A military power during the 17th century, Sweden has not participated in any war in almost two centuries. An armed neutrality was preserved in both World Wars. Sweden's long-successful economic formula of a capitalist system interlarded with substantial welfare elements was challenged in the 1990s by high unemployment and in 2000-02 by the global economic downturn, but fiscal discipline over the past several years has allowed the country to weather economic vagaries. Indecision over the country's role in the political and economic integration of Europe delayed Sweden's entry into the EU until 1995, and waived the introduction of the euro in 1999.

Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Kattegat, and Skagerrak, between Finland and Norway

62 00 N, 15 00 E

total: 449,964 sq km
land: 410,934 sq km
water: 39,030 sq km

total: 2,233 km
border countries: Finland 614 km, Norway 1,619 km

3,218 km

territorial sea: 12 nm (adjustments made to return a portion of straits to high seas)
exclusive economic zone: agreed boundaries or midlines
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north

mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west

lowest point: reclaimed bay of Lake Hammarsjon, near Kristianstad -2.41 m
highest point: Kebnekaise 2,111 m

iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, tungsten, uranium, arsenic, feldspar, timber, hydropower

arable land: 5.93%
permanent crops: 0.01%
other: 94.06% (2005)

1,150 sq km (2003)

ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic

acid rain damage to soils and lakes; pollution of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas

9,016,596 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 16.7% (male 775,433/female 732,773)
15-64 years: 65.7% (male 3,001,928/female 2,918,242)
65 years and over: 17.6% (male 689,756/female 898,464) (2006 est.)

total: 40.9 years
male: 39.8 years
female: 42 years (2006 est.)

0.16% (2006 est.)

10.27 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

10.31 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 2.76 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 2.92 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 2.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 80.51 years
male: 78.29 years
female: 82.87 years (2006 est.)

1.66 children born/woman (2006 est.)

0.1% (2001 est.)

3,600 (2001 est.)

less than 100 (2003 est.)

noun: Swede(s)
adjective: Swedish

indigenous population: Swedes with Finnish and Sami minorities; foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks

Lutheran 87%, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist

Swedish, small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.)

conventional long form: Kingdom of Sweden
conventional short form: Sweden
local long form: Konungariket Sverige
local short form: Sverige

constitutional monarchy

Stockholm

21 counties (lan, singular and plural); Blekinge, Dalarnas, Gavleborgs, Gotlands, Hallands, Jamtlands, Jonkopings, Kalmar, Kronobergs, Norrbottens, Orebro, Ostergotlands, Skane, Sodermanlands, Stockholms, Uppsala, Varmlands, Vasterbottens, Vasternorrlands, Vastmanlands, Vastra Gotalands

6 June 1523 (Gustav VASA elected king)

Flag Day, 6 June

1 January 1975

civil law system influenced by customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

18 years of age; universal

unicameral Parliament or Riksdag (349 seats; members are elected by popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 15 September 2002 (next to be held on 17 September 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - Social Democrats 39.8%, Moderates 15.2%, Liberal Party 13.3%, Christian Democrats 9.1%, Left Party 8.3%, Center Party 6.1%, Greens 4.6%; seats by party - Social Democrats 144, Moderates 55, Liberal Party 48, Christian Democrats 33, Left Party 30, Center Party 22, Greens 17

Supreme Court or Hogsta Domstolen (judges are appointed by the prime minister and the cabinet)

Aided by peace and 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 labor force. Timber, hydropower, and iron ore constitute the resource base of an 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. Agriculture accounts for only 2% of GDP and of jobs. The 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, declining revenue, and increased spending. The Swedish central bank (the Riksbank) focuses on price stability with its inflation target of 2%. Growth remained sluggish in 2003, but picked up in 2004 and 2005. Presumably because of generous sick-leave benefits, Swedish workers report in sick more often than other Europeans. In September 2003, Swedish voters turned down entry into the euro system, concerned about the impact on democracy and sovereignty.

