127-647: KW Studios Ltd. (formerly SimBin Studios and Sector3 Studios ) is a Swedish video game developer and publisher . It was founded in 2003, and it develops racing simulators for Windows PC, with its headquarters in Lidköping , Sweden. The company originally started as a modding team for the Image Space Incorporated game F1 2002 , releasing a mod based on the 2002 season of the FIA GT championship, essentially
254-641: A lande van sweden ("land of [the] Swedes"), with swede as the singular form. In Old English the country was known as Swéoland or Swíoríce , and in Early Modern English as Swedeland . Some Finnic languages , such as Finnish and Estonian , use the terms Ruotsi and Rootsi ; these variations refer to the Rus' people who inhabited the coastal areas of Roslagen in Uppland and who gave their name to Russia. Sweden's prehistory begins in
381-563: A UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya during the Arab Spring . In addition, there was extensive cooperation with other European countries in the area of defence technology and defence industry; some Swedish-made weaponry was used by Coalition militaries in Iraq. In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Sweden moved to formally join NATO, alongside Finland. After many months of delays caused by
508-441: A fiscal crisis in the early 1990s. Sweden's GDP declined by around 5%. In 1992, a run on the currency caused the central bank to briefly increase interest rates to 500%. The response of the government was to cut spending and institute a multitude of reforms to improve Sweden's competitiveness, among them reducing the welfare state and privatising public services and goods. A referendum passed with 52.3% in favour of joining
635-507: A military campaign against Norway on 27 July 1814, ending in the Convention of Moss , which forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden under the Swedish crown, which lasted until 1905. The 1814 campaign was the last time Sweden was at war. The Swedish East India Company began in 1731. The obvious choice of home port was Gothenburg at Sweden's west coast, the mouth of Göta älv river
762-562: A parliamentary democracy, with legislative power vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag . It is a unitary state , divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities . Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. It has the world's 14th highest GDP per capita and ranks very highly in quality of life , health , education , protection of civil liberties , economic competitiveness, income equality , gender equality and prosperity . Sweden joined
889-467: A personal union under King Magnus Eriksson, the grandson of King Magnus Ladulås of Sweden and of King Haakon V of Norway. Magnus Eriksson also ruled Scania from 1332 to 1360. In the mid-14th century, Sweden was struck by the Black Death . The population of Sweden and most of Europe was decimated. The population did not reach its pre-1348 levels until the beginning of the 19th century, with one third of
1016-583: A common ethnonym. It was originally an adjective referring to those belonging to the Swedish tribe, who are called svear in Swedish. As early as the 9th century, svear had been vague, both referring to the Swedish tribe and being a collective term including the Geats, and this is the case in Adam of Bremen 's work where the Geats ( Goths ) appear both as a proper nation and as part of the Sueones . The merging/assimilation of
1143-614: A distinct period of winter. The northern parts of the country have a subarctic climate while the central parts have a humid continental climate . The coastal south can be defined as having either a humid continental climate using the 0 °C isotherm, or an oceanic climate using the -3 °C isotherm. Geats The Geats ( / ɡ iː t s , ˈ ɡ eɪ ə t s , j æ t s / GHEETS , GAY -əts, YATS ; Old English : gēatas [ˈjæɑtɑs] ; Old Norse : gautar [ˈɡɑu̯tɑr] ; Swedish : götar [ˈjø̂ːtar] ), sometimes called Goths , were
1270-551: A diverse climate owing to the length of the country, which ranges from 55°N to 69°N . Sweden has been inhabited since prehistoric times , c. 12,000 BC . The inhabitants emerged as the Geats (Swedish: Götar ) and Swedes ( Svear ), which together constituted the sea-faring peoples known as the Norsemen . A unified Swedish state was established during the late 10th century. In 1397, Sweden joined Norway and Denmark to form
1397-639: A higher-level division where one or more hærrad made up a bo linked to a kongsgård . Today, the merger of the two nations is complete, as there is no longer any tangible identification in Götaland with a Geatish identity, apart from the common tendency of residents of the provinces of Västergötland and Östergötland to refer to themselves as västgötar (West Geats) and östgötar (East Geats), similarly to how residents of other provinces refer to themselves. The dialects spoken in those provinces and some surrounding areas are also collectively called götamål . Although
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#17329094416681524-506: A large North Germanic tribe who inhabited Götaland ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages . They are one of the progenitor groups of modern Swedes , along with the tribes of Swedes and Gutes . The name of the Geats also lives on in the Swedish provinces of Västergötland and Östergötland , the western and eastern lands of
