Sweden -- School-age
Sweden
Official Name: Kingdom of Sweden
Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy
Capital: Stockholm
County's inhabitants: Swedes
Abbreviation: SE, SWE
Currency: Kronor
Official Language: Swedish
Religion: Church of Sweden (Lutheran) 57.6%, other 8.9%, none or unspecified 33.5%
Population: 10.41 million (2021)
Ethnic Groups: Swedish 80.3%, Syrian 1.9%, Iraqi 1.4%, Finnish 1.4%, other 15% (2020)
Sweden in northern Europe. Sweden is a long and narrow country on the Scandinavian Peninsula, with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast. Sweden is the largest country in Scandinavia.
Government
The government of Sweden is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy because it has a king or queen who is the Head of State with no power and whose duties are regulated by law. The monarchy is hereditary.
Parliament is a single legislative chamber. Sweden's government is run by elected officials. It's legislature, the Riksdag, is elected by the people for four-year terms. After the elections the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually becomes the prime minister The prime minister is the head of the government.
Supreme Court of Sweden consists of 16 justices who are nominated by the 9 members Judges Proposal Board. The justices' appointments are permanent.
History
The Sami are the descendants of nomadic peoples who lived in Lapland for thousands of years. Lapland is a northern Scandinavia area in the north of Europe that is part of the countries of Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden.
The region was home to the Svear, a people who gave Sweden its name. Sweden ancient stems from the name was Svea Rike, or kingdom (land) of the Svear. The Svea tribe became powerful around 500 A.D. The Svea would raid along the coasts of northern Europe and became known as the Vikings.
Modern Sweden has worked to stay neutral - it does not take sides in conflicts between other countries. Sweden stayed neutral and did not fight in World War I or World War II. Sweden is a rich country where the people pay some of the highest taxes in the world. Tax money is used to provide social services to the people, including free education and free health insurance to all Swedes. In 1995 Sweden joined the European Union
In 2015 Sweden experienced a migrant crisis of more than 1 million migrants from Africa and the Middle East entered Europe. Up to 200,000 refugees put a strain on Sweden's welfare system. It introduced tighter border controls for the first time in fifty years .
Vikings
The Viking period in history stretches from about 790 C.E.. to 1100 C.E. The Vikings originated from Scandinavia in what are now the countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
BBC-History For Kids explore Viking topics.
Explore A Viking Village Explore online a medieval Viking village that archaeologists excavated near modern-day Stockholm.
Write Your Name in Runes Just type in your name and press go to see what your name is in the Runic Alphabet. He came up with his own classification systems. In 1745, Linnaeus published two books. Species Plantarum which contained all known plants at that time. Systema Naturae which names and classified animals.
Flag of Sweden
Sweden adopted its current flag law on June 22, 1906. The National Flag of Sweden consists of a light medium blue background and a golden yellow colored Nordic cross. The horizontal cross extends to the edges, the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side. The Nordic cross in this flag represents Christianity. Flag day is celebrated in Sweden on the 6th of June.
History of Sweden Video
Land
The climate in Sweden is mild weather in the summer and cold in the winter. Subarctic in the north.
Plants
The plants vary with the regions. There are five different zones supporting different plant life. The tundra is in the north. Below the timber line (on a mountain the line or altitude above which no trees grow) aspen, mountain ash, birch trees, and coniferous forests grow. In central Sweden is birch forests. In the south is coniferous forest, and beach and oak trees are found in the southern region.
24 Stunning Swedish Flowers
Edelweiss is a mountain flower that prefers rocky limestone places at about 1,800–3,000 meters (5,900–9,800 ft) altitude.
Animals
Animal life differs depending on the region. Some of the animals that occur in Sweden are harbor seals, lynxes, arctic foxes, gray wolves, otters, and whales.
Moose are one of the most common animals in Sweden. Sweden has the highest population density of moose in the world.
Sweden also has mammals like the European marten, the European hedgehog, the European mole, bats, beavers, European hare, shrews, squirrels, rodents, wild boar, red deer, elk, roe deer, and domesticated reindeer.
Sami in Sweden Today, wild reindeer are no longer found in Sweden. All reindeer in Sweden are herded by the Sami people.
Facts About Reindeer
Some of the predators that roam the forests are brown bears, lynxes, wild boars, gray wolves, and wolverines. Numerous birds also make their home in Sweden's forests.
Classification | Carl Linneaus Video
Scientists
Anders Celsius invented the Celsius temperature scale.
Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist. He is called the father of taxonomy or the father of classification.
The Linnean Society Primary Area videos and activities
Taxonomy Lesson And Worksheets For Kids ages 9-12
Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and established the Nobel Institute.
Writers
Astrid Lindgren was a Swedish writer of fiction. She created the world famous Pippi Longstocking book series.
Selma Lagerlöf wrote The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (read online). She is the first woman writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Sweden Is Famous For
Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming and media services created by web designer and entrepreneur Daniel Ek. It was launced in 2008.
Northern lights (aurora borealis) An aurora is a natural light display in the sky that appears in polar regions that consists of streamers or arches of light appearing in the upper atmosphere of a planet's magnetic polar regions.
Land of the Midnight Sun
In the area above the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets from mid-May until mid-June
Swedish Products
The apple is the most grown fruit in Sweden.
The top exports of Sweden are cars, refined petroleum, packaged medicaments, sawn wood, and motor vehicles; parts and accessories. Sweden exports mostly to Germany, Norway, United States, Denmark, and Finland.
Things to Do
Pippi Longstocking color page
Color the flag of Sweden.
Make a Troll pencil topper.
Telling Time without a Clock: Scandinavian Daymarks
Kubb (aka Viking Chess) Swedish Throwing Game Video
Recommended Products
The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking
by by Astrid Lindgren
Sweden Fun Facts Picture Book for Kids
by Marilyn Trueluck
See Also
