Sweden is one of the world’s northernmost countries, on about
the same latitude as Alaska and North Siberia. One tenth of
Sweden is north of the Arctic Circle. The distance from north to
south is nearly 1 600 km and the maximum distance in an eastwest
direction is 500 km. The total area of the country is
450 000 square km, which is approximately the same size as
California, Spain or Thailand. Less than 10 % is farmland and
the majority is forested. Sweden is mostly rather flat apart from
the mountains in the north-west, which reach heights of up to
2 000 metres.
The climate is mild in spite of the location. For Stockholm
the average temperature is 18°C in July and only just below
freezing in January and February. These figures are valid for the
southern third of the country where most people live. The
northern part is characterised by considerably colder winters.
Sweden has a population of 9 million. Northern Sweden is
thinly populated with some few exceptions for certain coastal
areas. The highest population density is found in a belt extending
from Stockholm on the east coast to Gothenburg on the
west coast and to the southernmost parts of the country. About
83 % of the population live in towns with more than 5 000
inhabitants. Including its suburbs, the capital Stockholm has
about 1.5, Gothenburg 0.7 and Malmö 0.5 million inhabitants.
Sweden has a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
form of government. The parliament consists of one chamber
and the members are elected every fourth year. In 1995, Sweden
became a member of the European Union