These facts about Sweden are some of the most interesting Sweden facts for kids out there! From Sweden’s main sports to its highly developed welfare system to its famous boiled potatoes and Swedish meatballs, there’s a whole range of interesting facts about Sweden – it was hard just to pick just 57!
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Sweden Fact File
These facts about Sweden cover its position in regard to Northern and Eastern Europe, its political structure and the government, its currency, and other important facts about the Swedish economy and lifestyle.
1. Sweden is officially called the Kingdom of Sweden (Konungariket Sverige). It is one of the Nordic countries in Northern Europe and one of three Scandinavian countries alongside Norway and Denmark. It is sometimes included in its Scandinavian counterparts, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands aren’t officially part of Scandinavia.
2. The official language of Sweden is Swedish. There are several official minority languages: Sámi, Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani, and Yiddish. Most people in Modern Sweden also speak English.
3. Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union and the fifth largest country in Europe.
4. Though they are in the EU, Sweden still uses its own currency, the Swedish Krona, after the Swedish people rejected the euro in a referendum. Ten Swedish kronor (the correct plural) come to about 80 British pence or 95 Euro cents.
5. The Swedish government is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy. This means that they have both elected officials and a monarchy and a constitution. The current Prime Minister is Magdalena Andersson, and the current monarch is King Carl XVI Gustaf.
6. The Swedish king isn’t the only Swedish Royalty Sweden is known for! His previous heir was his son, Prince Carl Phillip. Since then, though, the law has changed to absolute primogeniture – that the first child would inherit the throne regardless of gender. Sweden was the first country in Western Europe and one of the first in the western world to do so. Since then, Crown Princess Victoria has been in line to be the first Swedish Queen Regnant since 1720.
7. The Swedish government recalculates its approach often, and elections take place every four years. There are two branches of politics: the Prime Minister’s government (the highest executive authority) and the Riksdag (the legislative branch, currently represented by Speaker Andreas Norlén). At the same time, the monarchy is a largely symbolic and representative role.
8. Sweden is fifth place in the world’s longest life expectancies. The median expectancy for men is 81.3 years, and for women, 84.7 years.
9. Sweden brings in a lot of coffee, tea, fish, and fruit, and its leading supplier is Germany, followed by the Netherlands, then another Scandinavian country, Norway.
10. The Swedish passport is grouped among the second most powerful globally compared to other countries! A Swedish person with a passport can enter 116 world countries without a visa, 43 where they can get a visa on arrival, and only 38 where they need a visa in advance.
11. Sweden is one of the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea with its land area. The sea has been a very important trading route throughout Swedish history.
12. The capital city of Sweden is Stockholm.
13. Sweden is home to a large Jewish community, which is why one of its minority languages is Yiddish. There are around 25,000 registered Jewish people in Sweden at present.
14. Swedish employees are very well treated! They get mandatory benefits like health insurance, pensions, parental insurance, etc.
15. Sweden’s population is officially around 60% members of the Church of Sweden (an evangelical Lutheran branch of Christianity, 8.5% with any other religion (including other kinds of Christianity as well as Islam, Judaism, and others, and the rest with no identified or specified religion. Though most people are registered with the Church of Sweden, actual attendance reflects much lower actual activity.
Fun Facts About Sweden for Kids – The Swedish Government, European Union and More!
These are some fun facts about Sweden that are a little off the beaten path! You’ll love what we have to show you, from food to fun in these amazing Sweden facts.
16. A model of the solar system Sweden holds is the world’s largest scale model of its kind! It’s at a scale of 1:20 million. The sun is represented by the Avicii Arena (previously the Globe Arena), and the rest of the planets can be found around Stockholm.
17. A world-renowned Swedish delicacy is the warm cinnamon roll! We have the Swedes to thank for what they call kanelbulle, and they celebrate Cinnamon Roll Day every October 4th.
18. The Swedish love potatoes! They’re all over Swedish cuisine: boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, and potatoes in a stew. Freshly boiled potatoes are sometimes eaten straight out of the fridge as a snack!
19. The Swedish House Mafia is a supergroup (also known as “the Swedes”) that has been well-known worldwide since its start in 2008.
20. The Swedish drink a lot of fizzy drinks, but they do so responsibly! Recently, producers of each soft drink brand combined in a promise to produce only bottles made from 100% recycled material – including Coca Cola!
21. You can see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) around Kiruna in the far north of Sweden between September and March. The Northern Lights are a natural beauty that turns the skies many colours!
22. Alfred Nobel, who gave his fortune to the Nobel Prize, was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist, who made several hundred contributions to science in his lifetime.
