Sweden is a part of Scandinavia. With its 450,000 square km (about 170,000 square miles), Sweden is the third largest country in Western Europe – almost the same size as Spain or France. However, Sweden is a small country in terms of population, with only 9.2 million inhabitants. Consequently, Sweden is sparsely populated with roughly 22 inhabitants per square km. This can be compared to the population density in the European Union, 112 inhabitants per sqare km.

• More facts on sweden.se

Sweden is a parliamentary democracy. The Constitution declares that all public power in Sweden proceeds from the people and that the Riksdag – the Swedish Parliament – is the foremost representative of the people. The country is ruled by the Government, which is accountable to the Riksdag. There are currently seven parties represented in the Riksdag: the Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats, the Liberal Party, the Center Party, the Green Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Left Party.

• About the Swedish system of government on sweden.se

Diversity is the new keyword of the Swedish design scene. Emotional values are now reckoned to be as important as function in Swedish craftsmanship and design in general. Everything is tested and retested: aesthetic norms as well as traditional ways of working. Monica Förster’s softly minimalist furniture exists alongside wildly experimental work by Front. Basic Swedish fashion like Filippa K now finds itself in the company of the knitting acrobatics of Sandra Backlund; the strict graphic design of Stockholm Design Lab rubs shoulders with Andreas & Fredrika’s arty graphic design; and established industrial design studios like No Picnic work alongside startups like Syntes Studio, which specialises in storytelling.

• About Swedish design on sweden.se

The pacemaker, the ball bearing, the safety match, the adjustable spanner, the zip and the Tetra Pak carton are all Swedish inventions — and products of a long history of science and research. Sweden is today at the forefront of efforts to make Europe “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010", the Lisbon objective. 

• Inventing tomorrow's world on sweden.se

Sweden is considered to be one of the countries with the greatest gender equality, and there is a fairly even breakdown by gender in most government bodies. The percentage of gainfully employed women is 79 per cent, one of the highest in the world, and the birth rate is among the highest in Europe. A well developed social welfare system makes it easier to combine work and family.

• About gender equality on sweden.se