"text":"<p>A military power during the 17th century, Sweden has not participated in any war for two centuries. An armed neutrality was preserved in both World Wars. Since then, Sweden has pursued a successful economic formula consisting of a capitalist system intermixed with substantial welfare elements. Sweden joined the EU in 1995, but the public rejected the introduction of the euro in a 2003 referendum. The share of Sweden’s population born abroad increased from 11.3% in 2000 to 19.1% in 2018.</p> <p> </p>"
"text":"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"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic"
"text":"<p>marine pollution (Baltic Sea and North Sea); acid rain damage to soils and lakes; air pollution; inappropriate timber harvesting practices</p>"
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"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"
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> data represent the population by country of birth; the indigenous Sami people are estimated to number between 20,000 and 40,000"
"text":"Church of Sweden (Lutheran) 60.2%, other (includes Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist) 8.5%, none or unspecified 31.3% (2017 est.)",
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> estimates reflect registered members of faith communities eligible for state funding (not all religions are state-funded and not all people who identify with a particular religion are registered members); an estimated 57.7% of Sweden's population were members of the Church of Sweden in 2018</p>"
"text":"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"
},
"Urbanization":{
"urban population":{
"text":"88% of total population (2020)"
},
"rate of urbanization":{
"text":"1.05% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)"
"text":"name ultimately derives from the North Germanic Svear tribe, which inhabited central Sweden and is first mentioned in the first centuries A.D."
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"parliamentary constitutional monarchy"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Stockholm"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"59 20 N, 18 03 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
"note":"<br><br><strong>etymology:</strong> \"stock\" and \"holm\" literally mean \"log\" and \"islet\" in Swedish, but there is no consensus as to what the words refer to"
"text":"6 June 1523 (Gustav VASA elected king of Sweden, marking the abolishment of the Kalmar Union between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"National Day, 6 June (1983); note - from 1916 to 1982 this date was celebrated as Swedish Flag Day"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"several previous; latest adopted 1 January 1975"
},
"amendments":{
"text":"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\")"
}
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"civil law system influenced by Roman-Germanic law and customary law"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"no, unless the other citizenship was acquired involuntarily"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"5 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"King CARL XVI GUSTAF (since 15 September 1973); Heir Apparent Princess VICTORIA Ingrid Alice Desiree (daughter of the monarch, born 14 July 1977)"
"text":"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 headed a caretaker government until the next government was formed; LOFVEN was reelected as Prime Minister and took office on 21 January 2019 "
"text":"the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually becomes the prime minister"
}
},
"Legislative branch":{
"description":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"last held on 9 September 2018 (next to be held in 2022)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"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%"
}
},
"Judicial branch":{
"highest courts":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court justices nominated by the Judges Proposal Board, 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":{
"text":"first instance, appellate, general, and administrative courts; specialized courts that handle cases such as land and environment, immigration, labor, markets, and patents"
"text":"Center Party (Centerpartiet) or C [Annie LOOF]<br />Christian Democrats (Kristdemokraterna) or KD [Ebba Busch THOR]<br />Green Party (Miljopartiet de Grona) or MP [Isabella LOVIN and Per BOLUND]<br />Left Party (Vansterpartiet) or V [Jonas SJOSTEDT]<br />Liberal Party (Liberalerna) or L [Jan BJORKLUND]<br />Moderate Party (Moderaterna) or M [Ulf KRISTERSSON]<br />Swedish Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokraterna) or SAP [Stefan LOFVEN]<br />Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) or SD [Jimmie AKESSON]"
