Sweden (ˈswiːdən
Sverige ˈsværjɛ), officially the
Kingdom of Sweden (
Swedish), is a
Scandinavian country in
Northern Europe. Sweden borders
Norway and
Finland, and is connected to
Denmark by a
bridge-tunnel across the
Øresund.
At 450295 km
2, Sweden is the third largest country in the
European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.5 million. Sweden has a low
population density of 21 PD/km
2 with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's
capital city is
Stockholm, which is also the largest city. Since the early 19th century Sweden has been at peace and has avoided war.
Today, Sweden is a
constitutional monarchy with a
parliamentary democracy form of government and a highly developed economy. Sweden has the
world's eighth highest per capita income. In 2011, it ranked fourth in the world in
The Economist's
Democracy Index, 7th in the 2013
United Nations'
Human Development Index (third on the
inequality-adjusted HDI) and third on the 2012
Legatum Prosperity Index.
In 2010, the
World Economic Forum ranked Sweden as the second most competitive country in the world, after Switzerland. According to the
United Nations, it has the third-lowest
infant mortality rate in the world. In 2010, Sweden also had one of the lowest
Gini coefficients of all developed countries (0.25), making Sweden one of the world's most equal countries in terms of income. Sweden's wealth, however, is distributed much less equally than its income, with a wealth Gini coefficient of 0.85, which is higher than the European average of 0.8.
In 2013,
The Economist declared that the
Nordic countries "are probably the best-governed in the world," with Sweden in first place.