Sweden

mean elevation:

320 m

elevation extremes:

-2.4 m lowest point: reclaimed bay of Lake Hammarsjon, near Kristianstad; 2111 highest point: Kebnekaise

• most Swedes live in the south where the climate is milder 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

• marine pollution (Baltic Sea and North Sea);
• acid rain damage to soils and lakes;
• air pollution;
• inappropriate timber harvesting practices

• strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas;
• Sweden has almost 100,000 lakes, the largest of which, Vanern, is the third largest in Europe

noun:

Swede(s)

adjective:

Swedish

0-14 years:

17.54% (male 904,957 /female 855,946)

15-24 years:

11.06% (male 573,595 /female 537,358)

25-54 years:

39.37% (male 2,005,422 /female 1,947,245)

55-64 years:

11.67% (male 588,314 /female 583,002)

65 years and over:

20.37% (male 946,170 /female 1,098,986) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

58.5 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

27.4 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

31.1 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

3.2 (2015 est.)

• most Swedes live in the south where the climate is milder 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

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

15-24 years:

1.06 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

25-54 years:

1.03 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

55-64 years:

1.01 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

65 years and over:

0.85 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

total population:

1 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

conventional long form:

Kingdom of Sweden

conventional short form:

Sweden

local long form:

Konungariket Sverige

local short form:

Sverige

etymology:

name ultimately derives from the North Germanic Svear tribe, which inhabited central Sweden and is first mentioned in the first centuries A.D.

name:

Stockholm

geographic coordinates:

59 20 N, 18 03 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

history:

several previous; latest adopted 1 January 1975 (2016)

amendments:

• proposed by Parliament;
• passage requires simple majority vote in two consecutive parliamentary terms with an intervening general election;
• passage also requires approval by simple majority vote in a referendum if Parliament approves a motion for a referendum by one-third of its members;
• amended several times, last in 2014 (changes to the "Instrument of Government") (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

the father must be a citizen of Sweden; in the case of a child born out of wedlock, the mother must be a citizen of Sweden and the father unknown

dual citizenship recognized:

no, unless the other citizenship was acquired involuntarily

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

highest courts:

• Supreme Court of Sweden (consists of 16 justices, including the court chairman);
• 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, appellate, general, and administrative courts;
• specialized courts that handle cases such as land and environment, immigration, labor, markets, and patents

chief of state:

King CARL XVI GUSTAF (since 15 September 1973); Heir Apparent Princess VICTORIA Ingrid Alice Desiree (daughter of the monarch, born 14 July 1977)

head of government:

• Acting Prime Minister Stefan LOFVEN (since 3 October 2014);
• Deputy Prime Minister Isabella LOVIN (since 25 May 2016);
• note - Prime Minister Stefan LOFVEN was ousted in a no-confidence vote on 25 September 2018 and is heading a caretaker government until a new government is formed

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the prime minister

elections/appointments:

the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually becomes the prime minister

description:

unicameral Parliament or Riksdag (349 seats; 310 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed, party-list proportional representation vote and 39 members in "at-large" seats directly elected by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 9 September 2018 (next to be held in 2022)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - SAP 28.3%, M 19.8%, SD 17.5%, C 8.6%, V 8%, KD 6.3%, L 5.5%, MP 4.4%, other 1.6%;
• seats by party - SAP 100, M 70, SD 62, C 31, V 28, KD 22, L 20, MP 16;
• composition - men 188, women 161, percent of women 46.1%

• Center Party (Centerpartiet) or C [Annie LOOF]
• Christian Democrats (Kristdemokraterna) or KD [Ebba Busch THOR]
• Green Party (Miljopartiet de Grona) or MP [Isabella LOVIN and Gustav FRIDOLIN]
• Left Party (Vansterpartiet) or V [Jonas SJOSTEDT]
• Liberal Party (Liberalerna) or L [Jan BJORKLUND]
• Moderate Party (Moderaterna) or M [Ulf KRISTERSSON]
• Swedish Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokraterna) or SAP [Stefan LOFVEN]
• Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) or SD [Jimmie AKESSON]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Karin Ulrika OLOFSDOTTER (since 17 September 2017)

chancery:

The House of Sweden, 2900 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 536-1500

FAX:

[1] (202) 536-1501

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires David E. LINDWALL (since 20 January 2017)

embassy:

Dag Hammarskjolds Vag 31, SE-11589 Stockholm

mailing address:

American Embassy Stockholm, US Department of State, 5750 Stockholm Place, Washington, DC 20521-5750

telephone:

[46] (08) 783 53 00

FAX:

[46] (08) 661 19 64

• 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

agriculture:

2%

industry:

12%

services:

86% (2014 est.)

lowest 10%:

24% (2012)

highest 10%:

24% (2012)

general assessment:

highly developed telecommunications infrastructure; ranked among leading countries for fixed-line, mobile-cellular, Internet, and broadband penetration (2016)

domestic:

coaxial and multiconductor cables carry most of the voice traffic; parallel microwave radio relay systems carry some additional telephone channels (2016)

international:

• country code - 46;
• submarine cables provide links to other Nordic countries and Europe;
• 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) (2016)

• 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)

number of registered air carriers:

8 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 219 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

11,623,930 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

0 mt-km (2015)

total:

14,127 km (2016)

standard gauge:

14,062 km 1.435-m gauge (12,322 km electrified) (2016)

narrow gauge:

65 km 0.891-m gauge (65 km electrified) (2016)

total:

573,134 km (includes 2,050 km of expressways) (2016)

paved:

140,100 km (2016)

unpaved:

433,034 km (2016)

note: includes 98,500 km of state roads, 433,034 km of private roads, and 41,600 km of municipal roads

total:

368 (2017)

by type:

general cargo 71, oil tanker 23, other 274 (2017)

major seaport(s):

Brofjorden, Goteborg, Helsingborg, Karlshamn, Lulea, Malmo, Stockholm, Trelleborg, Visby

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Brunnsviksholme, Lysekil

• 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);
• after completing initial service, soldiers have a reserve commitment until age 47;
• compulsory military service, abolished in 2010, was reinstated in 2018 (2018)

refugees (country of origin):

103,614 (Syria), 27,153 (Eritrea), 25,645 (Afghanistan), 21,973 (Somalia), 15,524 (Iraq) (2017)

stateless persons:

35,101 (2017); note - the majority of stateless people are from the Middle East and Somalia