SWEDEN (Sverige)

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

SWEDEN (Sverige) CLASSROOM COUNTRY PROFILES SWEDEN (Sverige) The Kingdom of Sweden is a country in Northern Europe, bordering Norway, Denmark, Finland, and the Baltic Sea. Its name derives from the North Germanic Svear tribe, which inhabited central Sweden and is first mentioned in the first centuries A.D. It gained its independence on June 6, 1523, marking June 6 National Day, the Swedish national holiday. Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1995 and is considered part of Scandinavia. While it constituted a mili- tary power in the 17th century, it has not participated in any war for more than two centuries, including both world wars. Operating under a democratic constitutional monarchy , the current Swedish government has been led by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven of the Swedish Social Democratic Party since October 2014. Sweden is a primarily Christian country, with 87% identify as Evangelical Lutherans. The remaining 13% are split across Roman Catholics, Ortho- dox, Baptists, Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists, as well as non-affiliated Population: 9,880,604 (2016) people. The Church of Sweden (Lutheran) has been separated from the Area: 450,295 sq. km. (slightly larger than Califor- nia) state since 2000, making it the only Nordic country without a state Capital: Stockholm (935,619 pop.) church. Although a lot of Swedes identify as Evangelical Lutherans, Languages: Swedish (official) Sweden is a pretty secular country. Religion plays a big cultural role in GDP Per Capita: $49,700 (2016) traditional rituals and ceremonies, but only 29% of Swedes actually Head of State: King Carl XVI Gustav claim to be religious, according to the 2012 Global Index of Religion and Head of Government: Prime Minister Stefan Löfven Atheism, making it one of the least religious countries in the world. In 2014, Antje Jackelén became the first woman to hold the post of Arch- bishop of Uppsala, the chief representative of the Church of Sweden. School attendance in Sweden is compulsory for nine years for all children starting from the year they turn seven. The school system consists of three stages: The Swedish indigenous population is mainly made up of Swedes, with elementary school (years 1-3), middle school (years 4 Finnish and Sami minorities. Furthermore, foreign-born or first- -6), and secondary school (years 7-9). There is also generation immigrants living in Sweden include Finns, Danes, Norwe- an optional upper secondary school for years 10- 12,which most students complete as well. Sweden gians, Yugoslavs, Greeks, and Turks. spends 7.7% of its GDP on education. Sweden’s birth rate outscores its death rate, and further the country has a positive net migration rate. This leads Sweden to have a population growth rate of 0.81% (2016). However, like many other European coun- tries, Sweden faces the growing issue of its population aging, which could eventually jeopardize the Swedish welfare model. Updated: 05/11/17 Drottningholm Palace Sweden has achieved an enviable standard of living with its combina- tion of free-market capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. Its econ- omy is heavily oriented toward foreign trade, with timber, hydropower, and iron ore constituting the resource base of this arrangement. Due Split to continued economic weakness in Sweden’s European trading part- Oresund Bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark ners, Sweden’s economic growth slowed in 2013, but experienced modest growth in 2014-2015. Yet, Sweden continues to struggle with deflationary pressure. Famous Swedes include the music group As of January 1995, Sweden is a member state of the European Un- ABBA, soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Nobel ion. Likewise, it is part of the border-free Schengen area. Sweden has Prize founder Alfred Nobel, tennis stars Björn Borg, Mats Wilander, and Stefan Edberg, 20 seats in the European Parliament and has held the Presidency of authors Astrid Lindgren and Stieg Larsson, the Council of the EU twice, once in 2001 and again in 2009. It is, actress Ingrid Bergman, and scientist Anders however, not part of the eurozone as it remains concerned that joining Celsius. the European Economic and Monetary Union would diminish the coun- try’s sovereignty over its welfare system. The Swedish currency is the krona. Moreover, Sweden is not a member of NATO, instead opting for a non-alignment in peace and neutrality in war policy. Hi ………………………………..………… Hej! Bye …………………………..………. …..Adjö! Good morning ………..…………God morgon! Yes ……………………………………….... Ja No ………………………………………….. Nej Please…………………..……………… Snälla! Thank you ………………………………. Tack! How are you? ............................ Hur mar du? I do not understand ……….… Jag förstar inte I understand ............................... Jag förstar What is your name?.............. ..Vad heter du? My name is …………………….. Jag heter … 17th century Vasa battle Where are you from? …Varifran kommer ni? ship at Vasa Museum Do you speak English?...Pratar du engelska? The United States experienced a major immigration wave from Sweden in the second half of the 19th century. In fact, Chicago in 1900 was considered the second-largest Swedish city in the world with a popula- tion of 150,000 Swedes and Swedish Americans at the time. As of 2009, more than 4,000,000 people in the United States claim some form of Swedish heritage. Most Swedish Americans live in Minnesota, California, and Illinois. The flag is blue with a golden yellow cross USEFUL LINKS extending to the edges https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sw.html of the flag. The colors reflect those of the http://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries/member-countries/ Swedish coat of sweden_en arms—three gold crowns on a blue field. https://sweden.se/ .
