Sweden

Sweden (Sverige) is a Nordic country in the part of Europe called Scandinavia. Its neighbors are Finland and Norway. Sweden is also connected to Denmark in the south by a bridge. It is a developed country. It is famous for its welfare state. People who live in Sweden are called Swedes.

The population of Sweden is about 9.9 million people. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also Sweden's largest city, with almost one million people. Other large cities are Gothenburg and Malmö. These cities are all in the southern half of the country, where it is not as cold as in the north.

Sweden is a constitutional monarchy because it has a king, Carl XVI Gustaf, but he does not have any real power. Sweden is a parliamentary state meaning that the government is elected by the parliament which is appointed by the people. The country is democratically ruled by a government headed by an elected prime minister. Stefan Löfven was elected Prime Minister in September 2014. He took office in October 2014.

Sweden has an official majority language, Swedish (the Swedish word for the language is svenska). Sweden has five official minority languages: Finnish, Yiddish, Sami, Meänkieli, and Romani.

Sweden became a member of the European Union (EU) on 1 January 1995. Unlike most countries in the European Union, Sweden is not a member of the Eurozone and has not begun to use the euro as currency. This is because the people have voted against using the euro. The currency remains the Swedish krona (Swedish crown).

History
Sweden has been a country for a thousand years. In the Middle Ages Sweden had the same king as Denmark and Norway. In the early 16th century Sweden got its own king, Gustav Vasa. During the 17th century Sweden was a great power. Sweden had taken Estonia, Latvia, and Finland and parts of Norway, Germany, and Russia. In the 18th century Sweden became weaker and lost these places. In the early 19th century Sweden's king died without an heir and the Swedish parliament voted for Jean Baptiste Bernadotte as the new king. Bernadotte fought Denmark and made them allow Norway to enter a personal union with Sweden.

This was Sweden's last war, and Sweden has not been at war for 200 years. In 1905, the Swedish-Norwegian personal union was dissolved. In many wars, including World War I and the Cold War, the country was neutral, meaning it did not take sides. During World War II, it traded with both the British and the Germans in order to protect its neutrality.

Region
Sweden is divided into 21 counties. They are Stockholm, Uppsala, Södermanland, Östergötland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Kalmar, Gotland, Blekinge, Skåne, Halland, Västra Götaland, Värmland, Örebro, Västmanland, Dalarna, Gävleborg, Västernorrland, Jämtland, Västerbotten, and Norrbotten.

Sweden has 25 historical provinces (landskap). They are found in three different regions: Norrland in the North, Svealand in the central region, and Götaland in the South.

Religion
Sweden has been Christian for a thousand years. Sweden is traditionally a Protestant country, but it is now one of the least religious countries in the world. Statistical surveys say 46-85% of all people in Sweden are agnostics or atheists. This means they do not believe in a god. About 6.4 million people in Sweden, which is 67% of all the people, are members of the Church of Sweden, but only 2% of members go to church often.

Music
In popular music, ABBA, Roxette, The Cardigans, Europe, Entombed, At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Hypocrisy, Grave, Dissection, Avicii, Tove Lo, Laleh, Watain, and Ace of Base have had several hits throughout the years.

Sports
Sweden is a country with many talented athletes, such as soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimović. Sweden has two bronze medals and one silver medal from the World Cup in football (soccer), in 1950, 1958, and 1994. The soccer league in Sweden is called Allsvenskan. Sweden has also performed well in ice hockey along with the USA, Canada, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The men's ice hockey top division in Sweden is called SHL. Sweden has also had several successful table tennis players, including Stellan Bengtsson and Jan-Ove Waldner, as well as alpine skiers including Ingemar Stenmark, Pernilla Wiberg, and Anja Pärson. Other champions include biathlete Magdalena Forsberg and tennis players Björn Borg, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, and Jonas Björkman.

Sweden also succeeds in cross-country skiing, having won several medals in the Olympic games.