National Flag
Full country name: Kingdom of Sweden (Konungariket Sverige)
Area: 173,731 sq mi (449,964 sq km)
Population (2003): 8,878,085
Capitals: Stockholm.
People: indigenous population: Swedes and Finnish and Sami minorities;
foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians,
Greeks, Turks
Languages: Swedish.
Religion: Lutheran 87%, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish,
Buddhist.
Government: constitutional monarchy
Sovereign: King Carl XVI Gustaf (1973)
GDP per head: US$22,200 (2000 est.)
Annual growth: 4.3% (2000 est.)
Inflation: 1.2% (2000 est.)
Major industries: iron and steel, precision equipment (bearings, radio
and telephone parts, armaments), wood pulp and paper products, processed foods,
motor vehicles
Major trading partners: EU, U.S., Norway
The earliest historical mention of Sweden is found in Tacitus's Germania, where reference is made to the powerful king and strong fleet of the Sviones. In the 11th century, Olaf Sköttkonung became the first Swedish king to be baptized as a Christian. Around 1400, an attempt was made to unite Sweden, Norway, and Denmark into one kingdom, but this led to bitter strife between the Danes and the Swedes. In 1520, the Danish king Christian II conquered Sweden and in the “Stockholm Bloodbath” put leading Swedish personages to death. Gustavus Vasa (1523–60) broke away from Denmark and fashioned the modern Swedish state. He also confiscated property from the Roman Catholic Church in Sweden to pay Sweden's war debts. The king justified his actions on the basis of Martin Luther's doctrines, which were being accepted nationwide with royal encouragement. The Lutheran Swedish church was eventually adopted as the state church.
Sweden played a leading role in the second phase (1630–35) of the Thirty Years' War (1618–48). By the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), Sweden obtained western Pomerania and some neighboring territory on the Baltic. In 1700, a coalition of Russia, Poland, and Denmark united against Sweden and by the Peace of Nystad (1721) forced it to relinquish Livonia, Ingria, Estonia, and parts of Finland. Sweden emerged from the Napoleonic Wars with the acquisition of Norway from Denmark and with a new royal dynasty stemming from Marshal Jean Bernadotte of France, who became King Charles XIV (1818–44). The artificial union between Sweden and Norway led to an uneasy relationship, and the union was finally dissolved in 1905. Sweden maintained a position of neutrality in both world wars.
An elaborate structure of welfare legislation, imitated by many larger nations, began with the establishment of old-age pensions in 1911. Economic prosperity based on its neutralist policy enabled Sweden, together with Norway, to pioneer in public health, housing, and job security programs. Forty-four years of Socialist government were ended in 1976 with the election of a conservative coalition headed by Thorbjörn Fälldin. The Socialists were returned to power in the election of 1982, but Prime Minister Olof Palme, a Socialist, was assassinated by a gunman on Feb. 28, 1986, leaving Sweden stunned. Palme's Socialist domestic policies were carried out by his successor, Ingvar Carlsson. Elections in Sept. 1991 ousted the Social Democrats (Socialists) from power. The new coalition of four conservative parties pledged to reduce taxes and cut back on the welfare state but not alter Sweden's traditional neutrality. In Sept. 1994 the Social Democrats emerged again after three years as the opposition party.
In a 1994 referendum voters approved joining the European Union. Although supportive of a European monetary union, Sweden decided not to adopt the euro when it debuted in 1999.
The Social Democrat party, and its leader, Prime Minister Persson, easily won the Sept. 2002 elections. The center-left Social Democrats have run the government for 61 out of the last 70 years.
Aided by peace and neutrality for the whole twentieth 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 2% of the jobs. In recent years, however, this extraordinarily favorable picture has been somewhat clouded by budgetary difficulties, high unemployment, and a gradual loss of competitiveness in international markets. Sweden has harmonized its economic policies with those of the EU, which it joined at the start of 1995. GDP growth is forecast for 4% in 2001.
Sweden has developed a modern industrial culture based on natural resources, technical skills, and a sense of quality. The people have tended to maintain provincial traditions and customs because of the isolated location of the country. Swedish society and life are characterized by simplicity and even severity resulting from geographic and economic conditions. Over the centuries, however, Swedish traders have returned with ideas and products that have been assimilated into Swedish culture. In the 18th century French influence was especially important in modifying Swedish culture.
Sweden has made major contributions to art, design, literature, music, and motion pictures (for more information, see the Art and Music sections of this article). Modern Swedish crafts such as ceramics, furniture, glass, silver, stainless steel, and textiles have received international recognition for simple beauty, form, and functional design. Orrefors is a center noted for its artistry in making glassware.
Lagerkvist, Pär Fabian (1891-1974), Swedish writer and Nobel laureate; regarded as a highly creative writer, he was concerned with political and social issues and, above all, with the problem of good and evil in humans. Lagerkvist was born in Växjö and educated at the University of Uppsala. His first works, including some poetry, were published in 1912. The following year he went to Paris, where he was influenced by expressionism in modern art. In 1917 he wrote his first play and two years later became the theater critic for a Stockholm newspaper. He had profound influence on modern Swedish poetry; in 1940 he was elected to the Swedish Academy. He received the 1951 Nobel Prize in literature.
In spite of Lagerkvist's productivity, little of his writing has been published
in English. This is especially true of his plays and poetry. Two dramatic works,
with the dates of their publication in English, are The Man Without a Soul (1944)
and Let Man Live (1951). Among his novels are The Dwarf (1945) and Barabbas
(1951); Barabbas was translated into ten languages and adapted as a motion picture
in 1962. Three of his stories, originally written in 1934 and 1936, appeared
in English in The Eternal Smile (1971).