1651-574: A little strange. Moreover, when Beowulf dies he is buried in a mound at a place called Hrones-naesse , meaning "the cape of whales". Whales have for obvious reasons never lived in Vänern, where, according to Birger Nerman , Beowulf is buried. However, an expanse of water separates the island of Gotland from the Swedes. The island lies east of Denmark/Dacia and whales were once common in the Baltic Sea where Gotland
1778-576: A new free to play game that connects fans of racing around a game, motorsports portal and online store. By September 2014, SimBin Studios officially changed their name to Sector3 Studios, as part of a company restructuring. The name was changed primarily because the former was contractually tied to the location, and the team wanted to move to a more populous area. In January 2022, German automotive parts manufacturer KW Automotive had quietly acquired Sector3 Studios and renamed it to KW Studios. This European video game corporation or company-related article
1905-488: A rapid population growth. These innovations included government-sponsored programmes of enclosure , aggressive exploitation of agricultural lands, and the introduction of new crops such as the potato. The Swedish farming culture began to take on a critical role in Swedish politics, which has continued through modern times with modern Agrarian party (now called the Centre Party). Between 1870 and 1914, Sweden began developing
2032-409: A series of Crusades to pagan Finland and started conflicts with the Rus' , who by then had no further connections with Sweden. The Swedish colonisation of the coastal areas of Finland began in the 12th and 13th centuries. By the 14th century, this colonisation became more organised, and by the end of the century, several of the coastal areas of Finland were inhabited mostly by Swedes. Except for
2159-657: A sword, and a knife, and keeps each by him at all times. The swords are broad and grooved, of Frankish sort. The actions of these Swedish Vikings are commemorated on many runestones in Sweden, such as the Greece runestones and the Varangian runestones . There was also considerable participation in expeditions westwards, which are commemorated on stones such as the England runestones . The last major Swedish Viking expedition appears to have been
2286-563: Is "flow, stream, waterfall", which could refer to Trollhättan Falls or to the river itself. The short form of Gautigoths was the Old Norse Gautar , which originally referred to just the inhabitants of Västergötland , or the western parts of today's Götaland , a meaning which is retained in some Icelandic sagas. The earliest known surviving mention of the Geats appears in Ptolemy (2nd century AD), who refers to them as Goutai . In
2413-745: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sweden – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – [ Legend ] Sweden , formally the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe . It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden
2540-463: Is called "Rege Gotorum". These sources concern a raid into Frisia , ca 516, which is also described in Beowulf . C. 551, some decades after Hygelac's raid, Jordanes described the Geats as a nation which was "bold, and quick to engage in war". The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain included many North Germanic people who were losers in the brutal tribal warfare of Scandinavia. The place-name -gate marks
2667-498: Is covered with forests. The highest population density is in the Öresund Region in southern Sweden, along the western coast up to central Bohuslän, and in the valley of lake Mälaren and Stockholm. Gotland and Öland are Sweden's largest islands ; Vänern and Vättern are its largest lakes. Vänern is the third largest in Europe, after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia. Combined with
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#17329094416682794-514: Is situated. The name of the Gutes in Swedish, Gutar , is an ablaut-grade of the same name as that of the Geats in Beowulf. These facts made the archaeologist Gad Rausing come to the conclusion that the weather-Geats may have been Gutes. This was supported by another Swedish archaeologist Bo Gräslund . According to Rausing, Beowulf may be buried in a place called Rone on Gotland, a name corresponding to
2921-479: Is sometimes considered as the foundation of modern Sweden . Shortly afterwards the new king rejected Catholicism and led Sweden into the Protestant Reformation . The term riksdag was used for the first time in the 1540s, although the first meeting where representatives of different social groups were called to discuss and determine affairs affecting the country as a whole took place as early as 1435, in
3048-423: Is the largest Nordic country and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm . Sweden has a population of 10.6 million, and a low population density of 25.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (66/sq mi); 88% of Swedes reside in urban areas. They are mostly in the central and southern half of the country. Sweden's urban areas together cover 1.5% of its land area. Sweden has
