top of pageBackground: A military power during the 17th century Sweden has not participated in any war for two centuries. An armed neutrality was preserved in both world wars. Sweden's long-successful economic formula of a capitalist system intermixed with substantial welfare elements was challenged in the 1990s by high unemployment and in 2000-02 and 2009 by the global economic downturns but fiscal discipline over the past several years has allowed the country to weather economic vagaries. Sweden joined the EU in 1995 but the public rejected the introduction of the euro in a 2003 referendum.
Climate: temperate in south with cold cloudy winters and cool partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north
Terrain: mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west
Natural resources: iron ore copper lead zinc gold silver tungsten uranium arsenic feldspar timber hydropower
Natural hazards: ice floes in the surrounding waters especially in the Gulf of Bothnia can interfere with maritime traffic
GeographyNote: strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas
top of pagePopulationDistribution: most Swedes live in the south where there the climate is more mild and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe; population clusters are found all along the Baltic coast in the east; the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated: 9,880,604 (July 2016 est.)
Rank: 90
Growth rate: 0.81% (2016 est.)
Growth rate rank: 134
Below poverty line: 14% (2011 est.)
Ethnic groups: indigenous population: Swedes with Finnish and Sami minorities; foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns Yugoslavs Danes Norwegians Greeks Turks
Languages: Swedish (official) small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Religions: Lutheran 87% other (includes Roman Catholic Orthodox Baptist Muslim Jewish and Buddhist) 13%
Population distribution: most Swedes live in the south where there the climate is more mild and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe; population clusters are found all along the Baltic coast in the east; the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated
EnvironmentCurrent issues: acid rain damage to soils and lakes; pollution of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea
International agreements party to: Air Pollution Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants Air Pollution-Sulfur 85 Air Pollution-Sulfur 94 Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds Antarctic-Environmental Protocol Antarctic-Marine Living Resources Antarctic Treaty Biodiversity Climate Change Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Desertification Endangered Species Environmental Modification Hazardous Wastes Law of the Sea Marine Dumping Ozone Layer Protection Ship Pollution Tropical Timber 83 Tropical Timber 94 Wetlands Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Drinking water source:
urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2015 est.)
Sanitation facility access:
urban: 99.3% of population
rural: 99.6% of population
total: 99.3% of population
urban: 0.7% of population
rural: 0.4% of population
total: 0.7% of population (2015 est.)
top of pageAdministrative divisions: 21 counties (lan singular and plural); Blekinge Dalarna Gavleborg Gotland Halland Jamtland Jonkoping Kalmar Kronoberg Norrbotten Orebro Ostergotland Skane Sodermanland Stockholm Uppsala Varmland Vasterbotten Vasternorrland Vastmanland Vastra Gotaland
Independence: 6 June 1523 (Gustav VASA elected king of Sweden marking the abolishment of the Kalmar Union between Denmark Norway and Sweden)
National holiday: National Day 6 June (1983); note - from 1916 to 1982 this date was celebrated as Swedish Flag Day
Constitution: several previous; latest adopted 1 January 1975; amended several times last in 2014 (Riksdag Act) (2016)
Legal system: civil law system influenced by Roman-Germanic law and customary law
Executive branchChief of state: King CARL XVI GUSTAF ; Heir Apparent Princess VICTORIA Ingrid Alice Desiree daughter of the monarch (born 14 July 1977)
Head of government: Prime Minister Stefan LOFVEN ; Deputy Prime Minister Isabella LOVIN (since 25 May 2016)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
Electionsappointments: the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually becomes the prime minister
Legislative branchDescription: unicameral Parliament or Riksdag
Elections: last held on 14 September 2014
Election results: percent of vote by party - SAP 31.0% M 23.3% SD 12.9% MP 6.9% C 6.1% V 5.7% FP 5.4% KD 4.6% others 4.1%; seats by party - SAP 113 M 84 SD 49 MP 25 C 22 V 21 FP 19 KD 16
Judicial branchHighest court: Supreme Court of Sweden ; Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 18 justices including the court president)
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court justices nominated by the Board of Judges a 9-member nominating body consisting of high-level judges prosecutors and members of Parliament; justices appointed by the Government; following a probationary period justices' appointments are permanent
Subordinate courts: first instance and appellate general and administrative courts; specialized courts that handle cases such as land and environment immigration labor markets and patents
Political parties and leaders:
Center Party (Centerpartiet) or C [Annie LOOF]
Christian Democrats (Kristdemokraterna) or KD [Ebba Busch THOR]
Green Party (Miljopartiet de Grona) or MP [Asa ROMSON and Gustav FRIDOLIN]
Left Party (Vansterpartiet) (formerly Communist Party) or V [Jonas SJOSTEDT]
