TravellerHints! Sweden is a vast country located in the region of Northern Europe, belonging to Scandinavia. Sweden has an access to the Baltic Sea and borders with Norway and Finland, and also with Denmark across the Öresund, connected by a bridge. The Kingdom of Sweden is one of the largest countries in European Union by size as it covers a total area of more than 450 thousand square kilometres.
The Swedish population counts only about 10 million people, which makes it one of the less densely populated countries in Europe. The vast majority of people are concentrated in big cities and urban areas in the south of the country. The official language is Swedish but in some areas, also Finnish is spoken thanks to the minority ethnic group Finns living in border regions.
The capital of Sweden and also the largest and most populous city is Stockholm . As such, Stockholm is where the government is located and also functions as the economic and cultural centre. Like other Scandinavian countries, Sweden is highly developed and high income economy (8th highest in the world) with extremely great quality of life and superior levels of education, civil liberties, human development, equality, prosperity of even health (having the Nordic social welfare system). It is one of the first members of the European Union and also the United Nations OECD or WTO, although the referendums declined the membership in the Eurozone or NATO.
Swedish history dates back to the middle ages. The famous Viking era during 8th – 11th century is still reminded by countless number of ruins and historic sites across the entire land. The Swedish Empire was a great power among Europe especially in the 17th and 18th century and expanded its area extensively.
Ever since the beginning of the 19th century, Sweden has remained a neutral country and did not take part in any military conflict. The current borders and freedom from the union with Norway were established in 1905.
Sweden is a natural paradise with fascinating landscapes and rugged nature, unspoiled by a human hand.
The nature is so pure and vast, that no matter where in Sweden you go, you will always feel like the whole land belongs just to you. Sweden has several beautiful natural parks within its territory and the land is covered by lakes and deep forests with wildlife such as reindeers, moose, foxes or wolves. Swedish mountains are perfect for skiing and other winter sports and the surrounding is a hiking paradise on Earth with multiple camping and fishing opportunities.
The very north is called Lappland and portrays the distant wilderness where the indigenous Sami people face the extreme weather conditions in this virgin nature in such an amazing way that will let you speechless. Lappland is also the place where the stunning Aurora Borealis light show on the sky (northern lights) can be seen during long winter nights and, on the contrary, the midnight sun during summer.
On the other hand, Swedish cities (such as Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö or Uppsala) offer a pleasant blend of cultural richness and modernity including nightlife and delicious dining temptations.