3175-402: Is very wide and has the county's largest and best harbour for high-seas journeys. The trade continued into the 19th century, and caused the little town to become Sweden's second city. Between 1750 and 1850, the population in Sweden doubled. According to some scholars, mass emigration to America became the only way to prevent famine and rebellion; over 1% of the population emigrated annually during
3302-564: The Svear and the Götar (Geats) of Götaland were united under a single ruler. In the former case, Svealand was first mentioned as having one single ruler in the year 98 by Tacitus, but it is almost impossible to know for how long it had been this way. The epic poem Beowulf describes semi-legendary Swedish-Geatish wars in the sixth century. However, historians typically start the line of Swedish monarchs from when Svealand and Götaland were ruled under
3429-661: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , called the Jutes īutna , īotum or īutum . Moreover, Schück pointed out that when Alfred the Great's translation mentions the Jutes for the second time (book IV, ch. 14(16)) it calls them ēota and in one manuscript ȳtena . Björkman proposed in 1908 that Alfred the Great's translation of Jutes as Geats was based on a confusion between the West Saxon form Geotas ("Jutes") and Gēatas ("Geats"). As for
3556-494: The 2013 Stockholm riots . In response to these violent events, the anti-immigration opposition party, the Sweden Democrats , promoted their anti-immigration policies, while the left-wing opposition blamed growing inequality caused by the centre-right government's socioeconomic policies. Sweden was heavily affected by the 2015 European migrant crisis , eventually forcing the government to tighten regulations of entry to
3683-559: The Allerød oscillation , a warm period around 12,000 BC, with Late Palaeolithic reindeer -hunting camps of the Bromme culture at the edge of the ice in what is now the country's southernmost province, Scania . This period was characterised by small clans of hunter-gatherers who relied on flint technology. Sweden and its people were first described by Publius Cornelius Tacitus in his Germania (98 AD). In Germania 44 and 45 he mentions
3810-530: The Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia , providing a long coastline, and forms the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula . To the west is the Scandinavian mountain chain ( Skanderna ), a range that separates Sweden from Norway. Finland is located to its north-east. It has maritime borders with Denmark, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania , Latvia and Estonia , and it is also linked to Denmark (south-west) by
3937-622: The Baltic countries , Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Black Sea and even as far as Baghdad . Their routes passed through the Dnieper south to Constantinople , on which they carried out numerous raids. 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 Swedish Vikings, called Rus are believed to be
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4064-504: The Battle of Nördlingen in 1634, Sweden's only significant military defeat of the war, pro-Swedish sentiment among the German states faded. These German provinces broke away from Swedish power one by one, leaving Sweden with only a few northern German territories: Swedish Pomerania , Bremen-Verden and Wismar . From 1643 to 1645, during the last years of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway fought
4191-833: The European Union on 1 January 1995 and NATO on 7 March 2024. It is also a member of the United Nations , the Schengen Area , the Council of Europe , the Nordic Council , the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The name for Sweden is generally agreed to derive from the Proto-Indo-European root * s(w)e , meaning "one's own", referring to one's own tribe from
4318-667: The Gautigoths (cf. Geat/Gaut ), the Ostrogoths (cf. the Swedish province of Östergötland ) and Vagoths ( Gutar ?) ‒ this implies that the Geats were Goths rather than vice versa. The word Goth is also a term used by the Romans to describe related, culturally linked tribes like the Tervingi and the Greuthungs , so it may be correct to label Geats as Goths. Scandinavian burial customs, such as
4445-472: The Hanseatic League , and the local Gutes . Småland was of little interest at the time due to its deep pine forests, with only the city of Kalmar and its castle holding any significant importance. There were also Swedish settlements along the southern coastline of Norrland , one of the four lands of Sweden . Saint Ansgar is traditionally credited with introducing Christianity to Sweden in 829, but
4572-573: The House of Bernadotte , taking the regnal name of Charles XIV. Sweden's role in the Battle of Leipzig gave it the authority to force Denmark–Norway, an ally of France, to cede Norway to the King of Sweden on 14 January 1814 in exchange for the northern German provinces, at the Treaty of Kiel . The Norwegian attempts to keep their status as a sovereign state were rejected by the Swedish king, Charles XIII . He launched
4699-709: The Hrones in Hrones-naesse . Not far from there lies a place called Arnkull corresponding to the Earnar-naesse in Beowulf, which according to the poem was situated closely to Hrones-naesse. This theory does not exclude the ancient population of Västergötland and Östergötland from being Geats, but rather holds that the Anglo-Saxon name Geat could refer to West-geats (Västergötland), East-geats (Östergötland) as well as weather-geats (Gotland), in accordance with Jordanes account of
