SWEDEN

•Political system: Constitutional monarchy ( almost for one thousand years)
•King of Sweden : Carl XVI Gustaf ( from September 1973)
•Capital city: Stockholm ( it is 1.245 km far from Bratislava)
•Other large cities: Göteborg, Malmö, Uppsala,
•Year of EU entry: 1 january1995
•Currency: Swedish krona (krones still in use instead of Euros)
•Listen to the EU official language: Swedish
•Religion: Lutheran 87%, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist
•Total area: 449 964 km2
• Population: 9 031 088 (2007)
•The highest point: Kebnekaise, 2.132m
•Difference in time: + 1 hour / +2 hour in summer
•Ethnics / race: Swedes with Finnish and Sami
•Minorities : foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks
•The biggest islands: Gotland and Oland

Sweden is the third largest of the Scandinavian countries in size and population, and fifth largest in all of Europe. It´s located on Northern Europe's scenic Scandinavian peninsula. Sweden bound with Finland and Nordway. It is separated in the west from Norway by a range of mountains. It shares the Gulf of Bothnia at the north end of the Baltic Sea with Finland.

Sweden is circa 2.000 km long and circa 300 – 350 km wide. 10 km is one Swedish mile. 9% of the Swedish area is covered by lakes and more than 45% is covered by forest. Njupeskär is the highest waterfall in Sweden.

The southern part of the country is chiefly agricultural. They grow mainly barley, wheat, sugar beets. Sweden has a long been a major exporter of iron, copper and timber. Sweden exports cars, engineering products, steel, electronic devices, communications equipment and paper products. Sweden has a rich supply of water power, but lacks significant oil and coal deposits.

The Kingdom of Sweden is well-known for its strict political neutrality and liberalism. With its high rate of literacy and low unemployment – about 6%. Sweden has for a long time been a world-model for Socialism. The capital city is Stockholm -´City on Islands´. Old part of the city Gamla Stan is very interesting. Nobel´s Museum is located here.

Population density is also higher in southern Sweden, with centres being in the valley of Lake Mälaren and the Öresund region.
Average length of life is by men 74 years and by women 80 years.

The Swedish national ice hockey team or Three kronor ("Three crowns" in Swedish), as it is called in Sweden, is one of the most successful ice hockey teams in the world. The IIHF currently ranks them first. The team is controlled by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, and it is considered a member of the "Big Seven", along with Canada, Russia, the USA, Finland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

The name Three kronor means "three crowns" and refers to the three crowns on the team jersey. The three crowns represent the lesser national coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden and the national emblem. The first time the symbol was used on the national teams jersey was on February 12, 1938 during the World Championships in Prague. Swedish national ice hockey team has won the World Championship in ice hockey for 7 times. The IIHF in Canada Vancouver decided that the World Championship in ice hockey will realize in Swedish cities Stockholm and Malmo.