Sweden, which occupies the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, is the fourth-largest country in Europe and is one-tenth larger than California. The country slopes eastward and southward from the Kjólen Mountains along the Norwegian border, where the peak elevation is Kebnekaise at 6,965 ft (2,123 m) in Lapland. In the north are mountains and many lakes. To the south and east are central lowlands and south of them are fertile areas of forest, valley, and plain. Along Sweden's rocky coast, chopped up by bays and inlets, are many islands, the largest of which are Gotland and Öland.
Country lead by Sovereign: King Carl XVI Gustaf (1973)
Prime Minister: Fredrik Reinfeldt (2006)
Population
9,016,596 (growth rate: 0.2%); birth rate: 10.3/1000; infant mortality rate: 2.8/1000; life expectancy: 80.5; density per sq mi: 57
Land Area
158,662 sq mi (410,934 sq km); total area: 173,732 sq mi (449,964 sq km)
Monetary unit
Krona Language
Swedish, small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Ethnicity indigenous population: Swedes with Finnish and Sami minorities; foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks
Religion Lutheran 87%, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist
Transportation Railways: total: 11,481 km (2002). Highways: total: 210,402 km; paved: 166,523 km (including 1,499 km of expressways); unpaved: 45,879 km (2000). Waterways: 2,052 km navigable for small steamers and barges. Ports and harbors: Gavle, Goteborg, Halmstad, Helsingborg, Hudiksvall, Kalmar, Karlshamn, Malmo, Solvesborg, Stockholm, Sundsvall. Airports: 245 (2002).