23. Allemansrätten (“The Everyman’s Right”) is the right of the Swedish people to wander wherever they like except on private land. The natural land area is free to roam so long as it is treated correctly!
24. The Avicii Arena is the world’s largest hemispherical building.
Stockholm Facts
The Swedish capital city is an amazing hub of local culture and global renown. These are just a few fun facts about the city!
25. Swedish design is so important that each Stockholm metro station is part of a huge exhibit – the world’s longest art exhibition! The Stockholm metro stations and tunnels display over 70 unbroken miles of Swedish art.
26. The Stockholm population, including the metropolitan area, is 1,679,000.
27. Stockholm is full of funky vintage shops and other retro places to visit, as this is very much in fashion.
28. The city is in the top 10 richest cities by GDP in Europe.
29. The Vasa Maritime museum is the most visited non-art museum in the world.
30. Not only did they host the 1912 Olympics, but they also hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Olympics – the rest of which was held in Melbourne, Australia!
3.1 The government, monarch, judicial branch, and most government agencies are based in Stockholm.
32. The two palaces in the city are Stockholm Palace – the official royal residence – and Drottningholm Palace – the private residence.
33. About a quarter of Sweden’s total population lives in and around Stockholm.
34. More than a quarter of Stockholm residents were born outside of Sweden!
35. There are over 100 museums in the city, one of the most crowded-by-museums in the world.
36. Skönhetsrådet is the municipality’s legal board that preserves and protects the city’s beauty.
37. The Sconce (Skansen) is a combination open-air museum and zoo.
38. The Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Dramatic Theatre, both known all over Europe, are in Stockholm.
39. There are ten Michelin Star Restaurants in the city among over 1,000 restaurants in total.
Facts About Swedish Culture
Art is extremely important to Sweden’s culture and has been throughout history. When visiting Sweden, any Swedish museum you visit will have different styles of art, dedications, and information from Sweden’s various time periods.
40. Family structure in Sweden generally involves both parents working, and stay-at-home parents are very unusual. Same-sex marriage is legal, and nowadays, many Swedes live as couples without officially marrying. “Cosy Fridays” are a common tradition where families spend that day together.
41. Cross country skiing is a big deal in Sweden!
42. Sweden imports waste from Norway and the UK (as well as some others). The imported waste is treated for recycling purposes.
43. There’s an interactive ABBA museum in Stockholm!
44. The Stockholm Jazz festival is one of the oldest festivals in Sweden.
45. The largest Pride event in Nordic countries takes place in Sweden!
46. Only 1.5% of Sweden’s land area is urban.
47. All people in Sweden get free health care and free college or university.
48. Swedes are extremely interested in civil liberty and individual rights.
Facts About Sweden’s History
Though Sweden was officially a neutral country through the first and second world wars, this is in some debate. In practice, their behaviours aligned closely with the Allied Forces, including training Allied forces and allowing the use of their airbases.
49. Swedish Vikings never actually wore the horned helmets you see on tv!
50. The Vikings from Sweden were known as Norsemen and were generally considered more interested in trade and less in destruction than other Vikings. That doesn’t mean they were always friendly, though!
51. Sweden took part in the Korean War. They created a Swedish Red Cross Field hospital to help support, train, and treat South Korean citizens during their time being invaded by North Korea.
52. The two-year Dano-Swedish war happened in 1658 when Denmark-Norway and Sweden fought over broken promises from the last ceasefire. Sweden at the time essentially used some minor broken promises by the Danish as a reason to get them out of the way so that the Swedish empire could expand. However, the Danish nobility refused to surrender, and when peace was won in 1660, the treaty made borders between Denmark, Sweden and Norway, which still exist now.
53. The quit-smoking aid Nicorette was developed in Sweden in 1968 to help the Navy’s smoking Swedish submariners and other people with work smoking bans cope with withdrawal.
54. Sweden is the only country in Scandinavia ever to be a big military power.
55. The country has been in official peacetime since 1905.
56. Gothenburg moved from a small town to the second-biggest city in Sweden due to trade via the Swedish East India Company in the 1800s.
57. After World War II, Sweden joined neither NATO nor the Warsaw Pact to maintain its official neutrality.
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Sylvie Simpson is the founder of European Cities with Kids. For the past 6 years, she has been travelling all over Europe whenever she has the chance, both solo, for work and with her daughter. Sylvie is on a mission to help people make the most of city breaks in Europe with kids and helps over 50,000 readers per month plan and make the most of their trips in Europe with kids.