Sweden
Article
July 5, 2022
Sweden (Swedish: Sverige (pronounced [ˈsværjɛ])✩), or officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige, pronounced✩), is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The land borders of the country are Norway in the west and Finland in the northeast, while in the south it is connected to Denmark via the Öresund Bridge built on the Öresund Strait. The 2,400 km long sea borders the Skagerrak, the Kattegat and the Öresund strait in the west, and the Baltic Sea in the south and east. With an area of 450,295 km², it is the 56th largest country in the world, the 3rd largest in the European Union and the largest in Northern Europe. Based on the 2021 data, its population is 10.4 million people, of which about 85% live in cities. As a result of immigration, the population shows a constantly increasing trend. Its population density is 22 persons/km², which is mostly concentrated in the southern areas. The southern part of the country is predominantly agricultural land, while the northern part is covered by dense forests interspersed with mountains. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, the current head of state is XVI. King Gustav Károly. The legislative power is represented by the unicameral parliament consisting of 349 representatives, i.e. the Riksdag, and the executive power is exercised by the government headed by the Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. Sweden is a unified state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Its capital and largest city is Stockholm. The country has been a member of the European Union since 1995, and is also a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the OECD and the Schengen area. Together with the Scandinavian countries, it forms the most developed region in the world in terms of human rights in the information society and income equality, HD classification: very high. Accordingly, the country maintains the Scandinavian welfare model, which provides funding for social security, health services and education for all its citizens. In 2019, it has the 13th highest GDP per capita in the world and ranks high in many international comparisons regarding quality of life, health care, education, freedoms, economic competitiveness, equality, well-being and human development .