4826-654: The Marshall Plan and participated in the OECD. During most of the post-war era, the country was governed by the Swedish Social Democratic Party largely in co-operation with trade unions and industry. The government actively pursued an internationally competitive manufacturing sector of primarily large corporations. Sweden was one of the founding states of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA). During
4953-639: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in multiple conflicts. During the Thirty Years' War, Sweden conquered approximately half of the Holy Roman states and defeated the Imperial army at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631. Gustavus Adolphus planned to become the new Holy Roman Emperor , ruling over a united Scandinavia and the Holy Roman states, but he was killed at the Battle of Lützen in 1632. After
5080-613: The Sweon , which fits the historical position of the Geats between the Danes and the Swedes. Moreover, the story of Beowulf, who leaves Geatland and arrives at the Danish court after a naval voyage, where he kills a beast, finds a parallel in Hrólf Kraki's saga . In this saga, Bödvar Bjarki leaves Gautland and arrives at the Danish court after a naval voyage and kills a beast that has been terrorizing
5207-472: The Torstenson War . The result of that conflict and the conclusion of the Thirty Years' War helped establish postwar Sweden as a major force in Europe. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 granted Sweden territories in northern Germany. In the middle of the 17th century, Sweden was the third-largest country in Europe by land area. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent under the rule of Charles X after
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5334-468: The Uppsala Synod in 1593 which officially confirmed the modern Church of Sweden as Lutheran . Following his deposition in 1599, Sigismund attempted to reclaim the throne sparing no expense, and hostilities between Poland and Sweden continued for the next hundred years. Sweden rose to prominence on a continental scale during the reign of king Gustavus Adolphus , seizing territories from Russia and
5461-466: The stone circles (domarringar), which are most common in Götaland and Gotland , and stelae (bautastenar) appeared in what is now northern Poland in the 1st century AD, suggesting an influx of Scandinavians during the formation of the Gothic Wielbark culture . Moreover, in Östergötland , in Sweden, there is a sudden disappearance of villages during this period. Contemporary accounts beginning in
5588-564: The treaty of Roskilde in 1658, following Charles X's crossing of the Danish Belts . The foundation of Sweden's success during this period is credited to Gustav I's major changes to the Swedish economy in the 16th century, and his introduction of Protestantism . One-third of the Finnish population died in the devastating Great Famine of 1695–1697 that struck the country. Famine also hit Sweden, killing roughly 10% of Sweden's population. In
5715-408: The Öresund Bridge . Its border with Norway ( 1,619 km long) is the longest uninterrupted border within Europe. Sweden lies between latitudes 55° and 70° N , and mostly between longitudes 11° and 25° E (part of Stora Drammen island is just west of 11°). At 449,964 km (173,732 sq mi), Sweden is the 55th-largest country in the world, the fifth-largest country in Europe, and
5842-690: The Øresund channel, thus closing it to Allied shipping, and allowing the Germans to use Swedish facilities and the Swedish cipher to transmit secret messages to their overseas embassies. Sweden also allowed volunteers to fight alongside the Germans for the White Guards against the Red Guards and Russians in the Finnish Civil War , and briefly occupied Åland in cooperation with the German Empire. As in
5969-417: The ö monophthong of modern Swedish and the au diphthong of Old Norse correspond to the ēa diphthong of Old English . Thus, Gēatas is the Old English form of Old Norse Gautar and modern Swedish Götar . This correspondence seems to tip the balance for most scholars. It is also based on the fact that in Beowulf , the Gēatas live east of the Dani (across the sea) and in close contact with
6096-496: The 10th century however indicate that they were still politically independent, sometimes opposing Norwegian kings. It has been suggested that their absence from older sources is instead due to their being an inland people. The nature and the processes of how Geats and Swedes came to form one kingdom have been much debated among Swedish scholars. The scarcity and sometimes debated veracity of sources has left much room open for interpretation. The oldest medieval Swedish sources present
6223-419: The 17th century, Sweden was engaged in many wars, for example with Poland–Lithuania, with both sides competing for territories of today's Baltic states . The Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629) ended with a ceasefire in Stary Targ ( Truce of Altmark ) on 26 September 1629 that was in favour of the Swedes, to whom Poland ceded the larger part of Livonia together with its important port of Riga . The Swedes also got
