SWEDEN - A Country Profile

This video is all about Sweden, the most populous Scandinavian country and Nordic country. In this video I talk about its history, geography, people, and economy.

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Producer, co-writer and host: Paul
Writer: James Watson
Video editor: Luis Solana Ureña (Acribus Studio)

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Creative Commons images used in this video:

[GEOfocusChannel]

Hi, everyone! Note that there’s an error in the introduction. Sweden’s population density is more like 23-24 people per square kilometer, not 5.

Here are the Langfocus videos I mentioned in the video:


I hope you find them interesting!

[Daigotsumax]

I visited Stockholm last year and honestly I feel it's a hidden gem of Europe. It's beautiful, clean, modern, friendly, with lots to do for everyone. One of my favourite places in Europe, and I've been to quite a few!

[christopherx]

I would like people to know about the ages old tradition in Sweden: Freedom to roam.

It doesn't matter that the land is privately owned, you are free to walk there anyway, within certain limits of course: Don't break of branches from living trees, don't walk close to anyone's garden or across farmland with growing crops, don't litter naturally etc. In short: Take only photographs and leave only footprints. You may even camp for one night anywhere in the wilderness. Finland has similar laws, as the countries share such a long history.

[Draktand]

If you’re thinking ”Svealand” and ”Sweden” sound like they are related names, then I’d say you’re sorta right (with the caviat that ”Sweden” is an exonym)

The Swedish word for Sweden is ”Sverige”.

If you were to use modern Swedish spelling and pronounciation while maintaing the etymology of the word ”Sverige”, you’d get something like ”Svearike” or ”Svea rike”, meaning realm/kingdom of the Svea (tribe/people).

Basically, if Svealand is the name of the geographical area, Sverige is the name of the political entity/country that spawned from said geographical area.

[swedishlinguist]

Hey Paul, an applause for your efforts to pronounce Swedish names correctly 👏👏👏 Very interesting video, and even I learned something new about my country - about the island Märket, funny story! Also just want to say that the skånska dialect is not at all closer to Danish, although we do make jokes about that in the rest of Sweden since their pronunciation retains some elements of Danish such as the guttural R. If you would ask a Dane they wouldn't understand skånska much better than any other Swedish dialect unless they've had more exposure to it (which in reality is often the case due to proximity). As always, great work!

[peterandersson]

You asked what else Swedes would like others to know: The video covers that Sweden historically (and currently) has provided natural resources such as ore and forest products. As a Swede I'm quite proud that we also have a long history of industrial inventions: we've been making ball bearings, dynamite and cars for over 100 years and we're now strong in more modern industries such as IT and pharma. (Spotify and Mincraft were both originally Swedish, for example.) And we export much more popular music than the obvious (ABBA): Swedish composers and producers have had a huge impact on the industry in the last 30 years.

As for the government, you were unlucky with the timing: eight years of social democratic government came to an end less than a week ago. The welcoming attitude to refugees has also declined among the population and several political parties are also now much more hardliners than they were ten years ago. The 2015 refugee crisis changed a lot in many countries in Europe.

[juanpedronardin]

I would love to visit Sweden due to its endless landscapes and also because their cities which have an delight architecture as you mentioned on the video. I must say, I would rather to visit in summer with the extreme long days and without any heavy freezing temperatures, I'm more a warm lover person hehe.
A fun fact I would like to add, the currently most famous swedish person in the world comes from a Balkan family that emigrated to Sweden (it was before the war) the football star Zlatan Ibrahimovic. By the way he's polyglot, he speaks Swedish, Bosnian, English, Spanish and Italian. He could be your friend.
Another Fun fact, Sweden is one of the main powerhouses in Eurovision, 6 victories (2nd most) and 13 podiums overall. In the last decade they almost always make the top 10 (between more or less 40 countries participating overall).

[FutureBoyWonder]

DUDE
Ive watched nearly all your language videos and always enjoyed your inclusion of relevant historical elements.
I am so excited that not only does this channel exists, but we all get bonus prize since you decided to resurrect it.

Gah i cant believe youtube never recommended this. Goes to show the algorithm is not about relevance, but control.

[davestrasburg]

An interesting video on an interesting country. Sweden is close to home for me, since l was raised in Finland, with an American Father. l have been numerous times in Sweden, which is very familiar to me, as l speak the language, and everything is very similar to Finland. The scenery is gorgeous.

[freyjalolsson]

I have to say, I'm surprised just how well you pronounced Swedish names. Absolutely the best pronunciations I've heard in a video about Sweden 👍

[simonsaysism]

While visiting Stockholm I heard about "fika" which is a playful reversal of the syllables in "coffee" and refers to a casual meetup for chatting over coffee with a friend or date. Some time later I suggested it as a date idea with a Swedish person I met, and he was very impressed that I knew about it 😁

[LarsOetken]

I took a vacation to Götaland a few years ago. beautiful area! only recommended!

[Alisha-hsxj]

Really nice to see this. I emigrated to middle Sweden 4 years ago from US and haven’t looked back. Great work as usual 😊

[tomeng]

Swedish inventions :
Blow tourch - Carl Richard Nyberg
Tetra pak - Ruben Rausing
Kerosene stoves (Primus) - Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist
Steam Turbine - Gustaf De Laval
The milk separator - Gustaf de Laval
Inkjet and Ultrasound - Helmuth Hertz
Artificial Kidney - Nils Alwall
Dry Milk - Ninni Kronberg
The Celsius temperature scale also comes from a Swedish man named Anders Celsius.
The first central bank in the world was Swedish, Founded 1668.
Zipper - Gideon Sundbäck
Propeller - John Ericsson
Adjustable wrench - Johan Petter Johansson
Pacemaker - Rune Elmqvist
Gauge blocks - Carl Edvard Johansson
Vacuum cleaner
In 1942, the Swedish paper company Paulistr invented the first disposable diapers.
Ball bearing
AGA-lighthouse
Bluetooth
Mobile phones
Color graphics on computers
Safety matches
GPS
Classification of all plants & animals
Padlocks
Spotify
Skype
Kick sled
Laminate flooring
Wall bars - Teacher Per Henrik Ling
Ring binder

Sincerely Tom.

[fIoorb]

I wish more of these videos talked about Uppsala and gamla Uppsala, it’s Swedes fourth largest city with a ton of history behind

Fantastic video! Keep it up! 👍👍

[estellemelodimitchell]

When Paul uploads, I know it gotta be good and this one doesn’t disappoint. Keep up the good work man!

[walkyasmrwalkman]

Hey Paul, you're awesome! Apart from that I'd like to correct one thing and mention that there's actually 23-24 people rather than 5 people per square kilometer.

[swededude]

One thing about Sweden that never get mentioned is our own distance meassuring unit mil. 10 km is 1 mil. Some of our neighboring countries also uses it, a little bit or knows about it. If you ever hear a Swede say something is 5 mil away or 783 mil away it means the distances are 50 km or 7830 km away. Or if you hear a Swede say it's a halfmil away, that's 5 km away. A handy unit bareley used outside Sweden and sadly also not a part of the metric system.

[uwezimmermann]

What a timely video given the recent elections last weekend. However, given the loose coalitions in the government, I don't think that permanent and massive changes can be achieved in the upcoming mandate period.
I have been living as a German in Sweden for 25 years now.

[aiorosgalaviz]

Such an amazing country!
I just started learning swedish and would love to visit the country one day, what a boost of motivation to continue learning it