The Country of Sweden

Sweden is located in the Nordic region, in northern Europe. Its northernmost part lies north of the Arctic Circle, within the Arctic region. The country is long and narrow, stretching about 1,600 kilometers from Treriksröset in the north to Smygehuk in the south. The coastline is long: the sea to the east is the Baltic Sea, home to Sweden's two largest islands, Gotland and Öland, while the seas to the west are Skagerrak and Kattegat. Despite its northern location, Sweden has a mild climate for its latitude, because the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current carry warm water and milder, more humid air toward Europe.

The landscape was shaped by the Ice Age around 10,000 years ago, which left traces in the form of lakes, archipelagos, and arable land. The mountain range Skanderna along the Norwegian border is known as fjällen ("the mountains"), home to Sweden's highest peak, Kebnekaise (about 2,000 meters). More than half of Sweden's land area is covered by forest. The three largest lakes are Vänern, Vättern, and Mälaren, and Sweden has about 250,000 islands — more than any other country in the world. Archipelagos are found along the northern coast, along the east coast down to Småland, and on the west coast outside Gothenburg and in Bohuslän.

Sweden is divided into three main regions: Götaland (south), Svealand (central), and Norrland (north, more than half of the country's land area). The country is also divided into 25 historical landskap (provinces), which no longer have any administrative role today but which many people still identify with, as well as into 21 län (counties) and 290 kommuner (municipalities). Almost 11 million people live in Sweden, unevenly distributed — about 85 percent live in cities, and around four million live in or around the three largest cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö.

Sweden is rich in natural resources: iron ore and other minerals (the largest deposits are in Norrbotten län, for example around Kiruna and Malmberget), forests (which provide pulp, paper, and timber for the construction industry), farmland (mostly in southern Sweden, where the climate is milder), and water, which among other things is used to generate electricity through hydropower.

The Earth's climate is warming faster than before, mainly because of human emissions of greenhouse gases from transport, industry, and agriculture. This leads to melting ice, rising sea levels, and more extreme weather. In Sweden this can mean, among other things, heavier rain and flooding, as well as drought and wildfires. Sweden has a climate law (klimatlagen) with the goal that greenhouse gas emissions should be close to zero by 2045, and the country cooperates internationally on solutions such as wind, water, and solar power. Sustainable development is about using natural resources so that future generations can also live well — something states, companies, and individuals can all contribute to, for example by using public transport, saving electricity and heat, and sorting and recycling waste.