$268.3 billion (2005 est.)

$353.9 billion (2005 est.)

2.6% (2005 est.)

$29,800 (2005 est.)

agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 28.6%
services: 69.7% (2005 est.)

4.49 million (2005 est.)

agriculture: 2%
industry: 24%
services: 74% (2000 est.)

6% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 20.1% (1992)

25 (2000)

0.5% (2005 est.)

17.3% of GDP (2005 est.)

revenues: $210.5 billion
expenditures: $205.9 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)

50.3% of GDP (2005 est.)

barley, wheat, sugar beets; meat, milk

iron and steel, precision equipment (bearings, radio and telephone parts, armaments), wood pulp and paper products, processed foods, motor vehicles

3.3% (2005 est.)

127.9 billion kWh (2003)

131.8 billion kWh (2003)

11.5 billion kWh (2003)

24.3 billion kWh (2003)

2,441 bbl/day (2003 est.)

346,100 bbl/day (2003 est.)

203,700 bbl/day (2001)

553,100 bbl/day (2001)

980 million cu m (2003 est.)

968 million cu m (2001 est.)

$25.68 billion (2005 est.)

$126.6 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

machinery 35%, motor vehicles, paper products, pulp and wood, iron and steel products, chemicals

US 10.7%, Germany 10.2%, Norway 8.6%, UK 7.8%, Denmark 6.7%, Finland 5.7%, France 4.8%, Netherlands 4.8%, Belgium 4.5% (2004)

$104.4 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel; foodstuffs, clothing

Germany 18.7%, Denmark 9.2%, Norway 7.6%, UK 7.5%, Netherlands 6.8%, Finland 6.4%, France 5.5%, Belgium 4% (2004)

$22.45 billion (2004 est.)

$516.1 billion (30 June 2005)

ODA, $1.7 billion (1997)

Swedish krona (SEK)

calendar year

6.447 million (2004)

9.775 million (2004)

general assessment: excellent domestic and international facilities; automatic system
domestic: coaxial and multiconductor cables carry most of the voice traffic; parallel microwave radio relay systems carry some additional telephone channels
international: country code - 46; 5 submarine coaxial cables; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Sweden shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway)

AM 1, FM 265, shortwave 1 (1998)

169 (plus 1,299 repeaters) (1995)

.se

2,701,456 (2005)

6.8 million (2005)

255 (2005)

total: 155
over 3,047 m: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
1,524 to 2,437 m: 80
914 to 1,523 m: 23
under 914 m: 36 (2005)

total: 100
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 91 (2005)

2 (2005)

gas 798 km (2004)

total: 11,481 km
standard gauge: 11,481 km 1.435-m gauge (9,400 km electrified) (2004)

total: 424,981 km
paved: 132,339 km (including 1,544 km of expressways)
unpaved: 292,642 km (2003)

2,052 km (2005)

total: 198 ships (1000 GRT or over) 3,528,264 GRT/2,193,807 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 7, cargo 29, chemical tanker 43, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 35, petroleum tanker 16, roll on/roll off 38, specialized tanker 6, vehicle carrier 20
foreign-owned: 39 (Belgium 3, Denmark 3, Finland 11, Germany 4, Italy 7, Japan 2, Norway 8, US 1)
registered in other countries: 161 (The Bahamas 10, Bermuda 12, Cayman Islands 12, Cyprus 4, Finland 3, France 3, French Southern and Antarctic Lands 8, Gibraltar 5, Greece 1, Isle of Man 1, Liberia 8, Malta 3, Marshall Islands 1, Netherlands 21, Netherlands Antilles 9, Norway 22, Panama 5, Russia 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Singapore 12, UK 15, US 4) (2005)

Goteborg, Helsingborg, Karlshamn, Lulea, Malmo, Oxelosund, Stenungsund, Stockholm, Trelleborg

Army, Royal Swedish Navy (RSwN), Air Force (Flygvapnet)