is known for a large number of death metal and black metal acts, often viewed as pioneering or at the forefront of the scene. Swedish metal bands include Bathory (band)|Bathory, Opeth, Dark Tranquility, Naglfar, In Flames and Vintersorg. Swedish literature is also vibrant and active, Sweden ranking third in the list of countries with most Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize laureates in literature, allthough it can be explained to patriotic tendencies of the Swedish Nobel_Prize_for_Literature|Prize Committee. The list of Swedish world wide recongnized authors can not be discarded however, including names such as Carolus Linnaeus, August Strindberg, Selma Lagerlöf, Vilhelm Moberg and Astrid Lindgren. Swedes are among the greatest consumers of newspapers in the world and every town is served by a local rag. The country's main quality dailies are Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter, but in terms of popularity they lag behind Aftonbladet and Expressen, the evening tabloids. The free morning paper, Metro International|Metro, which is distributed in dozens of cities around the world, began in Sweden, while The Local provides the daily news in English. *Cuisine of Sweden **Systembolaget *Music of Sweden ===Sports=== Many Swedes enjoy both spectator sports and to participate in sports activities themselves. The two main spectator sports are soccer and ice hockey. Some notable soccer stars of Sweden include Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson and Fredrik Ljungberg, while some famous Swedish hockey players include Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Niklas Lidström, Börje Salming and Pelle Lindbergh. Sport activites are a national movement with half of the population actively participating. Second to soccer, Horse#Horses_in_sport_today|Horse sports have the highest number of practitioners, mostly confined to the female population. Thereafter follow golf, track and field, and the team sport|team sports handball, floorball, basketball and, in northern parts, bandy. American sports such as baseball and American football exist but have no widespread popularity. Sweden has also produced several good tennis players, such as former world No. 1's Björn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg. In skiing sports, Ingemar Stenmark, Pernilla Wiberg and Anja Pärson have been succesful in alpine skiing, and Gunde Svan and Thomas Wassberg are example of successful cross country skiers. In schools the game brännboll, a sport similar to softball, is commonly played on meadows and in parks; on those locations the historical game kubb has also received a revival among older youths, while the older generation prefer boule. Other famous Swedish athletes include the Heavy Weight Boxing Champion Ingemar Johansson, and the golfer Annika Sörenstam. == Holidays == ''Main article: Holidays in Sweden'' The Swedish holiday calendar consists mainly of Christianity|Christian holidays. Many of these are however a continuation of pre-christian customs, such as Midsummer|Midsummer and Walpurgis Night. Apart from official holidays and a few ''de facto'' holidays there are also Flag days in Sweden|official flag day observances and minor observances in the Namesdays in Sweden|namesday calendar. In 2004 the Parliament voted to make the National Day of Sweden a holiday as of 2005, and as a result of this Pentecost|Whitmonday was made an ordinary weekday. Some critique has been brought forward on this, mainly because the National Day may occur on weekends, as opposed to Pentecost|Whitmonday always occuring on Mondays. However, some employers have come up with the solution of granting their employees an extra day off between the National Day and ordinary holiday, should the National Day occur on a Tuesday or Thursday <table border=1 align=center cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0> <tr style=background:#efefef;> <th>Date<th>English Name<th>Local Name<th>Remarks <tr><td>January 1<td>New Year|New Year's Day <td>''Nyårsdagen''<td>  <tr><td>January 6<td>Epiphany (feast)|Epiphany <td>''Trettondagen''<td>  <tr><td>''Moveable feast|Moveable Friday''<td>Good Friday <td>''Långfredag''<td>The Friday before Easter Sunday <tr><td>''Moveable feast|Moveable Sunday''<td>Easter Sunday <td>''Påskdagen''<td>  <tr><td>''Moveable feast|Moveable Monday''<td>Easter|Easter Monday <td>''Annandag påsk''<td>The day after Easter Sunday <tr><td>May 1<td>May Day <td>''Första maj''<td>See also Walpurgis Night <tr><td>''Moveable feast|Moveable Thursday''<td>Ascension Day<td>''Kristi himmelsfärdsdag''<td>40 days after Easter <tr><td>''Moveable feast|Moveable Sunday''<td>Pentecost <td>''Pingstdagen''<td>50 days after Easter <tr><td>''Moveable feast|Moveable Monday''<td>Pentecost|Whitmonday <td>''Annandag Pingst''<td>51 days after Easter; as of 2005 no longer a holiday <tr><td>June 6<td>National holiday of Sweden|National Day of Sweden <td>''Nationaldagen''<td>replaced Annandag Pingst as of 2005 <tr><td>Friday before Midsummer|Midsummer day<td>Midsummer|Midsummer Eve <td>''Midsommarafton''<td>Inofficial - ''however a de facto full holiday'' <tr><td>Saturday between June 20 and 26<td>Midsummer|Midsummer Day <td>''Midsommardagen''<td>  <tr><td>Saturday between October 31 and November 6<td>All Saints|All Saints Day <td>''Alla helgons dag''<td>Moved from November 1 <tr><td>December 24<td>Christmas Eve <td>''Julafton''<td>Inofficial - ''however a de facto full holiday'' <tr><td>December 25<td> Christmas Day <td>''Juldagen''<td>  <tr><td>December 26<td>Boxing Day<td>''Annandag jul''<td>  <tr><td>December 31<td>New Year|New Year's Eve <td>''Nyårsafton''<td>Inofficial - ''however a de facto full holiday'' <tr><td>All Sundays<td> <td> <td>Official holidays - ''names follow the Liturgical year'' </table> == Miscellaneous topics == *Allemansrätten *Government agencies in Sweden *Education in Sweden **List of universities in Sweden *Ethnic Swedes *Foreign relations of Sweden *Military of Sweden **List of Swedish wars **List of Swedish regiments *Swedish Royal Academies *Table of Swedish monarchs *Non-governmental organizations in Sweden *Communications in Sweden **Postage stamps and postal history of Sweden *Transportation in Sweden *Media in Sweden *Church of Sweden *Catholic Church of Sweden *Tourism in Sweden *Reporters without borders World-wide Press Freedom Index 2002: Rank 7 out of 139 countries *List of Sweden-related topics *List of Swedes *List of Swedish companies *List of Swedish television channels *List of Swedish radio stations *List of Swedish newspapers ==International rankings== *[http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html CIA World Factbook - GDP] - (Purchasing power parity|PPP) per capita **2004: 24th of 232 countries [http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html] *Reporters Without Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index **2002: 7th of 139 countries [http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4116] **2003: 9th of 166 countries [http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=8247] **2004: 11th of 167 countries [http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=11715] *Save the Children: State of the World's Mothers **2004 [http://www.savethechildren.org/mothers/report_2004/images/pdf/SOWM_2004_final.pdf] ***Mothers' index rank: 1st of 119 countries ****Women's index rank: 1st of 119 countries ****Children's index rank: 10th of 119 countries ***Infant mortality rate: lowest ***% women with seats in the national government: highest *UN Human Development Index **1975: 4th [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf] **1980: 7th [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf] **1985: 8th [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf] **1990: 11th [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf] **1998: 6th of 174 countries [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf] **2001: 4th of 162 countries [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2001/en/pdf/hdi.pdf] **2002: 2nd of 173 countries [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2002/en/pdf/HDR%20PR_HDI.pdf] **2003: 3rd of 175 countries [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2003/pdf/presskit/HDR03_PKE_HDI.pdf] **2004: 2nd of 177 countries [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2004/pdf/presskit/HDR04_PKE_HDI.pdf] *World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report [http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Gcr/Growth_Competitiveness_Index_2003_Comparisons] **2003: 3rd **2004: 3rd of 104 countries == References == *CIA World Factbook - [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sw.html Sweden] *United States Department of State - [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2880.htm Sweden] == External links == *[http://www.sweden.se/ SWEDEN.SE] - The Official Gateway to Sweden *[http://www.sweden.gov.se/ The Swedish Government] - Official site *[http://www.riksdagen.se/Index_en.asp The Riksdag] - Official site of the Swedish Parliament *[http://www.earth-photography.com/Countries/Sweden Stockholm Pictures] *[http://webcam.deili.info/en,1,39 Webcam in Sweden] *[http://www.royalcourt.se/2.53abbbfd7ffdfa677fff23627.html The Royal Court of Sweden] *[http://www.studyin.sweden.se/ Study in Sweden] *[http://www.visit-sweden.com/ Sweden's Travel and Tourism Council] *[http://www.scb.se/default____2154.asp Statistics Sweden] *[http://www.radiosweden.org/ Radio Sweden (in English)] *[http://www.thelocal.se/ The Local] - Sweden's news in English {{EU_countries}} {{Nordic Council}} {{Europe}} Category:Monarchies Category:Sweden| Category:European Union member states af:Swede ang:Swéoland bg:Швеция bs:Švedska ca:Suècia cs:Švédsko cy:Sweden da:Sverige de:Schweden et:Rootsi es:Suecia eo:Svedio eu:Suedia fr:Suède fy:Sweden gl:Suecia - Sverige got:𐍃𐍅𐌴𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐌹 ko:스웨덴 hr:Švedska io:Suedia ia:Svedia is:Svíþjóð it:Svezia he:שבדיה la:Suecia lv:Zviedrija lt:Švedija li:Zwaede hu:Svédország mk:Шведска ms:Sweden zh-min-nan:Sverige nl:Zweden nds:Sweden ja:スウェーデン no:Sverige pl:Szwecja pt:Suécia ro:Suedia ru:Швеция se:Ruoŧŧa sq:Suedia simple:Sweden sl:Švedska sr:Шведска fi:Ruotsi sv:Sverige tl:Swiden vi:Thụy Điển tr:İsveç uk:Швеція yi:שװעד zh:瑞典 First page | Prev | Next | Last page |

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