6350-423: The 1880s. It is thought that between 1850 and 1910 more than one million Swedes moved to the United States . Nevertheless, Sweden remained poor, retaining a nearly entirely agricultural economy even as Western European countries began to industrialise. Despite the slow rate of industrialisation into the 19th century, many important changes were taking place in the agrarian economy due to constant innovations and
6477-407: The 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Imperial Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union , a union which lasted until 1905. Sweden is a highly developed country ranked fifth in the Human Development Index . It is a constitutional monarchy and
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#17329094416686604-417: The 1960s the EFTA countries were often referred to as the Outer Seven, as opposed to the Inner Six of the then- European Economic Community (EEC). Like many industrialised countries, Sweden entered a period of economic decline and upheaval following the oil embargoes of 1973–74 and 1978–79. In the 1980s several key Swedish industries were significantly restructured. Shipbuilding was discontinued, wood pulp
6731-439: The 20th century, people gradually moved into cities to work in factories and became involved in socialist unions. A communist revolution was avoided in 1917, following the re-introduction of parliamentarism , and the country was democratised . Sweden was officially neutral during World War I . However, under pressure from the German Empire , they did take steps which were detrimental to the Allied powers – most notably, mining
6858-432: The 6th century, Jordanes writes of the Gautigoths and Ostrogoths (the Ostrogoths of Scandza ); and Procopius refers to Gautoi . The Norse Sagas know them as Gautar ; Beowulf and Widsith as Gēatas . Beowulf and the Norse sagas name several Geatish kings , but only Hygelac finds confirmation in Liber Monstrorum where he is referred to as "Rex Getarum" and in a copy of Historiae Francorum where he
6985-409: The Danes for two years (see also Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki ). There is a hypothesis that the Jutes also were Geats, and which was proposed by Pontus Fahlbeck in 1884. According to this hypothesis the Geats would have not only resided in southern Sweden but also in Jutland , where Beowulf would have lived. The Geats and the Jutes are mentioned in Beowulf as different tribes, and whereas
7112-404: The Danes/Dacians and be separated from the Swedes by wide waters. Some researchers have found it a little far-fetched that wide waters relates to Vänern in Västergötland or Mälaren. The weather in weather-geats , and sea-geats marks a people living at a windy, stormy coast by the sea. The Geats of Västergötland were historically an inland people, making an epithet such as weather- or sea-
7239-409: The EU on 13 November 1994. Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995. In a 2003 referendum the Swedish electorate voted against joining the Euro currency. Sweden held the chair of the European Union from 1 July to 31 December 2009. On 28 September 1994, the MS Estonia sank as the ship was crossing the Baltic Sea, en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden. The disaster claimed
7366-448: The English People attributed to Alfred the Great where the Jutes ( iutarum , iutis ) once are rendered as gēata (genitive) and twice as gēatum (dative) (see e.g. the OED which identifies the Geats through Eotas , Iótas , Iútan and Geátas ). Fahlbeck did not, however, propose an etymology for how the two ethnonyms could be related. Fahlbeck's theory was refuted by Schück who in 1907 noted that another Old English source,
7493-570: The First World War, Sweden remained officially neutral during World War II , although its neutrality has been disputed. Sweden was under German influence for much of the war, as ties to the rest of the world were cut off through blockades. The Swedish government unofficially supported Finland in the Winter War and the Continuation War by allowing volunteers and materiel to be shipped to Finland. However, Sweden supported Norwegian resistance against Germany, and in 1943 helped rescue Danish Jews from deportation to Nazi concentration camps . During
7620-435: The Geatish provinces and then through Närke and Västmanland to be judged to be the lawful king by the lawspeakers of their respective things . One of these Swedish kings was Ragnvald Knaphövde , who in 1125 was riding with his retinue in order to be accepted as king by the different provinces. According to material appended to the oldest manuscript of the Westrogothic law , he decided not to demand hostages as he despised
7747-484: The Geats are called gēatas , the Jutes are called ēotena (genitive) or ēotenum (dative). Moreover, the Old English poem Widsith also mentions both Geats and Jutes, and it calls the latter ȳtum . However, Fahlbeck proposed in 1884 that the Gēatas of Beowulf referred to Jutes and he proposed that the Jutes originally also were Geats like those of southern Sweden. This theory was based on an Old English translation of Venerable Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of
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#17329094416687874-429: The Geats' old connection with the Goths. They argued that since the Goths and the Geats were the same nation, and the Geats were part of the kingdom of Sweden, this meant that the Swedes had defeated the Roman empire. The earliest attestation of this claim comes from the Council of Basel , 1434, during which the Swedish delegation argued with the Spanish about who among them were the true Goths. The Spaniards argued that it