Liberal Party (Liberalerna) or L [Jan BJORKLUND]
Moderate Party (Moderaterna) or M [Anna KINBERG BATRA]
Swedish Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokraterna) or SAP [Stefan LOFVEN]
Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) or SD [Jimmie AKESSON]
International organization participation: ADB (nonregional member) AfDB (nonregional member) Arctic Council Australia Group BIS CBSS CD CE CERN EAPC EBRD ECB EIB EITI (implementing country) EMU ESA EU FAO FATF G-9 G-10 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC (national committees) ICCt ICRM IDA IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS IGAD (partners) IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITSO ITU ITUC (NGOs) MIGA MINUSMA MONUSCO NC NEA NIB NSG OAS (observer) OECD OPCW OSCE Paris Club PCA PFP Schengen Convention UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNMISS UNMOGIP UNRWA UNTSO UPU WCO WFTU (NGOs) WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC
Flag description: blue with a golden yellow cross extending to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag); the colors reflect those of the Swedish coat of arms - three gold crowns on a blue field
National anthemName: 'Du Gamla Du Fria'
Lyrics and music: Richard DYBECK/traditional
Note: in use since 1844; also known as 'Sang till Norden' is based on a Swedish folk tune; it has never been officially adopted by the government; 'Kungssangen' (The King's Song) serves as the royal anthem and is played in the presence of the royal family and during certain state ceremonies
top of pageEconomy overview:
Sweden has achieved an enviable standard of living with its combination of free-market capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. Sweden remains outside the euro zone largely out of concern that joining the European Economic and Monetary Union would diminish the country’s sovereignty over its welfare system. Timber hydropower and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy heavily oriented toward foreign trade.
Economic growth slowed in 2013 as a result of continued economic weakness in Sweden’s European trading partners; Sweden’s economy experienced modest growth in 2014-15 with real GDP growth above 2% but continues to struggle with deflationary pressure.
Industries: iron and steel precision equipment (bearings radio and telephone parts armaments) wood pulp and paper products processed foods motor vehicles
Public debt:
43.2% of GDP (2015 est.)
44.7% of GDP (2014 est.)
Note: data cover general government debt and includes debt instruments issued by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds such as for retirement medical care and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions
Rank: 106
Central bank discount rate:
0% (31 December 2014)
1% (31 December 2013)
Note: the Discount rate was abolished in 2002 and replaced by a 'Reference rate' with no bearing on monetary policy; the rate quoted here is the Reference rate
Rank: 156
Exports:
$151.1 billion (2015 est.)
$179.6 billion (2014 est.)
Rank: 30
Commodities: machinery 35% motor vehicles paper products pulp and wood iron and steel products chemicals (2012 est.)
Partners: Norway 10.3% Germany 10.3% US 7.7% UK 7.2% Denmark 6.8% Finland 6.7% Netherlands 5.2% Belgium 4.4% France 4.2% (2015)
Imports:
$137.3 billion (2015 est.)
$160.6 billion (2014 est.)
Rank: 31
Commodities: machinery petroleum and petroleum products chemicals motor vehicles iron and steel; foodstuffs clothing
Partners: Germany 17.9% Netherlands 8.1% Norway 7.8% Denmark 7.7% China 6% UK 5.5% Finland 4.6% France 4.3% Belgium 4.3% (2015)
Debt external:
$1.01 trillion (31 December 2014 est.)
$1.107 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)
Rank: 16
Exchange rates:
Swedish kronor (SEK) per US dollar -
8.4335 (2015 est.)
6.8612 (2014 est.)
6.8612 (2013 est.)
6.77 (2012 est.)
6.4918 (2011 est.)
top of pagetop of pageTelephone systemGeneral assessment: highly developed telecommunications infrastructure; ranked among leading countries for fixed-line mobile-cellular Internet and broadband penetration
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; submarine cables provide links to other Nordic countries and Europe; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat 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) (2015)
Broadcast media: publicly owned TV broadcaster operates 2 terrestrial networks plus regional stations; multiple privately owned TV broadcasters operating nationally regionally and locally; about 50 local TV stations; widespread access to pan-Nordic and international broadcasters through multi-channel cable and satellite TV; publicly owned radio broadcaster operates 3 national stations and a network of 25 regional channels; roughly 100 privately owned local radio stations with some consolidating into near national networks; an estimated 900 community and neighborhood radio stations broadcast intermittently (2008)
top of pageMilitary service age and obligation: 18-47 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; Swedish citizenship required; service obligation: 7.5 months (Army) 7-15 months (Navy) 8-12 months (Air Force); the Swedish Parliament has abolished compulsory military service with exclusively voluntary recruitment as of July 2010; conscription remains an option in emergencies; after completing initial service soldiers have a reserve commitment until age 47 (2013)
top of pageSweden - Transnational issues 2016
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