Geography of Sweden

Climate: temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north
Terrain: Mountains and hills in west. Plains and agriculture land in the south. The mountains fjeld are in the north togeter with plains and lakes and a lot of snow in the winter. More than 50% of Sweden is forests, dominant in the central parts, comparable to the terrain of Canada.
Geographic coordinates: Template:Coor dm

The two largest islands are Gotland and Öland in the south-east. They each have their own culture, most notably Gotland with the old and largely intact and heritage filled city Visby.

Lands of Sweden

Main article: Lands of Sweden

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Lands of Sweden

Sweden was historically divided into four Lands or Landsdelar:

Götaland and Svealand were once, in prehistoric times known only in folklore, in fragmentary pieces of foreign sources, in legends which only later chronicles have written about, rival kingdoms before being united under one Crown by Svealand. Legends attest an independent history to Österland, it having e.g its own prehistoric kings. In 11th and 12th centuries, sporadically Götaland and Svealand supported kings rival against each other, thus sometimes continuing these separated ancient kingdoms - though most of those kings eventually managed to unite all of Sweden under one dominion (but the srife may again arise in the beginning of next reign). Götaland represents southern Sweden and Svealand is to its north in middle Sweden. Österland is the old name for Finland, but today it represents the southern and middle parts of that country. Norrland is the name for the lands annexed as the realm expanded to the north on both sides of the Gulf of Bothnia. Österland and Norrland literally mean Eastern and Northern lands.

An interpretation has been made that the part "Vend" in the later established titulary of Kings of Sweden (three crowns in the Coat of Arms, three kingdoms: Kings of Svears, Götars och Vends; Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung) means Finland, the form being akin to Findland, Vindland. As such, the Österland (=medievally inhabited parts of Finland) was the third kingdom and the thord part of the realm.

After the Finnish War (1808-1809) the eastern half of Sweden (Österland) was ceded to Russia, thus becoming the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, and Norrland was divided between these two states. The Swedish portion of Norrland still represents more than half of Sweden's territory; it remains, however, sparsely populated compared to the south and middle. The town of Stockholm, which became the Swedish capital mostly because it was centrally located vis-a-vis to Finnish provinces, is geographically located in the east and south of Sweden, but in the Swedish mindset this is rather more perceived as middle Sweden.

Counties

Main article: Counties of Sweden

Sweden is divided into 21 counties or län. In each county there is a County Administrative Board or länsstyrelse which is appointed by the Government. In each county there is also a separate County Council or landsting, which is the municipal representation appointed by the county electorate. Each county further divides into a number of municipalities or kommuner, making a total of 290 municipalities, in 2004. There are also older historical divisions of the Swedish Realm, primarily into provinces and lands.

Cities

The largest city, by population, is the capital Stockholm, to the east, the dominating city for culture and media, with a population of 750,000. The second largest city is Gothenburg, with 500,000, to the west. Third is Malmö in the south, with 250,000.

The north is less populated than the southern and central parts, mostly because of its colder climate. The largest city is its only university city Umeå with 90,000 inhabitants.

Municipalities

Sweden had a municipality reform in the 1970's, whereby all cities where turned into municipalities. Currently there are 290 municipalities.

The northern municipalities are often large by size, but low populated – the largest municipality is Kiruna with an area as large as the three southern districts in Sweden (Scania, Blekinge and Hallandia) combined, but it only has a population of 25,000, and its density is about 1 / km².

Area

Total: 449,964 km² (slightly larger than California, USA)
whereof land: 410,934 km²
and water: 39,030 km²

Land boundaries

total: 2,205 km
border countries: Finland 586 km, Norway 1,619 km
Coastline: 3,218 km

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Main line Railways built between 1860-1930.

Maritime claims

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: agreed boundaries or midlines
territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (adjustments made to return a portion of straits to high seas)

Elevation extremes

lowest point: in the city of Kristianstad in southern Sweden, -2,41 m
highest point: Kebnekaise 2,111 m

Railways

Main line railways were built between 1860-1930.

Natural resources

Land use

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What is Sweden land used for? Showing forest, agriculture and mountain.

arable land: 7%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 68%
other: 24% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,150 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards

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In this true-color scene in March 15, 2002, much of Scandinavia can be seen covered by snow and the Gulf of Bothnia covered with ice. From a NASA satellite.

Ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic

Environment

current issues: acid rain damaging soils and lakes; pollution of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea
international agreements: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
- signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

References

CIA World Factbook 2001pt:Geografia da Suécia

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Categories: Geography by country | Geography of Sweden