Sweden Country & Tourist Information

Location
Northeast Europe, Scandinavia.

Area
449,964 sq km (173,732 sq miles).

Population
9.1 million (UN estimate 2007).

Population Density
20 per sq km.

Capital
Stockholm.
Population: 788,269 (2007).

Government
Constitutional monarchy. Gained independence from Denmark in 1523.

Language
Swedish. Lapp is spoken by the Sámi population in the north; there are also Finnish-speaking minorities. English is taught as the first foreign language from the age of nine.

Religion
Around 86% of the population belong to the Church of Sweden (Evangelical Lutheran), which separated from the state in January 2000; other Protestant minorities constitute the majority of the remainder.

Time
GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).

Electricity
220 volts, three-phase AC, 50Hz. Two-pin continental plugs are used.

Head of Government
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt since 2006.

Head of State
King Carl XVI Gustaf since 1973.

Recent History
The Social Democrats had held power for most of the last 70 years until the 2006 general elections, when a center-right coalition headed by Moderate Party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt won a narrow majority in parliament. Former leader Göran Persson had spent 10 years as prime minister.

Although Sweden has long been staunchly neutral in world affairs, Reinfeldt is a supporter of the country joining NATO. Sweden surprised the world in 2005 by announcing that it is aiming to break its dependence on imported oil by 2020, and it has launched a massive program to phase out nuclear power in favor of renewable energy sources.

Telephone
Country code: 46. Coin-operated payphones no longer exist and they are all now card-operated. Cards are readily available from kiosks and newsagents and instructions in English are displayed in most booths. Credit card phones (indicated by a ‘CCC’ sign) are widely available.

Mobile Telephone
Coverage is available across most of the country.

Internet
Internet cafes exist in all main urban areas but are scarcer outside of these areas. Sweden is one of the world’s most net-savvy countries, with a very high proportion of the population online.

Media
The Swedish public enjoys a wide variety of public and commercial broadcast services, though until relatively recently public TV and radio had a near-monopoly of the airwaves. Digital terrestrial broadcasting was launched by SVT in 1999. Swedes are among the top consumers of newspapers in the world.

Post
Post boxes are yellow. Stamps and aerograms are on sale at post offices and also at most bookstalls and stationers. Airmail within Europe takes two to three days.

Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1900, Sat 0800-1400. Some branches may be closed Saturday during July.

Press
• The provinces have their own newspapers which are widely read in their respective regions.
• The major dailies are confined largely to the capital and include such titles as Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen and Svenska Dagbladet.
• Many papers are financed by political parties but independence and freedom of the press is firmly maintained.
• The Local (website: www.thelocal.se) provides English-language online news.

Radio
• Sveriges Radio operates P1, P2, P3 and P4.
• Radio Sweden International broadcasts in a number of languages, including English.
• Rix FM, NRJ, Mix Megapol and Radio Match are commercial networks.

Below are listed Public Holidays for the January 2009-December 2010 period.

2009
1 Jan New Year's Day.
6 Jan Epiphany.
10-13 Apr Easter.
1 May Labor Day.
21 May Ascension.
31 May Whit Sunday.
6 Jun National Day.
20 Jun Midsummer's Day.
1 Nov All Saints' Day.
24 Dec Christmas Eve.
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec Boxing Day.
31 Dec New Year's Eve.

2010
1 Jan New Year's Day.
6 Jan Epiphany.
2-5 Apr Easter.
1 May Labor Day.
13 May Ascension.
23 May Whit Sunday.
6 Jun National Day.
19 Jun Midsummer's Day.
1 Nov All Saints' Day.
24 Dec Christmas Eve.
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec Boxing Day.
31 Dec New Year's Eve.

Contact Information:

Embassy of Sweden in the UK
11 Montagu Place, London W1H 2AL, UK
Tel: (020) 7917 6400.
Website: www.swedenabroad.com/london
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1200 and 1400-1600 (general enquiries); Mon-Fri 0900-1200 (visa applications).

VisitSweden in the UK
Sweden House, 5 Upper Montagu Street, London W1H 2AG, UK
Tel: (020) 7108 6168.
Website: www.visitsweden.com
Not open to the public.

Embassy of Sweden in the USA
2900 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
Tel: (202) 467 2600.
Website: www.swedenabroad.se



VisitSweden in the USA
Council PO Box 4649, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-4649, USA
Tel: (212) 885 9700.
Website: www.visitsweden.com


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