Arts Midwest Folkefest Study Guide

Sweden COUNTRY & CULTURE Introduction to Sweden, officially called the Kingdom of Sweden, is located in and is the largest of the Scandinavian countries. Sweden is known for its efforts to preserve the environment, advocate for human rights, and maintain peace with other countries. Population: 10,151,588 : Swedish Capital: Currency: (SEK) of Sweden History People first settled in around 10,000 years ago, when the glacial ice covering the region melted enough to reveal the land. These people were hunter-gatherers, but soon began raising livestock and farming the land, living in small, independently ruled groups. The name Sweden comes from one of these tribes, the Svea tribe, that became powerful around 500 A.D. call their land Sverige, which means “land of the Svea”. As the population grew, the Svea began building ships and sailing off in seach of new homes and riches along the coast of Northern Europe. These travelers were called , which means “pirates” in . The Vikings often stole from the people they raided and settled in their lands. Some traveled as far as Iceland, Greenland, and even the coast of North America. Around 1000 A.D. Sweden recognized its first Christian king. While this marked the begining of the Swedish state, it also ended the Vikings’ reign over the country. In 1397, Danish Queen Margrete I brought together Sweden, , and under the Union of Kalmar, which united the countries under a single rule. The union ended in 1521, and for the following three hundred years Sweden participated in a series of wars with Denmark and as it tried to maintain control over the Baltic Region. Sweden’s union with Norway peacefully dissolved in 1905 after about a century, and by 1917 declared its independence from Russia. Sweden remained neutral throughout both World Wars, and since the 1930’s people in Sweden have had access to publicly financed health care, help for the unemployed, child care, elder care, and at least five weeks of paid vacation per year. Geography and Climate Sweden is in the geographical region of northern Europe known as Scandinavia. The country is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge. Although Sweden lies as far north as Alaska does, it generally has a milder climate due to the warm ocean air coming from the Atlantic Ocean through the Gulf Stream. Over half of the country is covered in lush forests, glacier- formed mountains and valleys, and as many as 100,000 scattered lakes throughout the land, making for some of the world’s most beautiful landscapes. In the northernmost part of the country, the sun never rises above the horizon for most of the winter months. In the summer, the opposite happens: the sun only dips below the horizon and never truly sets! Swedes have a short summer, and only get to experience this “midnight sun” for about two months. In the spring and fall, spectacular light shows called “aurora borealis” or “northern lights” fill the nightime skies in northern Sweden. These streams of color are caused by colliding particles from the sun and the earth’s atmosphere, and have been featured in for centuries. One such legend recounts that the colored lights were the reflections from the shields of the Valkyrie, female warriors that choose which warriors continue to fight in battle and which should Aurora Borealis. be left behind. Photo by georgemoga (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Learn more at www.artsmidwest.org/folkefest Arts Midwest Folkefest Study Guide

Sweden COUNTRY & CULTURE

People and Culture The majority of people in Sweden speak Swedish. The is influenced by , German, and Norse (the old Scandinavian language spoken until the end of the ) and has the same alphabet as English except for the added letters å, ä, and ö. English is taught and spoken regularly in Sweden, and students also often study German, French or Spanish. There are five recognized minorities in Sweden: Sweden-, Jews, Romani, , and the Sami people. These minorities have faced discrimination through history, and still in many ways have to fight for their life style, language, culture and music. Sweden is a very secularized, or non-religious, country, but the majority of Swedes celebrate Christian holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Santa Lucia Day, and All Saints Day, in addition to national holidays such as New Years and Midsommar (). Sweden has been a country for peace and equality, building the in the 20th century and having a high level of education and lifestyle. But recently Sweden has, like most European countries right now, experienced frictions, due to differeing views in politics. Design Sweden is known for being an innovator in design. Architecture, furniture, clothing, and other crafts are minimalist yet functional, designed in ways that encourage socialization. Swedish designers exercise their imagination by adding emotional value and storylines to their work. Food The term husmanskost years ago used to refer to a bland, heavy porridge that was made when resources were scarce. Nowadays, the term husmanskost refers to all delicious, home-cooked dishes in Sweden. Local favorites include köttbulla (CHURT- boolar, Swedish meatballs), boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam, surströmming (pickled, Simple, foldable table design by Sanna fermented herring with a strong odor), and rye bread. Below are some unique food Lindstrom and Sigrid Stromgren. Photo by Brett Jordan (CC BY 2.0) customs that distinguish Sweden from other countries! Fika Smörgåsbord Crayfish parties A coffee-break but better! Fika is a The term combines the This festivity marks the end moment in the day that’s set aside words smörgås (open-faced of summer with a feast of for quality time with someone you sandwhiches) and bord (table) , Swedish crayfish, a food that know or would like to get to know. referromg loosely to any buffet became a national delicacy Always accompanied with sweets with a variety of dishes, both hot in the 1900’s and is still or open-faced sandwhiches. and cold. celebrated today.

Photo by Susanne Nilsson (CC BY-SA 2.0) Photo by Anders Ekström (CC BY-2.0) Photo by s-velasco (CC BY-ND 2.0) Additional Resources National Geographic Kids: Sweden https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/countries/sweden

This work is licensed under a The Swedish Institute: Official Facts about Sweden Creative Commons https://sweden.se Attributi on-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 U nport ed License. Learn more at www.artsmidwest.org/folkefest