25 Curiosities of Sweden, the country of innovation | With Images

Sweden, one of the Scandinavian countries, is the fifth largest country in Europe due to its size and, nevertheless, it has little more than 10 million inhabitants. Most of them live in cities and feel honored to know that their country always occupies the top positions in the lists that measure freedom, democracy, equality, health or welfare of its citizens. Join us to know 25 Curiosities of Sweden , the country of Innovation.

The Kingdom of Sweden is a peaceful country that belongs to the European Union. Its journey as a modern nation began in 1397 with the Kalmar Union and the subsequent unification carried out in the sixteenth century by King Gustav Vas. It is a country that has among its priorities the protection of the environment, energy efficiency and nature conservation.

25 Curiosities of Sweden

1. The name of Sweden is more than 2,000 years old. It comes from the ancient inhabitants of Svear, in the south of the country. Svear means "we" and "rike" means "kingdom", therefore "Sverige" (the current name of Sweden in Swedish) means "Our Kingdom".

25 Curiosities of Sweden

2. In the ninth century the so-called "Viking Age" began in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The Swedish Vikings settled in Iceland and sailed especially eastwards across the Baltic Sea and navigating the Dnieper and Volga rivers to the Black and Caspian seas, reaching Constantinople itself.

3. Although it is a peaceful country that did not participate in either the First or the Second World War, one of the curiosities of Sweden is that it is among the 15 largest arms exporting countries of the world.

4. The flag of Sweden has the colors blue, for the cloth, and yellow or gold for the cross. It is made following the model of the Danish flag, but with the colors that the shield of the Swedish sovereign had. Blue represents justice, loyalty and truth and yellow or golden generosity.

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5. Between 1850 and 1930 more than 1.5 million Swedes emigrated to North America. This figure represented more than a third of the population of the country, which was 3.5 million inhabitants.

6. The Nobel Prize is one of the most universal Swedish events. It was awarded annually since 1901 and was created by Alfred Nobel, the engineer who invented dynamite.

7. Sweden is the fifth largest country in Europe and the third largest in the European Union, but within the Union it has the second lowest population density, since it does not reach 23.5 people per km. square.

8. The Oresund bridge of 7'8 km. It is the bridge that combines the longest train and road in Europe. Join the Öresund region in Denmark with the city of Malmö in Sweden.

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Bridge of Öresund

9. 9% of the Swedish territory consists of lakes with an area greater than 100 m2. There are more than 95,000.

10. One of the traditional Swedish festivals is December 13, the feast of Saint Lucia, a martyr who died in the year 304. It is a celebration of light with a very ancient origin and that day thousands of girls, disguised as Santa Lucia, they leave in a procession carrying on their heads crowns of candles and distributing traditional cakes.

11. Another traditional Swedish festival is the Night of Walpurgis . It comes from an old pagan spring ritual that adopted Christianity. It is also celebrated in other nearby countries such as Finland or Estonia. It takes place on April 20 and bonfires are lit all over Sweden.

12. If you travel to Sweden it is very possible that you are invited to a smörgåsbord. It is a kind of free buffet with traditional Swedish food that has its origin in the celebrations of the end of the harvest.

13. Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and is sometimes called "the Venice of the North". This is because it is built on 12 islands and has more than 40 bridges.

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Stockholm, the capital of Sweden

14. Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909, was Swedish.

15. Another famous Swedish writer was Astrid Lindgren who wrote about 100 books for children. Surely you have read or seen the adventures of Pippi Longstocking. Upon the death of the author in 2002, the Swedish government created a children's literature award with her name.

16. Another of the curiosities of Sweden What you would like to know is that the 3-point belt used in automobiles was invented in Sweden and it was the Volvo company that first installed them in their vehicles in 1959.

17. Although it is one of the symbols of the country, in Sweden there are about 400,000 moose and this represents a serious problem since they cause more than 6,000 traffic accidents each year.

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18. Wolves are a protected species in Sweden and it is forbidden to kill them except in exceptional cases. This is because they are the natural predators of elk and a family of wolves can eat about 120 a year.

19. Another of the curiosities of Sweden are the Aurora borealis . They appear on the Arctic Circle in the equinoxes, at the end of March and September, and also during the dark period of the Swedish winter.

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20. In addition to the nearly 100,000 lakes, Sweden has more than 24,000 islands - most of which natives can visit by free public transport - and forests cover half of the country.

21. Surely you have visited any of the stores that the Swedish multinational Ikea has all over the world. The company was founded by the Swedish Ingvar Kampard in 1943. Every day, about 2 million "Swedish" meatballs are eaten in its stores, the recipe of which is originally Turkish.

22. In the city ​​of Mälmo , in the south of the country, you can see the second tallest residential skyscraper in Europe. It is known as the Turning Torso, it measures 190 m. and it is the work of architect Santiago Calatrava.

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Turning Torso in Malmö

23. Although Swedish is the official language of the country, one of the curiosities of Sweden It is the great official protection of other languages ​​spoken in its territory such as Sami, Finnish, Yiddish, Meankali or Roma.

24. Sweden is a country of innovation and innovation. It is the country with the highest number of patents per capita in Europe. Companies such as Volvo, Ikea or Sony Ericcsson Mobile Communications AB are Swedish and work intensively to increase their exports of engineering products, vehicles, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications.

25. The last of these curiosities of Sweden It refers to something that you have probably used at some time and it is even possible that you play every day, it is the Candy Crush . It is one of the most popular in the world and after it we found the Swedish company King.

Other curiosities of Europe | By countries

If you have also been impressed by this curious data from Sweden, you can discover many more curiosities of Europe , maybe you did not know! Then you will find articles dedicated to surprising information from different European countries. Discover it!

  • Curiosities of Spain
  • Curiosities of Italy
  • Curiosities of Germany
  • Curiosities of Greece
  • Curiosities of Norway
  • Iceland Curiosities
  • Fun Facts of England
  • Curiosities of Ireland
  • Curiosities of Scotland
  • Curiosities of Luxembourg
  • Curiosities of Denmark
  • Curiosities of Belgium

Stockholm , Gothenburg, Malmö or Uppsala are some of the most important cities in the country, but one of the great attractions and curiosities of Sweden is that you can travel freely on horseback or by bicycle and camping, skiing, swimming in the lakes or doing other activities in nature with no other restriction than respecting nature and not invading the small private areas that surround private homes. Did you know these curiosities of Sweden ? Do you have more information about this innovative country? Share them with us!


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