Sweden Country in Europe

Sweden is a Scandinavian nation of thousands of coastal islands, inland lakes, forests and mountains. Its principal cities, eastern capital Stockholm and southwestern Gothenburg and Malmö, are all on the sea. Stockholm is home to royal palaces, parkland and museums such as open-air Skansen. Its 13th-century old town, Gamla Stan, is set on islands joined by bridges and ferries.
Sweden officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: About this sound Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third-most astronomically immense country in the European Cumulation by area, with a total population of over 9.7 million. Sweden subsequently has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54/sq mi), with the highest concentration in the southern a moiety of the country. Approximately 85% of the population lives in urban areas. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is a component of the geographical area of Fennoscandia.

Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear and constituting the sea peoples kenned as the Norsemen. Sweden emerged as an independent and coalesced country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, it expanded its territories to compose the Swedish Imperium, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, beginning with the annexation of present-day Finland by Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily coerced into personal coalescence.

Since then, Sweden has been at placidity, maintaining an official policy of neutrality in peregrine affairs. The amalgamation with Norway was placidly dissolved in 1905, leading to Sweden's current borders. Though it was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. With the terminus of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Cumulation, but declined NATO membership.

Today, Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with the Monarch as the head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is additionally the most populous city in the country. Legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the Regime, chaired by the Prime Minister. Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities.
Sweden maintains a Nordic gregarious welfare system that provides macrocosmic health care and tertiary inculcation for its denizens. It has the world's eighth-highest per capita income and ranks highly in numerous metrics of national performance, including quality of life, health, edification, aegis of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, equipollence, prosperity and human development. Sweden has been a member of the European Amalgamation since 1 January 1995, but declined Eurozone membership following a referendum. It is withal a member of the Cumulated Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).