Sweden

Sweden is a country in northern Europe. It sits on the eastern side of a region called Scandinavia, next to Norway and Finland. Sweden is long and narrow, stretching almost 1,000 miles from north to south. It is the fifth largest country in Europe by area. About 10.5 million people live there. The capital city is Stockholm.

Much of Sweden is covered in thick forest. Pine and spruce trees grow across more than half the country. Sweden also has tens of thousands of lakes, which formed when giant sheets of ice scraped the land during the last Ice Age. The largest lake, Vänern, is about the size of the state of Delaware. In the far north, the land stretches above the Arctic Circle. This part is called Lapland.

Because Sweden reaches so far north, daylight changes wildly through the year. In summer, the northern parts get a period called the midnight sun, when the sun never fully sets. In winter, the opposite happens. The sun barely rises, and for weeks it stays dark almost all day. The northern lights often glow green across the winter sky.

People have lived in Sweden for more than 12,000 years. From about 800 to 1050 CE, Swedes were part of the Viking age. Viking ships sailed east along rivers into what is now Russia and Ukraine, trading furs, amber, and enslaved people for silver coins. Other Viking groups from Norway and Denmark sailed west.

Today Sweden is a modern democracy. It still has a king as a symbol, but real power belongs to an elected parliament called the Riksdag. Sweden is famous for strong schools, long parental leave for new parents, and free health care paid for through taxes. It is also known for design, music, and clever inventions. The safety match, the zipper, and the three-point seat belt were all invented in Sweden. Companies like IKEA, Volvo, and Spotify started there too.

Swedes eat foods built for long, cold winters. Meatballs with lingonberry jam, pickled herring, crispbread, and cinnamon buns are common. Many families take a coffee break called fika, sitting down with a hot drink and a pastry to talk with friends.

Each year in December, Sweden awards the Nobel Prizes in Stockholm. Alfred Nobel was a Swedish inventor who made a fortune from dynamite. In his will he asked that his money be used to reward people who help humanity. Scientists, writers, and peacemakers from around the world still travel to Sweden to accept the prize.