Recommended publications
  • Swedish Literature on the British Market 1998-2013: a Systemic
    Swedish Literature on the British Market 1998-2013: A Systemic Approach Agnes Broomé A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy UCL Department of Scandinavian Studies School of European Languages, Culture and Society September 2014 2 I, Agnes Broomé, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. …............................................................................... 3 4 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the role and function of contemporary Swedish fiction in English translation on the British book market in the period 1998-2013. Drawing on Bourdieu’s Field Theory, Even Zohar’s Polysystem Theory and DeLanda’s Assemblage Theory, it constructs a model capable of dynamically describing the life cycle of border-crossing books, from selection and production to marketing, sales and reception. This life cycle is driven and shaped by individual position-takings of book market actants, and by their complex interaction and continual evolution. The thesis thus develops an understanding of the book market and its actants that deliberately resists static or linear perspectives, acknowledging the centrality of complex interaction and dynamic development to the analysis of publishing histories of translated books. The theoretical component is complemented by case studies offering empirical insight into the model’s application. Each case study illuminates the theory from a different angle, creating thereby a composite picture of the complex, essentially unmappable processes that underlie the logic of the book market. The first takes as its subject the British publishing history of crime writer Liza Marklund, as well as its wider context, the Scandinavian crime boom.
    [Show full text]
  • ABSTRACT Savannah Dehart. BRACTEATES AS INDICATORS OF
    ABSTRACT Savannah DeHart. BRACTEATES AS INDICATORS OF NORTHERN PAGAN RELIGIOSITY IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES. (Under the direction of Michael J. Enright) Department of History, May 2012. This thesis investigates the religiosity of some Germanic peoples of the Migration period (approximately AD 300-800) and seeks to overcome some difficulties in the related source material. The written sources which describe pagan elements of this period - such as Tacitus’ Germania, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, and Paul the Deacon’s History of the Lombards - are problematic because they were composed by Roman or Christian authors whose primary goals were not to preserve the traditions of pagans. Literary sources of the High Middle Ages (approximately AD 1000-1400) - such as The Poetic Edda, Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda , and Icelandic Family Sagas - can only offer a clearer picture of Old Norse religiosity alone. The problem is that the beliefs described by these late sources cannot accurately reflect religious conditions of the Early Middle Ages. Too much time has elapsed and too many changes have occurred. If literary sources are unavailing, however, archaeology can offer a way out of the dilemma. Rightly interpreted, archaeological evidence can be used in conjunction with literary sources to demonstrate considerable continuity in precisely this area of religiosity. Some of the most relevant material objects (often overlooked by scholars) are bracteates. These coin-like amulets are stamped with designs that appear to reflect motifs from Old Norse myths, yet their find contexts, including the inhumation graves of women and hoards, demonstrate that they were used during the Migration period of half a millennium earlier.
