Geography of Sweden

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Map of Sweden
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Map of Sweden

Sweden is a country in Northern Europe.

Contents

[edit] Location

Northern Europe, Scandinavian Peninsula, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Kattegat, and Skagerrak, between Finland and Norway. Strategic location along Öresund and the Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas.

  • Climate: temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north
  • Terrain: Mountains and hills in west. Plains and agriculture land in the south. The mountains fjeld are in the north together with plains and lakes and a lot of snow in the winter. More than 50% of Sweden is forests, dominant in the central parts, comparable to the terrain of Canada.
  • Geographic coordinates: 62°00′N 15°00′E

The two largest islands are Gotland and Öland in the south-east. They each have their own culture, most notably Gotland with the old and largely intact and heritage filled city Visby.

[edit] Lands of Sweden

Sweden is divided into three Lands or Landsdelar:

Main article: Lands of Sweden

[edit] Historical lands of Sweden

Old map of Sweden and Finland
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Old map of Sweden and Finland

Sweden was historically divided into four Lands or Landsdelar:

Götaland and Svealand were once, in prehistoric times known only in folklore, in fragmentary pieces of foreign sources, in legends which only later chronicles have written about, rival kingdoms before being united under one Crown by Svealand. Legends attest an independent history to Österland, it having e.g its own prehistoric kings. In 11th and 12th centuries, sporadically Götaland and Svealand supported kings rival against each other, thus sometimes continuing these separated ancient kingdoms - though most of those kings eventually managed to unite all of Sweden under one dominion (but the strife may again arise in the beginning of next reign). Götaland represents southern Sweden and Svealand is to its north in middle Sweden. Österland is the old name for Finland, but today it represents the southern and middle parts of that country. Norrland is the name for the lands annexed as the realm expanded to the north on both sides of the Gulf of Bothnia. Österland and Norrland literally mean Eastern and Northern lands.

An interpretation has been made that the part "Vend" in the later established titulary of Kings of Sweden (three crowns in the Coat of Arms, three kingdoms: Kings of Svears, Götars och Vends; Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung) means Finland, the form being akin to Findland, Vindland. As such, the Österland (=medievally inhabited parts of Finland) was the third kingdom and the thord part of the realm.

After the Finnish War (1808-1809) the eastern half of Sweden (Österland) was ceded to Russia, thus becoming the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, and Norrland was divided between these two states. The Swedish portion of Norrland still represents more than half of Sweden's territory; it remains, however, sparsely populated compared to the south and middle. The town of Stockholm, which became the Swedish capital mostly because it was centrally located vis-a-vis to Finnish provinces, is geographically located in the east and south of Sweden, but in the Swedish mindset this is rather more perceived as middle Sweden.

[edit] See also

[edit] Counties

Main article: Counties of Sweden

Sweden is divided into 21 counties or län. In each county there is a County Administrative Board or länsstyrelse which is appointed by the Government. In each county there is also a separate County Council or landsting, which is the municipal representation appointed by the county electorate. Each county further divides into a number of municipalities or kommuner, making a total of 290 municipalities, in 2004. There are also older historical divisions of the Swedish Realm, primarily into provinces and lands.

[edit] Cities

The largest city, by population, is the capital Stockholm, to the east, the dominating city for culture and media, with a population of 765,000. The second largest city is Gothenburg, with 500,000, to the west. Third is Malmö in the south, with 250,000.

The north is less populated than the southern and central parts, mostly because of its colder climate. The largest city is Umeå with 90,000 inhabitants.

[edit] Municipalities

Sweden had a municipality reform in the 1970's, whereby all cities were turned into municipalities. Currently there are 290 municipalities.

The northern municipalities are often large by size, but low populated – the largest municipality is Kiruna with an area as large as the three southern districts in Sweden (Scania, Blekinge and Halland) combined, but it only has a population of 25,000, and its density is about 1 / km².

[edit] Area

The water area consists of around 95,700 lakes[1], and the area taken up by lakes are close to 10%. They are extensively used for water power plants, especially the large northern rivers and lakes. Sweden is the biggest Scandinavian country as well as the third largest West-European country.

[edit] Land boundaries

[edit] Maritime claims

  • continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
  • exclusive economic zone: agreed boundaries or midlines
  • territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (22 km) (adjustments made to return a portion of straits to high seas)

[edit] Elevation extremes

[edit] Railways

Main line railways of Sweden (Stambanor) were built between 1860-1930.

[edit] Natural resources

[edit] Land use

What is Sweden land used for? Showing forest, agriculture and mountain.
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What is Sweden land used for? Showing forest, agriculture and mountain.
  • arable land: 7%
  • permanent crops: 0%
  • permanent pastures: 1%
  • forests and woodland: 68%
  • other: 24% (1993 est.)
  • Irrigated land: 1,150 km² (1993 est.)

[edit] Natural hazards

In this true-color scene in March 15, 2002, much of Scandinavia can be seen covered by snow and the Gulf of Bothnia covered with ice. From a NASA satellite.
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In this true-color scene in March 15, 2002, much of Scandinavia can be seen covered by snow and the Gulf of Bothnia covered with ice. From a NASA satellite.

Ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic

[edit] Environment

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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Geography of Europe

Albania · Andorra · Armenia1 · Austria · Azerbaijan1 · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus1 · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Georgia1 · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan1 · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Republic of Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia1 · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey1 · Ukraine · United Kingdom · Vatican City

Dependencies, autonomies and other territories
Abkhazia1 · Adjara1 · Åland · Akrotiri and Dhekelia · Crimea · Faroe Islands · Gibraltar · Guernsey · Isle of Man · Jersey · Nagorno-Karabakh1 · Nakhichevan1 · Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus1

1 Has significant territory in Asia.

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