Things you didn't know about Sweden
– Sweden is located in the northern parts of Europe and is the third largest country with an area of about 450,000 sq.km. 92% of the country is rural with forests, mountains and lakes.
– By the early 1900s, 1.2 million Swedes had emigrated to USA. Today there are about 10 million people of Swedish heritage in the USA.
– No other country in the world paints the houses as red as in Sweden. The red pigmentation in Falu rödfärg comes from the copper mines and the paint is a wood preserving combination of copper, bog iron, silicon acid and zinc. apa
– Sweden is considered the third largest exporter of music in the world. A major contributor is believed to be the local communal music schools.
– A survey from 2005, measuring the impact of various trademarks, showed that SWEDEN is the strongest trademark in the world (Anholt-GMI Nations Brands Index).
– Sweden is the second largest consumer of coffee in the world, following Finland.apa
– Carl von Linné (1707-1778) is probably the most famous Swede of all times. He was a botanist, physician and zoologist and laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclatur (family name and species) plants and animals which today is used all over the world.
– The Swedish flag is believed to be inspired by the coat of arms of Sweden, which feature a blue shield and a golden lion (Magnus Ladulås shield 1275). Albert of Mecklenburg introduced later the national shield of Sweden in 1364, consisting of a blue shield with three golden crowns. These two shields were subsequently merged in 1448 to the great national shield which also contains a golden cross.apa
– The National Day (Nationaldagen) in Sweden is June 6. This day was chosen to recognize the day when King Gustav Vasa was crowned king in 1523 and the day when the parliamentary structure which gave Sweden the freedom to speak was instituted in 1809.
– Before the 11th century, Sweden was inhibited by a number of various groups of people and was governed by different kings. The name Sweden (Sverige) stems from a combination of the words Svea and Rike. Olof Skötkonung ruled during the years of 995 and 1022 and is believed to be the first king to rule over a joint Sweden where both regions Svealand and Götaland were incorporated.
– There are 300,000-400,000 moose in Sweden. These can cause severe car accidents and a popular road sign is the "warning of moose" sign. Each autumn, the Swedes engage in moose hunting and approximately 100,000 are killed each year.
– 7.5% of all Swedes play golf (600,000 people). There are 500 courses in Sweden. Only Englandhas more registered golf players than Sweden in Europe .
– To be "lagom" is typically Swedish. Lagom is a Swedish word with no direct English equivalent. Swedish Academy cite the true etymology of lagom as being from the word "lag" (law), in this case referring not necessarily to judicial but common sense law, with the archaic dative plural ending "-om." This would translate into something like "in accordance with the laws". Lagom is also widely translated as "in moderation," "in balance," "optimal," reasonable," and "average." But whereas words like "sufficient" and "average" suggest some degree of abstinence and scarcity, lagom carries the connotation of perfection or appropriateness. The archetypical Swedish proverb "Lagom är bäst," literally "Lagom is best," is translated as "Enough is as good as a feast" in the Lexin dictionary.
– Ärtsoppa (split yellow pea soup) is considered a national dish in Sweden. Yellow peas have been consumed in Sweden for thousands of years. The tradition of eating ärtsoppa with smoked pork pieces on Thursday stems from the middle ages when it was believed that one ought to have a full meal on Thursday in order to last through the catholic fasting on Fridays.
– The Swedish Vikings that traveled eastwards were called Varangians. Engaging in trade, piracy and mercenary activities, they roamed the river systems and portages of what later became Russia. Rurik, a semi-legendary Varangian, was at the roots of Kievan Rus' and founded the Rurikovich dynasty that would rule in Russia until 17th century, thus laying the foundation of what has become known as Kievan Rus'
– It is believed that the Vikings and the English could speak with each other without limitations at the time of the 11th century. However, due to geographical barriers and need for development of vocabulary the languages evolved separately over time.
The markings above the Swedish letters å, ä, ö stems from the long vowel sound of the middle age Scandinavian languages (aa, ae och oe). At the end of 19th century the second letter was moved above the letter a or o and was subsequently transformed into a circle or two dots.
– Many great innovations such as the wrench, dynamite, coca-cola bottle, matches, ball bearings and the propeller have been discovered by Swedes.