Sweden

Sweden [1] is the largest of the Nordic countries in Northern Europe, with a population of about 9 million. It borders Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark via the bridge of ?resund (?resundsbron).

Cities
Major cities

Stockholm - The capital, spread out over a number of islands.
Gothenburg - In the Western coast.
Malm? - Down south, not far from the Danish capital Copenhagen.
Other cities
Uppsala - lively pretty old university city. Fourth largest city in Sweden.
V?ster?s - Located 100 km west of Stockholm - Sweden's sixth largest city.
Bor?s - Old textile center, east of Gothenburg.
Helsingborg - North of Malm? and close to Denmark.
Halmstad - Just between Malm? and Gothenburg and a popular city to visit during the summer.
Karlstad - University city, a good halfway between Stockholm and Oslo.
Karlskrona - Once the naval capital of Sweden it is located in Blekinge.
Link?ping - A county capital with a large university.
Lule? - Industrial city in northern Norrland, with a technical university.
Lund - Old university city, just north of Malm?
?rebro - Old shoe manufacturing center, halfway between Stockholm and Oslo.
Ume? - University city in Norrland.
Kiruna - a mining town in Lappland, and the northernmost city in Sweden.
Falun - city with a millennia-old World Heritage copper mine.

Understand

Although having been a military power and spanning about three times its current size during the 17th century, Sweden has not participated in any war in almost two centuries. Having long remaining outside military alliances (including both World Wars), the country has a high peace profile, with internationally renowned names such as Raoul Wallenberg, Dag Hammarskj?ld, Olof Palme and Hans Blix. Sweden is a monarchy by constitution, but king Carl XVI Gustaf has no executive power. The country has a long tradition of Lutheran-Protestant Christianity, but today's Sweden is a secular state with few church-goers.

Sweden has a capitalist system and is a developed post-industrial society with an advanced welfare state. The standard of living and life expectancy rank among the highest in the world. Sweden joined the European Union in 1995, but decided by a referendum in 2003 not to commit to the EMU and the euro currency. Leadership of Sweden has for the larger part of the 20th century been dominated by the Social Democratic Party, which started out at the end of the 19th century as a labor movement, but today pursues a mix of socialism and social-liberalism. Since the most recent election, a coalition of center-right liberal/conservative parties has come into power.

Sweden has a strong tradition of being an open, yet discreet country. Citizens sometimes appear to be quite reserved at first, but once they get to know who they are dealing with, they'll be as warm and friendly as you'd wish. Privacy is regarded as a key item and many visitors, for example mega-stars in various lines of trade, have many times realized that they mostly can walk the streets of the cities virtually undisturbed.

Sweden houses the Nobel Prize [2] committee for all the prizes except the peace prize which is hosted in Oslo, a memento of the Swedish-Norwegian union that was dissolved just over 100 years ago.

Sweden is great for outdoor life - skiing, skating, hiking, canoeing, cycling and berry-picking depending of season. Stockholm and Gothenburg have great nightlife and shopping opportunities. Most cities have well-preserved pre-industrial architecture.

The year in Sweden
Swedish weather is best during the summer (late May to early September). If you like snow, go to Norrland or Dalarna in February to April.

Be aware that daylight varies greatly during the year. In Stockholm, the sun sets at 3 PM in December. North of the Arctic Circle one can experience the midnight sun and Arctic night. However, even at Stockholm's latitude, summer nights exist only in the form of prolonged twilight during June and July.

The major holidays are Easter, Midsummer (always on the last Friday of June), Christmas (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are all considered holidays), and the "industrial vacation" throughout July. Expect closed establishments, heavy traffic (for the holidays) and crowded tourist resorts (for July).

Note that most Swedish holidays are celebrated on the day before (Midsummer's Eve, Christmas Eve etc), while Swedish people do hardly anything on the holiday proper.