Sweden

Coordinates: 62°N 15°E / 62°N 15°E / 62; 15

Sweden (ⁱ/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsvæːrjə]  listen ), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish:  Konungariket Sverige ), is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of over 9.8 million. Sweden consequently has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54/sq mi), with the highest concentration in the southern half of the country. Approximately 85% of the population lives in urban areas. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the geographical area of Fennoscandia.

Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear and constituting the sea peoples known as the Norsemen. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, beginning with the annexation of present-day Finland by Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union.

Å, Sweden

Å is a small village and a parish in Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden. It has a population of about 200.

There are also at least 12 other places in Sweden called Å, most of them only a farm or a few houses. Å is pronounced "Aw", or phonetically [o:].

Å, which means stream or small river, is a contender for the title of shortest place-name in the world — although other places named Å as well as Ö and Y can make the same claim. As a consequence, many tourists have ventured to the village for the sole purpose of either taking photos of or stealing the place-name sign.

The parish of Å is rich in ancient remains, of which the oldest date from the Stone Age.

Coordinates: 58°29′47″N 16°30′06″E / 58.49638°N 16.50166°E / 58.49638; 16.50166

Name of Sweden

The name of Sweden (Swedish Sverige [ˈsvær.jə]  listen ) is ultimately derived from the ethnonym of the Swedes. The English name was loaned from Dutch in the 17th century to refer to Sweden as an emerging great power. Before Sweden's imperial expansion, Early Modern English used Swedeland.

The Old English name of Sweden was Sweoland or Sweorice, land or realm of the Sweonas, The Germanic tribes of the Sviar (Old Norse Svíþjóð). The name of the Sviar itself is derived from a Proto-Norse *Swihoniz, presumably a self-designation containing the Germanic reflexive *swe- "one's own, self".

Sweden

The modern English name Sweden is exceptional in being loaned from Dutch. Before the gradual introduction of Sweden in the 17th century, English used Swedeland.

It is based on Middle Dutch Zweden, the Dutch name of Sweden, and in origin the dative plural of Zwede "Swede". It has been in use in English from about 1600, first recorded in Scottish Swethin, Swadne. Country names based on a dative plural in -n became productive in German and Dutch in the 15th century; compare German Italien "Italy", Spanien "Spain", Rumänien "Romania", Ungarn "Hungary".

Sweden (album)

Sweden is an album by the Mountain Goats released on Shrimper Records in 1995.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by John Darnielle, except where noted. 

Notes

Despite the title, cover, Swedish alternative titles, and the humorous mini-essay about "The Swedish conspiracy" in the liner notes (written by Paul Lukas, though he was only credited a year later in the liner notes to the band's next release Nothing for Juice), none of the lyrics are explicitly about Sweden itself. Various other locations, such as Seoul, Korea, California, Queens, New York City, Bolivia and Denmark are however all mentioned in the songs. "Duke Ellington" (which appears on the rarities compilation Protein Source of the Future...Now! and the Harriet records compilation The Long Secret), which does mention Sweden, is described as "one of two pieces written for the song-cycle Sweden and intentionally left off of the album".

Personnel

References

Sweden (European Parliament constituency)

In European elections, Sweden is a constituency of the European Parliament covering the entire nation of Sweden. It is currently represented by twenty MEPs.

Current MEPs

As of April 2015

1995

Austria, Finland and Sweden acceded to the Union on 1 January 1995. 59 delegates (21 from Austria, 16 from Finland, 22 from Sweden) were appointed to the Parliament on accession, bringing the total up to 626. Elections to elect the 22 MEPs for Sweden were held on 17 September 1995.

1999

The 1999 European election was the fifth election to the European Parliament.

2004

The 2004 European election was the sixth election to the European Parliament and the third for Sweden.

2009

References

External links

Sweden (disambiguation)

Sweden is a country in Northern Europe. Sweden may also refer to:

Locations

Music

See also