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Sweden (pronounced /ˈswiːdən/ (help·info), Swedish: Sverige), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the Öresund Bridge in the south.

At 450,000 km2 (173,746 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union in terms of area, and it has a total population of over 9.2 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 people per km² (53 per square mile), but with a considerably higher density in the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas, and it is expected that these numbers will gradually rise as a part of the ongoing urbanization. Sweden's capital is Stockholm, which is also the largest city in the country (population of 1.3 million in the urban area and with 2 million in the metropolitan area). The second and third largest cities are Gothenburg and Malmö.

Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government and a highly developed economy. It ranks first in the world in The Economist's Democracy Index and 6th in the United Nation's Human Development Index. Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.

Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. 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, present-day Finland, 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 then, Sweden has been at peace, adopting a non-aligned foreign policy in peacetime and neutrality in wartime.

For more information about Sweden, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with sweden

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U.S. Ranks 35th in 'Report Card' on World Social Progress; Sudden, Unexpected Shift Forward for Africa

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (7) | comments 10

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sweden and Denmark lead the world in social progress, Afghanistan is at the bottom of the list and the United States ranks 35th among 162 nations, tied with Ireland, Latvia and Hong Kong. Those are among ...


The first onshore wind farm to be built in the southeast of England is pictured in 2008

Europe's biggest wind farm planned in Sweden

Technology / Energy

created Apr 06, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 3

Plans to build the biggest wind farm in Europe are underway in Sweden after winning approval from a local county administrative board on Monday, officials said.


A file photo of a spiral galaxy

Space tourism from Sweden to start in 2012

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 18, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 2

Short tourist flights into space are expected to begin launching from northern Sweden in 2012, one of the companies involved in the project said Wednesday.





Search results for sweden


Blocking biofilms: Alzheimer's research sheds light on potential treatments for urinary tract infections

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Research into Alzheimer's disease seems an unlikely approach to yield a better way to fight urinary tract infections (UTIs), but that's what scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis ...


Fat around the middle increases the risk of dementia

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Women who store fat on their waist in middle age are more than twice as likely to develop dementia when they get older, reveals a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy.


New discovery about the formation of new brain cells

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The generation of new nerve cells in the brain is regulated by a peptide known as C3a, which directly affects the stem cells' maturation into nerve cells and is also important for the migration of new nerve cells through ...


The Symbian platform is used on almost 50% of mobiles worldwide

Spotify launches application for Nokia phones

Technology / Software

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Swedish streaming software Spotify announced on Monday the launch of a music application for the Symbian platform, used by the world's biggest mobile phone maker Nokia and other smartphones.


Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss

Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss (w/ Video)

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 22, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 0

Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight - creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid ...


Genetic analysis helps dissect molecular basis of cardiovascular disease

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 20, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Using highly precise measurements of plasma lipoprotein concentrations determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), researchers led by Daniel Chasman at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School ...


Sony Ericsson closes NC, other sites as HQ moves

Technology / Business

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Cell phone handset maker Sony Ericsson will move its North American headquarters from North Carolina to Atlanta and close a half-dozen sites worldwide as it retrenches against what it expects will be a tighter market ...


Europe and America couldn't be more different, right? Not so fast, says historian

Other Sciences / Other

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 2.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Marshalling data on everything from colon cancer to the accuracy of public clocks, Peter Baldwin illustrates how differences between the U.S. and Western Europe are much smaller than commonly supposed.


Youths see all parental control negatively when there's a lot of it

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

A new study has found that young people feel differently about two types of parental control, generally viewing a type of control that's thought to be better for their development more positively. However, when parents are ...


Road trains may be coming soon to Europe

Road trains may be coming soon to Europe (w/ Video)

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (18) | comments 22

(PhysOrg.com) -- Road trains linking vehicles together in a traveling convoy are planned for Europe. With only the lead vehicle being actively driven, the road trains would allow commuters to sleep, read a ...



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