Konungariket Sverige
Kingdom of sweden
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: (Royal) "För Sverige - I tiden" 1
"For sweden – Within Times" 
Anthem: Du gamla, Du fria2
Thou ancient, thou free
Royal anthem: Kungssången
The Song of the King

                 Location of  sweden  (dark green)

– on the European continent  (light green & dark grey)
– in the European Union  (light green)  —  [Legend]
Capital
(and largest city)		 Stockholm
59°21′N, 18°4′E
Official languages Swedish (de facto)
Recognised regional languages Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami, Romani, Jiddisch
Demonym Swedish or Swedes
Government Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy
 -  King Carl XVI Gustaf
 -  Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt
 -  Speaker of
the Riksdag
Per Westerberg
Consolidation Prehistoric 
EU accession 1 January 1995
Area
 -  Total 449,964 km² (55th)
173,732 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 8.7
Population
 -  2008 census 9,208,0344 
 -  Density 20/km² (194th)
52/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate
 -  Total $333.1 billion (33rd)
 -  Per capita $36,900 (25th)
GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate
 -  Total $455 billion (20th)
 -  Per capita $49,655 (8th)
Gini (2005) 23 (low) 
HDI (2004) ▲ 0.956 (high) (6th)
Currency Swedish krona (SEK)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 -  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Internet TLD .se5
Calling code +46
1 För Sverige - I tiden has been adopted by Carl XVI Gustaf as his personal motto.
2 Du gamla, Du fria has never been officially adopted as national anthem, but is so by convention.
3 The Swedish language is the de facto national language, but it is not an official language in sweden. However, the main goal of the Swedish parliament is to keep the Swedish language the main language (huvudspråk). Five other languages are officially recognized as minority languages.[1] [2]
4 "Population in the country, counties and municipalities on 31/12/2007 and Population Change in 2007". Statistiska centralbyrån. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
5 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states. The .nu domain is another commonly used TLD ("nu" means "now" in Swedish).

Sweden[ˈswidən] (help·info), officially the Kingdom of sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info) [ˈko:.nɵ.ŋa.ˌri:.kət ˈsvær:.jə]), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. sweden has land borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by the Oresund Bridge. It has been a member of the European Union since January 1, 1995. Its capital city is Stockholm.

At 449,964 km² (173,732 sq mi), sweden is the largest country by area in Northern Europe and seventh in all of Europe. With a total population slightly over 9 million, sweden has a low population density of 20 people per km² (52 per sq. mi). About 84% of the population live in urban areas. [3]

Modern sweden emerged out of the Kalmar Union formed in 1397, and by the unification of the country by King Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. In the 17th century the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish empire. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of sweden constituted by the eastern half of Norrland and Österland was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union with sweden, a union which lasted until 1905. Since 1814, sweden has been at peace, adopting a non-aligned foreign policy in peacetime and neutrality in wartime.