    [Show full text]
  • How Sweden Is Governed Content
    How Sweden is governed Content The Government and the Government Offices 3 The Prime Minister and the other ministers 3 The Swedish Government at work 3 The Government Offices at work 4 Activities of the Government Offices 4 Government agencies 7 The budget process 7 The legislative process 7 The Swedish social model 9 A democratic system with free elections 9 The Swedish administrative model – three levels 10 The Swedish Constitution 10 Human rights 11 Gender equality 11 Public access 12 Ombudsmen 12 Scrutiny of the State 13 Sweden in the world 14 Sweden and the EU 14 Sweden and the United Nations 14 Nordic cooperation 15 Facts about Sweden 16 Contact 16 2 HOW SWEDEN IS GOVERNED The Government and the Government Offices The Prime Minister and the other ministers After each election the Speaker of the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) submits a proposal for a new Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is subsequently appoin­ ted by the Riksdag and tasked with forming a government. The Government, led by the Prime Minister, governs Sweden. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and a number of ministers, each with their own area of responsibility. The Swedish Government at work The Government governs Sweden and is the driving force in the process by which laws are created and amended, thereby influencing the development of society as a whole. However, the Government is accountable to the Riksdag and must have its support to be able to implement its policies. The Government governs the country, which includes: • submitting legislative proposals to the Riksdag; • implementing decisions taken by the Riksdag; • exercising responsibility for the budget approved by the Riksdag; • representing Sweden in the EU; • entering into agreements with other states; • directing central government activities; • taking decisions in certain administrative matters not covered by other agencies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Battle of Lund
    104 Rinnebäcksvad Lilla Harrie o retake Skåne, Halland and Blekinge, which had The Battle of Lund was a battle during the Scanian War that Krutmöllan Lilla Harrie church been lost to Sweden by the Peace of Ros kilde in Kävlinge River occurred on 4 December 1676 in an area north of Lund. The V. Hoby 1658, Denmark declared war on Sweden in the Väggarp battle was between a Danish army under King Christian V T autumn of 1675. In June 1676 a Danish army landed and the Swedish army under King Charles XI. It is one of the near Råå south of Helsingborg and quickly recaptured bloodiest battles ever fought on Nordic soil. The war was Skåne and Blekinge. The only place that remained an attempt by Denmark to regain the provinces of Skåne, Håstad under Swedish control was Malmö, which had strong Halland and Blekinge, which had been lost to Sweden by the fortifications. The Swedish forces in Skåne were weak Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. and had to retreat to Småland. Stångby church Svenstorp Ehrenstrahl. Klöcker David XI by of Karl Portrait Johan Philip Lemke. by page: Painting Front i Syd. Ingemar D Kristiansen/Bilder by The monument in Lund, photo In August 1676 the Danish and Swedish forces met in Skälshög battle outside Halmstad. The Swedes won and the Danish ◄ The monument army retreated down into Skåne to set up camp there for to the Battle of the winter and avoid more fighting that year. The Swedes Stångby Odarslöv Lund was erected followed and in November the two armies were each in 1883 and is camped separately north of Lund, in sight of each other designed by ar- chitect Helgo Zet- THE BATTLE OF LUND but separated by the Kävlinge River.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of German-Scandinavian Relations
    A History of German – Scandinavian Relations A History of German-Scandinavian Relations By Raimund Wolfert A History of German – Scandinavian Relations Raimund Wolfert 2 A History of German – Scandinavian Relations Table of contents 1. The Rise and Fall of the Hanseatic League.............................................................5 2. The Thirty Years’ War............................................................................................11 3. Prussia en route to becoming a Great Power........................................................15 4. After the Napoleonic Wars.....................................................................................18 5. The German Empire..............................................................................................23 6. The Interwar Period...............................................................................................29 7. The Aftermath of War............................................................................................33 First version 12/2006 2 A History of German – Scandinavian Relations This essay contemplates the history of German-Scandinavian relations from the Hanseatic period through to the present day, focussing upon the Berlin- Brandenburg region and the northeastern part of Germany that lies to the south of the Baltic Sea. A geographic area whose topography has been shaped by the great Scandinavian glacier of the Vistula ice age from 20000 BC to 13 000 BC will thus be reflected upon. According to the linguistic usage of the term
    [Show full text]
  • Willa Cather and the Swedes
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for Fall 1984 Willa Cather And The Swedes Mona Pers University College at Vasteras Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Pers, Mona, "Willa Cather And The Swedes" (1984). Great Plains Quarterly. 1756. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1756 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. WILLA CATHER AND THE SWEDES MONAPERS Willa Cather's immigrant characters, almost a able exaggeration when in 1921 she maintained literary anomaly at the time she created them, that "now all Miss Cather's books have been earned her widespread critical and popular ac­ translated into the Scandinavian," the Swedish claim, not least in the Scandinavian countries, a translations of 0 Pioneers! and The Song of market she was already eager to explore at the the Lark whetted the Scandinavian appetite beginning of her literary career. Sweden, the for more Cather. As the 1920s drew to a close, first Scandinavian country to "discover" her her reputation grew slowly but steadily. Her books, issued more translations of Cather fic­ friend George Seibel was probably guilty of tion than any other European country. In considerably less exaggeration than was Eva fact, Sweden was ten years ahead of any other Mahoney when he recalled "mentioning her Scandinavian country in publishing the transla­ name in the Gyldendal Boghandel in Copen­ tion of a Cather novel (see table).
