Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
2%; forest and woodland 64%; other 27%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment: water pollution; acid rain
Note: strategic location along Danish Straits linking
Baltic and North Seas
PEOPLE
Population: 8,564,317 (July 1991), growth rate 0.4% (1991)
Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 3 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 75 years male, 81 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Swede(s); adjective--Swedish
Ethnic divisions: homogeneous white population; small Lappish
minority; foreign born or first-generation immigrants (Finns, Yugoslavs,
Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks) about 12%
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran 94%, Roman Catholic 1.5%,
Pentecostal 1%, other 3.5% (1987)
Language: Swedish, small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities;
immigrants speak native languages
Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1979 est.)
Labor force: 4,572,000 (October 1990); government services 37.4%,
mining, manufacturing, electricity, and water service 23.1%, private
services 22.2%, transportation and communications 7%, construction 6.3%,
agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting 3.8%, other 0.2% (1988)
Organized labor: 80% of labor force (1990 est.)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Kingdom of Sweden
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Stockholm
Administrative divisions: 24 provinces (lan, singular and
plural); Alvsborgs Lan, Blekinge Lan, Gavleborgs Lan,
Goteborgs och Bohus Lan, Gotlands Lan, Hallands Lan, Jamtlands
Lan, Jonkopings Lan, Kalmar Lan, Kopparbergs Lan,
Kristianstads Lan, Kronobergs Lan, Malmohus Lan, Norrbottens
Lan, Orebro Lan, Ostergotlands Lan, Skaraborgs Lan,
Sodermanlands Lan, Stockholms Lan, Uppsala Lan, Varmlands
Lan, Vasterbottens Lan, Vasternorrlands Lan, Vastmanlands
Lan
Independence: 6 June 1809, constitutional monarchy established
Constitution: 1 January 1975
Legal system: civil law system influenced by customary law; accepts
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Day of the Swedish Flag, 6 June
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, Cabinet
Chief of State--King CARL XVI Gustaf (since 19 September 1973);
Heir Apparent Princess VICTORIA Ingrid Alice Desiree, daughter of the
King (born 14 July 1977);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Carl BILDT (since 3 October
1991)
Political parties and leaders:
ruling four-party coalition consists of the
Moderate Party (conservative), Carl BILDT;
Liberal People's Party, Bengt WESTERBERG;
Center Party, Olof JOHANSSON; and the
Christian Democratic Party, Alf SVENSSON;
Social Democratic Party, Ingvar CARLSSON;
New Democracy Party, Count Ian WACHMEISTER;
Left Party (VP; Communist), Lars WERNER;
Swedish Communist Party (SKP), Rune PETTERSSON;
Communist Workers' Party, Rolf HAGEL;
Green Party, no formal leader
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
Riksdag--last held 15 September 1991 (next to be held
September 1994);
results--Social Democratic 37.6%, Moderate (conservative)
21.9%, Liberal People's Party 9.1%, Center Party 8.5%, Christian
Democrats 7.1%, New Democracy 6.7%, Left Party (Communist) 4.5%, Green
Party 3.4%, other 1.2%;
seats--(349 total) Social Democratic 138, Moderate (conservative) 80,
Liberal People's Party 33, Center Party 31, Christian Democrats 26, New
Democracy 25, Left Party (Communist) 16; note: the Green Party leaves
the Riksdag because it received less than the required 4% of the vote
Communists: VP and SKP; VP, formerly the Left Party-Communists,
is reported to have roughly 17,800 members and attracted 5.8% of the vote
in the 1988 election; VP dropped the Communist label in 1990, but
maintains a Marxist ideology
Member of: AfDB, AG (observer) AsDB, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, CSCE,
EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G-6, G-8, G-9, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTERPOL,
INTELSAT, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM (guest), NC,
NEA, NIB, OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UNIFIL, UNIIMOG, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Anders THUNBORG; Chancery at
Suite 1200, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037;
telephone (202) 944-5600; there are Swedish Consulates General in
Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York;
US--Ambassador Charles E. REDMAN; Embassy at Strandvagen 101,
S-115 89 Stockholm; telephone 46 (8) 783-5300
Flag: blue with a yellow cross that extends to the edges of the
flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the
style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag)
ECONOMY
Overview: Aided by a long period of peace and neutrality during
World War I through World War II, Sweden has achieved an enviable
standard of living under a mixed system of high-tech capitalism and
extensive welfare benefits. It has essentially full employment,
a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external
communications, and a skilled labor force. Timber, hydropower, and
iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy that is heavily
oriented toward foreign trade. Privately owned firms account for
about 90% of industrial output, of which the engineering
sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. For some observers,
the Swedish model has succeeded in making economic efficiency
and social egalitarianism complementary, rather than competitive,
goals. Others argue that the Swedish model is on the verge of
collapsing by pointing to the serious economic problems Sweden
faces in 1991: high inflation and absenteeism, growing unemployment
and deficits, and declining international competitiveness. In 1990,
to improve the economy, the government approved a mandate for
Sweden to seek EC membership and an austerity and privatization
package and implemented a major tax reform. These reforms may
succeed in turning the economy around in 1992.
GDP: $137.8 billion, per capita $16,200; real growth rate 0.3%
(1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.9% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 1.6% (1990)
Budget: revenues $60.1 billion; expenditures $56.7 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (FY89)
Exports: $57.5 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--machinery, motor vehicles, paper products, pulp
and wood, iron and steel products, chemicals, petroleum and
petroleum products;
partners--EC 54.4%, (FRG 14.2%, UK 10.1%, Denmark 6.6%), US 8.6%,
Norway 8.2%
Imports: $54.7 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--machinery, petroleum and petroleum products,
chemicals, motor vehicles, foodstuffs, iron and steel, clothing;
partners--EC 55.3%, US 8.4%
External debt: $14.1 billion (December 1990)
Industrial production: growth rate - 2.0% (1990)
Electricity: 39,716,000 kW capacity; 142,000 million kWh produced,
16,700 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: iron and steel, precision equipment (bearings, radio
and telephone parts, armaments), wood pulp and paper products, processed
foods, motor vehicles
Agriculture: animal husbandry predominates, with milk and dairy
products accounting for 37% of farm income; main crops--grains, sugar
beets, potatoes; 100% self-sufficient in grains and potatoes, 85%
self-sufficient in sugar beets
Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $10.3
billion
Currency: Swedish krona (plural--kronor);
1 Swedish krona (SKr) = 100 ore
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 12,000 km total; Swedish State Railways (SJ)--10,819 km
1.435-meter standard gauge, 6,955 km electrified and 1,152 km double
track; 182 km 0.891-meter gauge; 117 km rail ferry service; privately
owned railways--511 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (332 km electrified);
371 km 0.891-meter gauge (all electrified)
Highways: 97,400 km (51,899 km paved, 20,659 km gravel, 24,842 km
unimproved earth)
Inland waterways: 2,052 km navigable for small steamers and barges
Pipelines: 84 km natural gas
Ports: Gavle, Goteborg, Halmstad, Helsingborg, Kalmar, Malmo,
Stockholm; numerous secondary and minor ports
Airports: 256 total, 254 usable; 137 with permanent-surface
runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
92 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: excellent domestic and international
facilities; 8,200,000 telephones; stations--4 AM, 56 (321 relays) FM,
111 (925 relays) TV; 5 submarine coaxial cables; communication satellite
earth stations operating in the INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean) and EUTELSAT
systems
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Swedish Army, Royal Swedish Navy, Royal Swedish Air Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,136,227; 1,865,645 fit for
military service; 55,198 reach military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures: $4.9 billion, 2.5% of GDP (FY90)
