In recent decades Sweden has become a more culturally diverse nation due to significant immigration; in 2013 it was estimated that 15 per cent of the population was foreign-born, and an additional 5 per cent of the population were born to two immigrant parents. [197] Sweden is a world leader in privatised pensions and pension funding problems are relatively small compared to many other Western European countries. The primary task of the agency is to train and deploy peacekeeping forces abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to refocus on the defence of Sweden in the event of war. [92] The Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and his colleagues ensured the safety of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews. There are older historical divisions, primarily the twenty-five provinces and three lands, which still retain cultural significance. However, until 1860 it remained illegal for Lutherans to convert to another religion. (2) 9953 4425, This web "Half empty or half full? The Supreme Court consists of 16 Justices (Swedish: justitieråd), appointed by the Government, but the court as an institution is independent of the Riksdag, and the Government is not able to interfere with the decisions of the court. [90][91] Sweden was under German influence for much of the war, as ties to the rest of the world were cut off through blockades. [218] A smaller car ferry connects the island of Ven in Øresund with Landskrona. [236] Sweden's inverted tax wedge – the amount going to the service worker's wallet – is approximately 15%, compared to 10% in Belgium, 30% in Ireland, and 50% in the United States. The Byzantine Emperor Theophilos noticed their great skills in war, and invited them to serve as his personal bodyguard, known as the Varangian Guard. The day of giver-of-light Saint Lucia, 13 December, is widely acknowledged in elaborate celebrations which betoken its Italian origin and commence the month-long Christmas season. In the 1991 election, while the Greens lost their seats, two new parties gained seats for the first time: the Christian Democrats and New Democracy. In Scots Swane, Swaine, appears in the 16th century. [50], The end of the 16th century was marked by a final phase of rivalry between the remaining Catholics and the new Protestant communities. The Nordic energy market is one of the first liberalised energy markets in Europe and it is traded in NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe and Nord Pool Spot. Fish (particularly herring), meat, potatoes and dairy products played prominent roles. The moose is a great prize for hunters, but it also constitutes a traffic hazard. The counties have financing, ticket and marketing responsibility for local trains.

Anglo-Norman of the 12th and 13th centuries used Suane, Swane (with the adjective as Suaneis). Furthermore, when Sweden did develop, freed itself from the Hanseatic League, and entered its golden era, the fact that the peasantry had traditionally been free meant that more of the economic benefits flowed back to them rather than going to a feudal landowning class. After the Protestant Reformation in the 1530s, a change led by Martin Luther's Swedish associate Olaus Petri, the authority of the Roman Catholic Church was abolished and Lutheranism became widespread. Jordanes describes the Suetidi and Dani as being of the same stock and the tallest of people. [299] Since the early 1970s, immigration to Sweden has been mostly due to refugee migration and family reunification from countries in the Middle East and Latin America. More recently, the films of Lukas Moodysson, Lasse Hallström, and Ruben Östlund have received international recognition. In 2000, 32% of Swedish people held a tertiary degree, making the country 5th in the OECD in that category. Compared with Norway, the Swedish climate is usually less rainy and more continental, so it is colder in winter and warmer and sunnier in summer. Winters become progressively longer and colder towards the north of the country and the average number of days with a mean temperature below freezing increases from 71 at Malmo to 120 at Stockholm and 184 at Haparanda near the Arctic Circle. Some 275,000 Swedes are today members of various Evangelical Protestant free churches (where congregation attendance is much higher), and due to recent immigration, there are now some 100,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians and 92,000 Roman Catholics living in Sweden.

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[139] County Councils and Municipalities are independent of one another, the former merely covers a larger geographical area than the latter. [83] In the early 20th century, more Swedes lived in Chicago than in Gothenburg (Sweden's second largest city). at discount rates anywhere in Europe. Well, that may be so, but in Sweden you certainly have to come prepared. Most of Sweden is dominated by forests of fir, pine, and birch. Southern Sweden has more mixed forests, and in the far south deciduous trees such as beech, oak, linden, ash, elm, and maple are common. For the next several decades, the Swedish poured an annual average of about 5% of GDP into making their defenses credible. But there were Swedish settlements along the southern coastline of Norrland. Finland is located to its north-east. [63] His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden, Charles XII, was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet.