Portal:Sweden
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Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge–tunnel across the Öresund.
At 447,425 square kilometres (172,752 sq mi), Sweden is the largest Nordic country and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a population of 10.5 million, and a low population density of 25.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (66/sq mi), with around 87% of Swedes residing in urban areas, which cover 1.5% of the entire land area, in the central and southern half of the country. Nature in Sweden is dominated by forests and many lakes, including some of the largest in Europe. Many long rivers run from the Scandes range, primarily emptying into the northern tributaries of the Baltic Sea. It has an extensive coastline and most of the population lives near a major body of water. With the country ranging from 55°N to 69°N, the climate of Sweden is diverse due to the length of the country.
Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats (Swedish: Götar) and Swedes (Svear) and constituting the sea peoples known as the Norsemen. An independent Swedish state emerged during the early 12th century. After the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century killed about a third of the Scandinavian population, the dominance of the Hanseatic League in Northern Europe threatened Scandinavia economically and politically. This led to the formation of the Scandinavian Kalmar Union in 1397, which Sweden left in 1523. When Sweden became involved in the Thirty Years' War on the Protestant side, an expansion of its territories began, forming the Swedish Empire, which remained one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. (Full article...)
The Lokrume helmet fragment is a decorated eyebrow piece from a Swedish helmet dating from the Viking Age. Discovered in Lokrume, a small settlement on the island of Gotland, it was first published in 1907 and is in the collection of the Gotland Museum. It is made of iron, the surface of which is decorated with silver and niello that forms an interlaced pattern.
The fragment is from around the 10th century AD, and is one of five Viking helmets to survive in any condition; the others are another fragment from Gotland, one from Kyiv, the Tjele helmet fragment from Denmark, and the Gjermundbu helmet from Norway. These are all examples of the "crested helmets" that entered use in Europe around the 6th century and are derivatives of the earlier Anglo-Saxon and Vendel Period helmets. (Full article...)Selected article -

Swedish (svenska [ˈsvɛ̂nːska] ⓘ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countries overall.
Swedish, like the other Nordic languages, is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, although the degree of mutual intelligibility is largely dependent on the dialect and accent of the speaker. (Full article...)Did you know -

- ... that Baggböle manor is built entirely of wood, but made to look like a stone building?
- ... that from 1945 to 1972, the Swedish government ran a clandestine atomic weapons program (that never produced any operational weapons)?
- ... that Sweden's medieval Läby Church was abandoned in 1890 but reopened in 1928?
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Harriet Sofie Bosse (19 February 1878 – 2 November 1961) was a Swedish–Norwegian actress. A celebrity in her day, Bosse is now most commonly remembered as the third wife of the playwright August Strindberg. Bosse began her career in a minor company run by her forceful older sister Alma Fahlstrøm in Kristiania (now Oslo, the capital of Norway). Having secured an engagement at the Royal Dramatic Theatre ("Dramaten"), the main drama venue of Sweden's capital Stockholm, Bosse caught the attention of Strindberg with her intelligent acting and exotic "oriental" appearance.
After a whirlwind courtship, which unfolds in detail in Strindberg's letters and diary, Strindberg and Bosse were married in 1901, when he was 52 and she 23. Strindberg wrote a number of major roles for Bosse during their short and stormy relationship, especially in 1900–01, a period of great creativity and productivity for him. Like his previous two marriages, the relationship failed as a result of Strindberg's jealousy, which some biographers have characterized as paranoid. The spectrum of Strindberg's feelings about Bosse, ranging from worship to rage, is reflected in the roles he wrote for her to play, or as portraits of her. Despite her real-life role as muse to Strindberg, she remained an independent artist. (Full article...)Categories
Main topics
Subdivisions: Counties of Sweden • Municipalities of Sweden • Provinces of Sweden

History: 1975 Occupation of the West German embassy • Ådalen shootings • Consolidation of Sweden • Early Swedish history • Enlightened Absolute Monarchy in Sweden • Early Vasa era • Industrialization of Sweden • Post-war Sweden • Prehistoric Sweden • Rise of Sweden as a Great Power • Suiones • Swedish Empire • Sweden after the Great Northern War • Sweden and the Winter War • Sweden during late 19th century • Sweden during World War II • Swedish allotment system • Swedish emigration to the United States • Union between Sweden and Norway
Politics: Alliance for Sweden • Constitution of Sweden • Foreign relations of Sweden • Government of Sweden • Parliament of Sweden • Riksdag • Swedish general election, 2006 • Swedish general election, 2010 • Swedish neutrality • Swedish welfare
Demographics: Education • Ethnic minorities • Languages • Religion • Subdivisions • Cities • People • Healthcare • Immigration
Culture: Cinema of Sweden • Cuisine of Sweden • Music of Sweden • Sports in Sweden • Swedish literature • Tourism in Sweden
Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem
Things you can do
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Wikipedia in Swedish
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There is a Swedish version of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
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