Sweden is formally the Kingdom of Sweden, a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west as well as north, Finland to the east, and also is linked to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel throughout the Öresund. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the biggest country in Northern Europe, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth largest country in Europe.

The capital as well as biggest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total populace of 10.4 million, the largest of the Nordic nations; and a reduced population density of 25.5 occupants per square kilometre (66/sq mi). 87% of Swedes reside in urban areas, which cover 1.5% of the whole acreage. The greatest focus remains in the main as well as southerly fifty percent of the nation.

Sweden belongs to the geographical location of Fennoscandia. The climate is in basic mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Despite the high latitude, Sweden usually has cozy continental summer seasons, being located in between the North Atlantic, the Baltic Sea, as well as large Russia.

The basic environment and setting vary dramatically from the south and north as a result of the substantial latitudinal distinction, and also a lot of Sweden has dependably cool and also snowy winters. Southern Sweden is primarily agricultural, while the north is greatly forested and also includes a portion of the Scandinavian Mountains.

Germanic individuals have actually occupied Sweden given that ancient times, arising right into history as the Geats (Swedish: Götar) as well as Swedes (Svear) and also constituting the sea peoples known as the Norsemen. An independent Swedish state emerged throughout the very early 12th century. After the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century eliminated about a third of the Scandinavian populace, the prominence of the Hanseatic Organization in Northern Europe intimidated Scandinavia financially and politically.

This led to the developing of the Scandinavian Kalmar Union in 1397, which Sweden left in 1523. When Sweden came to be associated with the Thirty Years’ War on the Protestant side, a growth of its areas began and also at some point the Swedish Empire was formed. This became one of the world powers of Europe till the early 18th century.

Swedish areas outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were progressively lost throughout the 18th as well as 19th centuries, finishing with the addition of present-day Finland by Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814 when Norway was militarily pushed into an individual union, which in harmony dissolved in 1905. Ever since, Sweden has gone to peace, preserving a main policy of neutrality in international affairs.

In 2014, Sweden commemorated 200 years of peace, breaking even Switzerland’s record for peace. Sweden was officially neutral via both world wars and also the Cold War, although Sweden has given that 2009 freely relocated in the direction of participation with NATO.