Page 24 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sweden
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22 INTRODUCING SWEDEN
power, but he is considered to be an
important representative of Sweden to
the rest of the world. Carl XVI Gustaf is
the descendant of one of Napoleon’s
marshals, JeanBaptiste Bernadotte, who
was chosen as the heir to the throne of
the last of the Vasa kings, the childless Karl
XIII. The Frenchman was crowned in 1818
as Carl XIV Johan, King of Sweden and
Norway. Carl XVI Gustaf came to the
Lars Magnus Ericsson, setting Sweden on the path to
industrialization by founding Ericsson in 1876 throne in 1973 and married the German
Silvia Sommerlath. Despite doubt over the
There are occasional green winters in king’s choice of a commoner for his bride,
southern Sweden, but the heaviest snow Swedes soon took Queen Silvia to their
fell in 1998, with 150 cm (5 ft) accum u hearts. The couple’s eldest daughter, Crown
lating on 4–5 December in Gävle in Princess Victoria, is the heir to the throne.
central Sweden. Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag, has
349 members and is Sweden’s legislative
Space for All assembly. Elections are held every
Sweden covers an area of 449,964 sq km four years.
(173,732 sq miles) and with a population Since World War II, a balance has
of around 10 million inhabitants, Swedes prevailed between the socialist and non
have plenty of space. In the forested areas, socialist parties in parliament. With a few
towns can be few and far between. exceptions, the Social Democrats, as the
Towards the end of the 19th century largest group, have governed, either alone
and thanks largely to the coming of the or with smaller supporting parties, though
railways, Sweden began to exploit in recent years, coalition govern
its rich natural resources. Forestry ments have run the country.
and copper industries were estab Taxation remains high, but the
lished and the rivers were harnessed majority of Swedes tend to believe
to produce hydroelectricity. Large that they get value for money.
manufacturing companies began However, an economic crisis in
to develop, such as Ericsson, Volvo the 1990s led to cuts in health,
and Scania, all of which are still in education and social care. The
operation today. The needs of Emblem of state environment is a key issue. Swedes
industry led to a massive shift in have a deeprooted love of nature,
population. Today 85 per cent of the enshrined in the Right of Public Access,
population lives in the cities and less than which guarantees free access to the forests
2 per cent is employed in agriculture. and countryside and the right to pick
In the postwar period the need for berries and mushrooms. There is wide
labour led to immigration. The flow of spread support for combating pollution.
immi grants became even greater at the
end of the 20th century and the beginning Languages and Dialects
of the 21st century with the arrival of While Swedish is the dominant language,
refugees from the world’s trouble spots. Finnish, Tornedalsfinska (the dialect of
Finnish spoken in the Torne Valley) and
Government and Politics Sami are all official minority languages.
Sweden is both a parliamentary The largest of these is Finnish with around
democracy and a hereditary monarchy. As 20,000 speakers, while Sami languages
the head of state, the king has no political are spoken by about 10,000 people.
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