Contributions  >  EuroWRC: Sweden

SWEDEN

AREA: 449,964 sq km (173,732 sq miles).

POPULATION: 8,847,625 (1997).

POPULATION DENSITY: 19.7 per sq km.

CAPITAL: Stockholm. Population: 711,119 (1995).

GEOGRAPHY: Sweden is bordered by Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, with a long Baltic coast to the east and south. Approximately half the country is forested and most of the many thousands of lakes are situated in the southern central area. The largest lake is Vänern, with an area of 5540 sq km (2140 sq miles). Swedish Lapland to the north is mountainous and extends into the Arctic Circle.

GOVERNMENT: Constitutional monarchy. Gained independence from Denmark in 1523. 
Head of State: King Carl XVI since 1973. 
Head of Government: Prime Minister Göran Persson since 1996.

LANGUAGE: Swedish. Lapp is spoken by the Sámi population in the north. English is taught as the first foreign language from the age of nine.

RELIGION: Church of Sweden (Evangelical Lutheran), separated from the state in January 2000; other Protestant minorities.

TIME: GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October).

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Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research
Göteborg University, Box 200
SE405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
Tel +46 31-773 56 00, Fax +46 31-773 56 04
E-mail: sekretariat@genus.gu.se
Homepage: www.genus.gu.se