Sweden - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Sweden. Strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas; Sweden has almost 100,000 lakes, the largest of which, Vanern, is the third largest in Europe. Mother's mean age at first birth is 29.7 years (2020 est.) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 5 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Geographical data of Sweden
| Location | Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Kattegat, and Skagerrak, between Finland and Norway |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 62 00 N, 15 00 E |
| Map references | Europe |
| Tarrain | mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west |
| Natural Resources | iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, tungsten, uranium, arsenic, feldspar, timber, hydropower |
| Natural Hazards | ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic |
| Irrigated Land | 510 sq km (2016) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 2,211 km |
| Border Countries | Finland 545 km; Norway 1,666 km |
| Coastline | 3,218 km |
| Climate | temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 410,335 sq km |
| Water Area | 39,960 sq km |
| comparative Area | almost three times the size of Georgia; slightly larger than California |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 12 nm (adjustments made to return a portion of straits to high seas) |
| Exclusive economic zone | agreed boundaries or midlines |
| Continental shelf | 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Kebnekaise South 2,100 m |
| Lowest point | reclaimed bay of Lake Hammarsjon, near Kristianstad -2.4 m |
| Mean elevation | 320 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 7.4% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 6.2% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 1.1% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 68.7% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 23.9% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
Most Swedes live in the south where the climate is milder and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe; population clusters are found all along the Baltic coast in the east; the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated
People and Society
In Sweden, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have:
Swedish 79.6%, Syrian 1.9%, Iraqi 1.4%, Finnish 1.3%, other 15.8%
(2022 est.)| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 0.51% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 10.7 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 9.6 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | 10.7% of GDP (2022) |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 2.1 beds/1,000 population (2018) |
| Total fertility rate | 1.67 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 0.8 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 70.3% (2017) |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 53.4% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | |
| Education expenditures | 7.2% of GDP (2020 est.) |
| Net Migration rate | 4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Swedish | Swede(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Church of Sweden (Lutheran) 53.9%, other (includes Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist) 8.9%, none or unspecified 37.2% (2021 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 17.1% (male 934,668/female 880,310) |
| 15-64 years | 62.1% (male 3,365,754/female 3,208,248) |
| 65 years and over | 20.8% (2024 est.) (male 1,032,279/female 1,168,576) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 60.8 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 28.5 |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 32.3 |
| Potential support ratio | 3.1 (2021 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 41.1 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 40.1 years |
| Female | 42.1 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 88.7% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 0.89% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 1.700 million STOCKHOLM (capital) (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.06 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.06 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.88 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 1.01 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 2.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 2.5 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 2 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 82.9 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 81.2 years |
| Female | 84.7 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.8% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 99.7% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 99.8% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.2% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 0.3% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0.2% of population (2020 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 7.1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 2.6 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 3.4 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0.1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 24% (2020 est.) |
| Male | 29.8% (2020 est.) |
| Female | 18.2% (2020 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Sweden
Want to know more about Sweden? Check all different factbooks for Sweden below.