"text":"American Embassy Stockholm, US Department of State, 5750 Stockholm Place, Washington, DC 20521-5750"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[46] (08) 661 19 64"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"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"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"three crowns, lion; national colors: blue, yellow"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Du Gamla, Du Fria\" (Thou Ancient, Thou Free)"
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> in use since 1844; also known as \"Sang till Norden\" (Song of the North), is based on a Swedish folk tune; it has never been officially adopted by the government; \"Kungssangen\" (The King's Song) serves as the royal anthem and is played in the presence of the royal family and during certain state ceremonies</p>"
"text":"<p>Sweden’s small, open, and competitive economy has been thriving and Sweden has achieved an enviable standard of living with its combination of free-market capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. Sweden remains outside the euro zone largely out of concern that joining the European Economic and Monetary Union would diminish the country’s sovereignty over its welfare system.</p> <p> </p> <p>Timber, hydropower, and iron ore constitute the resource base of a manufacturing economy that relies heavily on foreign trade. Exports, including engines and other machines, motor vehicles, and telecommunications equipment, account for more than 44% of GDP. Sweden enjoys a current account surplus of about 5% of GDP, which is one of the highest margins in Europe.</p> <p> </p> <p>GDP grew an estimated 3.3% in 2016 and 2017 driven largely by investment in the construction sector. Swedish economists expect economic growth to ease slightly in the coming years as this investment subsides. Global economic growth boosted exports of Swedish manufactures further, helping drive domestic economic growth in 2017. The Central Bank is keeping an eye on deflationary pressures and bank observers expect it to maintain an expansionary monetary policy in 2018. Swedish prices and wages have grown only slightly over the past few years, helping to support the country’s competitiveness.</p> <p> </p> <p>In the short and medium term, Sweden’s economic challenges include providing affordable housing and successfully integrating migrants into the labor market.</p>"
"text":"iron and steel, precision equipment (bearings, radio and telephone parts, armaments), wood pulp and paper products, processed foods, motor vehicles"
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions</p>"
"text":"highly developed telecommunications infrastructure; ranked among leading countries for fixed-line, mobile-cellular, Internet, and broadband penetration; best developed LTE infrastructures in the region; first in the world to deliver 5G services (2020)"
},
"domestic":{
"text":"fixed-line 19 per 100 and mobile-cellular 126 per 100; coaxial and multiconductor cables carry most of the voice traffic; parallel microwave radio relay systems carry some additional telephone channels (2019)"
"text":"country code - 46; landing points for Botina, SFL, SFS-4, Baltic Sea Submarine Cable, Eastern Light, Sweden-Latvia, BCS North-Phase1, EE-S1, LV-SE1, BCS East-West Interlink, NordBalt, Baltica, Denmark-Sweden-15,-17,-18, Scandinavian Ring -North,-South, IP-Only Denmark-Sweden, Donica North, Kattegate-1,-2, Energinet Laeso-Varberg and GC2 submarine cables providing 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) (2019)"
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 outbreak is negatively impacting telecommunications production and supply chains globally; consumer spending on telecom devices and services has also slowed due to the pandemic's effect on economies worldwide; overall progress towards improvements in all facets of the telecom industry - mobile, fixed-line, broadband, submarine cable and satellite - has moderated"
"text":"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"
"Military and security service personnel strengths":{
"text":"the Swedish Armed Forces (Forsvarsmakten) have approximately 15,000 active duty troops (6,200 Army; 2,500 Navy; 2,800 Air Force; 3,500 other, including staff, logistics, support, intelligence, etc); 22,000 Home Guard (2019 est.)"
},
"Military equipment inventories and acquisitions":{
"text":"the inventory of the Swedish Armed Forces is comprised of domestically-produced and imported Western weapons systems; since 2010, the US is the leading supplier of military hardware to Sweden, followed by France and Germany; Sweden's defense industry is capable of providing most of the military's equipment requirements, including advanced aircraft and submarines (2019 est.)"
"text":"18-47 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; 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 January 2018; conscription is selective, includes both female and male (age 18), and requires 9-12 months of service (2018)"
}
},
"Terrorism":{
"Terrorist group(s)":{
"text":"Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) (2019)",
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in <a title=\"Appendix-T\" href=\"../appendix/appendix-t.html\">Appendix-T</a>"
