Sweden
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.
Government - Constitutional monarchy.
Land area: 158,662 sq mi (410,934 sq km); total area: 173,732 sq mi (449,964 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 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
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Stockholm, 1,622,300 (metro. area), 1,251,900 (city proper)
Other large cities: Göteborg, 506,600; Malmö, 245,300; Uppsala, 127,300
Monetary unit: Krona
Language: Swedish, small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Ethnicity/race: indigenous population: Swedes with Finnish and Sami minorities; foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks
Religions: Lutheran 87%, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist