At 449,964 km2 (173,720 square miles), Sweden is the third largest country by area in Western Europe and fifth in all of Europe. The country has a population of 10 million people. Sweden has a low population density of 20 people per square kilometre, except in its metropolitan areas; 84% of the population lives in urban areas, which comprise only 1.3% of the country's total land area. The inhabitants of Sweden enjoy a high standard of living, and the country is generally perceived as modern and liberal, with an organizational and corporate culture that is non-hierarchical and collectivist compared to its Anglo-Saxon counterparts. Nature conservation, environmental protection and energy efficiency are generally prioritized in policy making and embraced by the general public in Sweden.
Sweden has long been a major exporter of iron, copper and timber. Improved transportation and communication has allowed for the large scale utilization of remote natural assets, most notably timber and iron ore. In the 1890s, universal schooling and industrialization enabled the country to develop a successful manufacturing industry and by the twentieth century, Sweden emerged as a welfare state, consistently achieving high positions among the top-ranking countries in the UN Human Development Index (HDI). Sweden has a rich supply of water power, but lacks significant oil and coal deposits.
Tegström wanted to become a professional ice hockey player while growing up, but he quit playing ice hockey and played football as an amateur for Tenhults IF and Husqvarna FF. He was brought to Sandefjord in 2005 and scored 14 goals in his first season; the club won promotion to Tippeligaen. In Sandefjord's first season in the top-flight, Tegström scored ten goals in the league and played in the 2006 Norwegian Football Cup Final. The next season, he moved to Fredrikstad, where he was not a regular player on the first team. He spent time on loan with Hønefoss in 2009, and he returned to Sweden after the 2010 season when his contract with Fredrikstad expired. After two seasons with the Superettan side Jönköpings Södra, he rejoined Husqvarna FF before the 2013 season. (Full article...)
This royal residence has been in the same location by Norrström in the northern part of Gamla stan in Stockholm since the middle of the 13th century when the Tre Kronor Castle was built. In modern times the name relates to the building called Kungliga Slottet. The palace was designed by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and erected on the same place as the medieval Tre Kronor Castle which was destroyed in a fire on 7 May 1697. Due to the costly Great Northern War which started in 1700, construction of the palace was halted in 1709, and not recommenced until 1727—six years after the end of the war. When Tessin the Younger died in 1728, the palace was completed by Carl Hårleman who also designed a large part of its Rococo interior. The palace was not ready to use until 1754, when King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika moved in, but some interior work proceeded until the 1770s. No major conversions have been done in the palace since its completion, only some adjustments, new interiors, modernization and redecorating for different regents and their families, coloration of the facades and addition of the palace museums. The palace is surrounded by the Lejonbacken and the Norrbro to the north, the Logården (known as the Shot Yard in English) and Skeppsbron in the east, the Slottsbacken and the Storkyrkan in the south, and the outer courtyard and Högvaktsterrassen in the northwest. (Full article...)
Image 5Old map showing Sweden during the period of Great Power 1648–1721. The Homann Map of Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Livonia and northern Poland, from 1730, by Johann Baptist Homann (1664–1724) (from History of Sweden)
Image 9Swedish tribes in Northern Europe in 814 (from History of Sweden)
Image 10This family crypt and the chapel above it house, in highly ornate coffins, the remains of all four of the Wittelsbach Dynasty monarchs of Sweden whose high-powered period (1654–1720) has been called the Caroline Era for Kings Carl X Gustav, Carl XI and Carl XII. (from History of Sweden)
Image 11The Swedish Crown Prince Charles John (Bernadotte), who staunchly opposed Norwegian independence, only to offer generous terms of union. (from History of Sweden)
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Melodifestivalen (Swedish pronunciation:[mɛlʊˈdîːfɛstɪˌvɑːlɛn]; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959. In the early 2000s, the competition was the most popular television programme in Sweden; it is also broadcast on radio and the Internet. In 2012, the semi-finals averaged 3.3million viewers, and over an estimated four million people in Sweden watched the final, almost half of the Swedish population.
The festival has produced six Eurovision winners and twenty-four top-five placings for Sweden at the contest. The winner of Melodifestivalen has been chosen by panels of jurors since its inception. Since 1999, the juries have been joined by a public telephone vote which has an equal influence over the final outcome. The competition makes a considerable impact on the music charts in Sweden. (Full article...)
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