| Sweden Geography |
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 Sweden is, with an area of some 450,000 square kilometers, the fourthlargest country in Europe - after Russia, France and Spain. Nearly nine percent of its area is covered with rivers or lakes, of which there are about a hundred thousand. The north-south extension reaches from the 56th parallel to the 69th parallel latitude, stretching almost 1,600 kilometers. From west to east, on the other hand, it is only about 500 kilometers wide. Sweden shares its borders with two countries, the 1,700-kilometer Norwegian border is nearly three times as long as that of the one with Finland. Figures concerning the length of the coastline vary from 2,500 kilometers to 7,500 kilometers, depending on whether it is a straight measurement or the numerous bays and inlets are included. In addition, there are the rocky islets, or skerries, off the coast of Stockholm, Kalmar and Gothenburg, exceeding 40,000 in number.
Sweden's high mountains are only in the north. Mount Kebnekaise, in the Skanden (Kdlen) Mountains at the border to Norway, reaches an elevation of 2,111 meters, making it the highest peak in Sweden. Additionally, there are four others higher than 2,000 meters in the Lapland of northern Sweden. The mountain region farther south is just 1,200 meters high, with peaks of over 1,700 meters. The northern area of Sweden is marked by a slightly hilly plate sloping southeastward from the northwest. It is for this reason that most of the rivers flow from the Kolerc to the Gulf of Bothnia and are between 200 and 400 kilometers long. The valley in central Sweden begins south of Lake Siljan and extends from the province of Dalarna to the lakes of Vanern and Vattern. The adjacent Smaland is a region of rolling hills that in some places barely reach elevations of 370 meters. The countryside of. southern Sweden has a morainic character, with gentle rolling hills extending as far south as Skane; they are a result of the last Ice Age, which also caused comparable landscapes in Denmark and the lowlands of northern Germany.
The climate of Sweden is highly determined by its geographical location. Due to maritime influences from the west it is temperate and humid, on the other hand, it is subject to Eurasian continental influences which consist of dry weather and extreme temperatures. On the whole, it is a much milder climate than other comparable areas of the world, such as Siberia or Alaska. Due to the great length of the country from north to south, one can expect a wide diversity of temperatures; while the annual average summer temperatures vary only 5°C, the winter temperatures between Malmo and Kiruna differ by 17°C. One of the reasons for this is that Kiruna is located north of the Arctic Circle. It is light from late May to midJuly, and dark from late November to mid-January. The Arctic Circle, 150 kilometers to the south at 66.33° latitude, is the line where one doesn't see the sun set on Midsummer Day.
Thanks to the continental influences, the summers are generally warm, sunny and dry; the average annual amount of sunshine, at 300 hours, is a good 100 hours more than in central Europe. By contrast, the winters in Sweden are generally snowy and cold, whereby it differs from east to west; in Stockholm you can count on approximately 120 winter days with temperatures not exceeding -2°C, while in Gothenburg there are only 70 such days each year. Precipitation varies greatly: 800 mm in the south and west,, significantly more than in the north and east (400 mm).
As far as administration is concerned, the country is divided into 24 provinces (Ian), which are relatively equivalent to the respective historical, cultural and linguistic regions. The administrative duties of the Ian are similar to those of other governmental districts in democratic countries, but in addition they are responsible for health and traffic.
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
Area:
total: 449,964 sq km
land: 410,934 sq km
water: 39,030 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than California
Land boundaries:
total: 2,205 km
border countries: Finland 586 km, Norway 1,619 km
Coastline: 3,218 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: agreed boundaries or midlines
territorial sea: 12 nm (adjustments made to return a portion of straits to high seas)
Climate: temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north
Terrain: mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
highest point: Kebnekaise 2,111 m
Natural resources: zinc, iron ore, lead, copper, silver, timber, uranium, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 7%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 68%
other: 24% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,150 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic
Environment - current issues: acid rain damaging soils and lakes; pollution of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas |
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