Famous landmarks in Sweden

Sweden is a country in Northern Europe, on the eastern side of the Scandinavian Peninsula. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the north-east, and the long Øresund Bridge links it to Denmark. Its east coast faces the Baltic Sea. The capital, Stockholm, is spread across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren meets the sea.

Sweden is known for forests and lakes, the northern lights, the Nobel Prizes and inventive design. On the globe you can find the Vasa Museum, home of a royal warship that sank in 1628, Stockholm City Hall, where the Nobel banquet is held, and the round Avicii Arena, along with the wolverine and the legend of the Storsjö Monster.

Geography and nature

Sweden is long and narrow. Forests cover about two-thirds of the land, and there are around 100,000 lakes; Vänern is the largest lake in the European Union. The north, part of Lapland, lies above the Arctic Circle, where the sun does not set in midsummer and the northern lights glow in winter. Kebnekaise, about 2,100 metres high, is the tallest mountain. Moose, reindeer, lynx, bears and the strong, shy wolverine live in the wild, and everyone may walk and camp in nature under the 'right of public access'.

People, languages and culture

People speak Swedish, and the Sami, the Indigenous people of the far north, along with Finnish speakers and others, have their own recognised languages. Many Swedes take a 'fika', a coffee break with a cinnamon bun. Midsummer is celebrated by dancing around a flower-covered pole, and on 13 December girls and boys in white sing for Saint Lucia. Sweden gave the world the writer Astrid Lindgren, who created Pippi Longstocking, the pop group ABBA and the furniture store IKEA.

History in a nutshell

About 1,200 years ago, Viking traders and raiders sailed from Sweden down Russia's rivers as far as the Black Sea. In 1523 Gustav Vasa became king and Sweden broke away from a union with Denmark. In the 1600s Sweden grew into a great power around the Baltic, and the mighty warship Vasa was built, though it sank on its first voyage. Sweden has not fought a war since 1814. It became a modern welfare state and joined the European Union in 1995.