    [Show full text]
  • Living Simultaneity
    Living Simultaneity Simultaneity Living Semi-secular individuals, those who are neither religious nor unreligious, seldom get the attention of scholars of religion. Here, however, they stand at the center. Th e interviewees live in the same Stockholm neighborhood and it is their ways of talking about and relating to religion that is analyzed and described. Simultaneity is one particular feature in the material. Th is concept emphazises a ‘both and’ approach in: the way the respon- dents ascribe meaning to the term religion; how they talk about themselves in relation to diff erent religious designations and how they interpret experiences that they single out as ‘out-of-the- ordinary’. Th ese simultaneities are explained and theorized through analyses focusing on intersubjective and discursive processes. Th is work adds to a critical discussion on the supposedly far-reaching secularity in Sweden on the one hand and on the incongruence and inconsistency of lived religion on the other. In relation to theorizing on religion and religious people, this study off ers empirical material that nuance a dichotomous under- standing of ‘the religious’ and ‘the secular’. In relation to method- ology it is argued that the salience of simultaneity in the material shows that when patterns of religiosity among semisecular Swedes are studied there is a need to be attentive to expressions of com- plexity, contradiction and incongruity. Ann af Burén Living Simultaneity On religion among semi-secular Swedes Södertörns högskola SE-141 89 Huddinge Ann af Burén
    [Show full text]
  • SCS News Fall 2004, Volume 3, Number 1
    Swedish Colonial News Volume 3, Number 1 Fall 2004 Preserving the legacy of the New Sweden Colony in America The Faces of New Sweden now in print Kim-Eric Williams After more than two years of work, the long-awaited The Faces of New Sweden is now available and was premiered at the New Sweden History Conference on November 20 in Wilmington, DE. It is a perfect-bound book and includes many full color reproductions of the recently rediscovered paintings of Pastor Erik Björk and his wife Christina Stalcop. Erik Björk was one of the three Church of Sweden priests sent to America in 1697 by Jesper Svedberg and King Carl IX to revive the churches and serve the remaining Swedes on the Delaware. He was pastor at Holy Trinity (Old Swedes’) Church in Wilmington from 1697 until 1713. The portraits of Björk and his wife seem to date to 1712 and are by America’s first portrait painter, Gustavus (Gustaf) Hesselius, who was the brother of the next two Swedish priests to serve in Wilmington, Andreas Hesselius and Samuel Hesselius. The family background of the painter Gustavus Hesselius and the families of Erik Björk and Christina Stalcop is told by the author Hans Ling of Uppsala, Sweden, legal advisor to the National Heritage Board and a Forefather member of the Swedish Colonial Society. In this Issue... continued on page 6 HISTORIC SITE OBSERVATIONS Delaware National Printzhof Bricks 5 Coastal Heritage 16 FOREFATHERS Park DELEGATION 2 Pål Jönsson Mullica 7 to Sweden 2004 FOREFATHERS Dr. Peter S. Craig this land was surveyed and patented.
    [Show full text]
  • The 2018 Swedish Election of the Riksdag
    The 2018 Swedish Election of the Riksdag POLICY PAPER / NOVEMBER 2018 AUTHORS: EMMA WELSINK LILEESHA BOYD The 2018 Swedish Elections of the Riksdag Policy Paper – Emma Welsink, Lileesha Boyd; November 2018 On Sunday the 9th September 2018 the Social Democrats were able to maintain Swedish voted on the political party that dominance in Sweden as a centre-left they believe should represent them in party, sometimes taking more than 50% of Parliament. Sweden has been a perfect the votes, sometimes going into a coalition example of the Scandinavian model of with leftist parties. Consequentially, the politics for decades, with a focus on social Social Democrats have had a big impact on welfare and progression. But for the first Swedish politics and society. The party is time in history, the 2018 election results especially well known for its establishment left Sweden with an uncertain path of the Swedish welfare system, also called forward as the populist Sweden Democrats ‘Social Democracy’. By implementing this party gained significant ground in expense system, the Social Democrats transformed of the traditionally powerful Social the Swedish health, education and pension Democrats. This paper focuses on the systems. Additionally, they also boosted its question of why Swedish politics have economy, thus providing people with jobs diverted from its established path, and and income. A downside to this impressive what the way forward may look like. welfare system is that during times of economic hardships it is more difficult for The Swedish Political System: the government to curtail (social) expenses Its Political Parties and their and mitigate negative economic Campaign Points developments.
    [Show full text]
  • Learning from Scandinavia's Game of Thrones
    Learning from Scandinavia’s By John Bechtel, Freelance Writerr either heritage nor history are boring, arcane subjects best suited for Heritage is about memories and identities; it seductively promises to aging seniors with nothing better to do than take dreamy trips down answer the question, where do I belong? Heritage is about geography and nostalgia lane. The only thing that can be said to be boring about topography and landscapes of the familiar; it is about emotional attachments to history from time to time is its teachers, who fail to communicate that history land and language and places; it is about our personal history and experiences does in fact repeat itself, its lessons lost upon successive generations who with such places and things, especially from an early age. But our attitudes and cannot remember yesteryear’s unkept political promises and failed ideologies. longings are also affected by others, outsiders, who may visit but who never lived it, who have other memories of other places. Both the insider’s viewpoint History is a living art; what we do, think, and act out today is tomorrow’s and the tourist’s perceptions can be valuable, because there is a certain amount history. How can that be boring? History is about taking nothing for granted, of mythmaking and whitewashing in all heritage stories. To truly benefit making no assumptions about the present or the future. History is an antidote from our heritage, we need to do more than romanticize the past. We need to to overconfidence by today’s ideologues. History is about insatiable curiosity experience it as closely as possible to the way it was to live it, not just by the about how we got to where we are, and the interplay of ideas, people—human elites of the day, but at all levels of society.
    [Show full text]
  • Gustav V, King of Sweden (1858-1950) by Tina Gianoulis
    Gustav V, King of Sweden (1858-1950) by Tina Gianoulis Encyclopedia Copyright © 2015, glbtq, Inc. Entry Copyright © 2005, glbtq, inc. Reprinted from http://www.glbtq.com A photograph of Crown Prince Gustav V of Sweden created in 1874. The last Swedish king to exert direct power over his nation's government, King Gustav Gustav ascended to the V was a memorable personality and a bisexual. Though his reign ended under a cloud throne in 1907. of scandal, he was instrumental in keeping his country neutral through two devastating world wars, passing progressive social legislation, and maintaining economic prosperity. Oscar Gustaf Adolf, who would later become Gustav, or Gustavus V, was born on June 16, 1858, in Stockholm's magnificent Drottningholm Palace. He was the eldest son of Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway, which were united under one monarch until 1905, when Norway asserted its independence. Though a member of the royal house of Bernadotte, Crown Prince Gustaf was an unassuming young man who did not value regal pretensions. He was educated at the University of Uppsala. On a trip to Britain in 1878, he learned the game of tennis, which became a life-long passion. He often played incognito, under the pseudonym "Mr. G." In 1881, Crown Prince Gustaf married Victoria of Baden, a political union that united the Bernadottes with the former Swedish royal house of Vasa. Though they had three sons, the couple did not have a close relationship. Victoria's health was not good and she spent many months each year at the Swedish resort island of Solliden, Öland or on Capri in Italy.
    [Show full text]
  • Population Genomics of the Viking World
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/703405; this version posted July 17, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 Population genomics of the Viking world 2 3 Ashot Margaryan1,2,3*, Daniel Lawson4*, Martin Sikora1*, Fernando Racimo1*, Simon Rasmussen5, Ida 4 Moltke6, Lara Cassidy7, Emil Jørsboe6, Andrés Ingason1,58,59, Mikkel Pedersen1, Thorfinn 5 Korneliussen1, Helene Wilhelmson8,9, Magdalena Buś10, Peter de Barros Damgaard1, Rui 6 Martiniano11, Gabriel Renaud1, Claude Bhérer12, J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar1,13, Anna Fotakis3, Marie 7 Allen10, Martyna Molak14, Enrico Cappellini3, Gabriele Scorrano3, Alexandra Buzhilova15, Allison 8 Fox16, Anders Albrechtsen6, Berit Schütz17, Birgitte Skar18, Caroline Arcini19, Ceri Falys20, Charlotte 9 Hedenstierna Jonson21, Dariusz Błaszczyk22, Denis Pezhemsky15, Gordon Turner-Walker23, Hildur 10 Gestsdóttir24, Inge Lundstrøm3, Ingrid Gustin8, Ingrid Mainland25, Inna Potekhina26, Italo Muntoni27, 11 Jade Cheng1, Jesper Stenderup1, Jilong Ma1, Julie Gibson25, Jüri Peets28, Jörgen Gustafsson29, Katrine 12 Iversen5,64, Linzi Simpson30, Lisa Strand18, Louise Loe31,32, Maeve Sikora33, Marek Florek34, Maria 13 Vretemark35, Mark Redknap36, Monika Bajka37, Tamara Pushkina15, Morten Søvsø38, Natalia 14 Grigoreva39, Tom Christensen40, Ole Kastholm41, Otto Uldum42, Pasquale Favia43, Per Holck44, Raili
    [Show full text]