Country · Europe
Sweden
Kingdom of Sweden
Sweden is a country in Northern Europe. About 10.2 million people live there, in an area of 450 295 square kilometres. Its capital city is Stockholm.
Picture credit: Petgossch (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Tord Dellsen (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Liridon (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Julian Herzog (CC BY 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Sweden?
Sweden lies in Northern Europe, on the continent of Europe.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 6 902 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 3 218 km long.
It shares a border with 2 countries: Finland and Norway.
How big is Sweden?
Sweden covers 450 295 square kilometres.
That is about 11 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 55th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 22.6 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Sweden?
About 10.2 million people live in Sweden.
That is the 88th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Swedish.
They pay with the Swedish krona (kr).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 80 years.
The land of Sweden
The land of Sweden sits on average 320 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 3 218 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 161 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Sweden different?
Dishes the country is known for: Köttbullar, Kräftskiva and Surströmming.
Websites from here often end in .se.
Sweden and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Sweden.
It takes up about 0.34 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Europe the country ranks 5th of 45 by size, and 15th by population.
Sweden and its neighbours
Sweden is about 1.3 times the size of Finland, its largest neighbour.
More people live in Sweden than in Finland — 10.2 million against 5.5 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 35 live wild in Sweden: Brown bear, Arctic fox, Eurasian otter, Eurasian beaver, Red squirrel, European hedgehog and more. The highest mountain in the country is Kebnekaise (North Peak), at 2 097 metres. The longest river in the country is the Göta älv (Klarälven). The largest lake in the country is Vänern.
Brown bear
Arctic fox
Eurasian otter
Eurasian beaver
Red squirrel
European hedgehog
Moose
Reindeer
Eurasian lynx
Roe deer
Greylag goose
Great spotted woodpecker
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
How big is Sweden compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 21 times as big as Sweden: 9 372 610 km² against 450 295 km². See both on one map
- Sweden is about 1.9 times as big as the United Kingdom: 450 295 km² against 242 900 km². See both on one map
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Sweden?
The capital of Sweden is Stockholm. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Sweden?
About 10.2 million people live in Sweden, which makes it the 88th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Sweden?
Sweden covers 450 295 square kilometres, making it the 55th largest country in the world. That is about 11 times the size of Switzerland.
What is the highest mountain in Sweden?
The highest mountain in Sweden is Kebnekaise (North Peak), 2 097 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Sweden?
The longest river in Sweden is the Göta älv (Klarälven), about 746 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Sweden?
The largest lake in Sweden is Vänern. It covers about 5 650 km².
Which continent is Sweden in?
Sweden is in Europe, in the part called Northern Europe.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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