8001-454: The Geats, and in many other toponyms . The Swedish dialects spoken in the areas that used to be inhabited by Geats form a distinct group, Götamål . The etymology of the name Geat (Old English Geatas , from a Proto-Germanic * Gautaz , plural * Gautōz ) is similar to that of Goths and Gutes (* Gutô , plural * Gutaniz ). The names derive from ablaut grades of the Proto-Germanic word * geutaną , meaning "to pour". They have
8128-438: The Geats, and was slain near Falköping . In a new general law of Sweden that was issued by Magnus Eriksson in the 1350s, it was stated that twelve men from each province, chosen by their things, should be present at the Stone of Mora when a new king was elected. The distinction between Swedes and Geats lasted during the Middle Ages, but the Geats became increasingly important for Swedish national claims of greatness due to
8255-437: 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. The end of the 16th century was marked by a final phase of rivalry between the remaining Catholics and the new Protestant communities. In 1592, Gustav Vasa's Catholic grandson and king of Poland , Sigismund , ascended
8382-425: The Middle Ages. Still others have put emphasis on how it was individual rulers, not ethnic groups, who were driving the process towards a unified kingdom, and that the process was very complicated. Papal letters from the 1080s style the recipients as "king of the Swedes" or "king of the West Geats". In another papal letter from the 1160s, the title rex Sweorum et Gothorum is first attested. The Swedish kings began
8509-450: The Nazis' war efforts. Sweden was officially a neutral country and remained outside NATO and Warsaw Pact membership during the Cold War , but privately Sweden's leadership had strong ties with the United States and other western governments. Following the war, Sweden took advantage of an intact industrial base, social stability and its natural resources to expand its industry to supply the rebuilding of Europe. Sweden received aid under
8636-399: The Roman Period is curt inscriptions demonstrating that the people of south Scandinavia spoke Proto-Norse at the time, a language ancestral to Swedish and other North Germanic languages . In the sixth century, Jordanes names two tribes living in Scandza , both of which are now considered to be synonymous with the Swedes: the Suetidi and Suehans . The Suehans were known to
8763-432: The Roman world as suppliers of black fox skins and, according to Jordanes, had very fine horses, similar to those of the Thyringi of Germania ( alia vero gens ibi moratur Suehans, quae velud Thyringi equis utuntur eximiis ). The Swedish Viking Age lasted roughly from the eighth century to the 11th century. It is believed that Swedish Vikings and Gutar mainly travelled east and south, going to Finland, Estonia,
8890-488: The Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant the beginning of the end for the Swedish Empire. In addition, the plague raging in East Central Europe devastated the Swedish dominions and reached Central Sweden in 1710. Returning to Sweden in 1715, Charles XII launched two campaigns against Norway in 1716 and 1718, respectively. During the second attempt, he was shot to death during the siege of Fredriksten fortress. The Swedes were not militarily defeated at Fredriksten, but
9017-435: The Scandinavian Kalmar Union , which Sweden left in 1523. When Sweden became involved in the Thirty Years' War on the Protestant side, an expansion of its territories began, forming the Swedish Empire , which remained one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. During this era Sweden controlled much of the Baltic Sea . Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during
9144-414: The Swedes ( Suiones ) as a powerful tribe with ships that had a prow at each end ( longships ). Which kings ( * kuningaz ) ruled these Suiones is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a long line of legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC. The runic script was in use among the south Scandinavian elite by at least the second century AD, but all that has survived from
9271-568: The Swedes more pagan, which was why the Christian Swedish king Inge the Elder fled to Västergötland when deposed in favour of Blot-Sweyn , a king more favourable towards Norse paganism , in the 1080s. Inge would retake the throne and rule until his death c. 1100. In his Gesta Danorum (book 13), the Danish 12th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus noted that the Geats had no say in the election of
9398-472: The Swedish kingdom as retaining differences between provinces, in laws as well as in weights and measures. Some scholars have argued that the Geats were subjugated by the Swedes, and have suggested various dates for such an event, from the 6th to the 9th centuries. Others have wanted to see a more gradual merging, and that the Geats were slowly subsumed into the more powerful kingdom of Sweden, and in many respects they maintained their own cultural identity during
9525-517: The Swedish throne. He pursued to strengthen Rome's influence by initiating Counter-Reformation and created a dual monarchy that temporarily became known as the Polish-Swedish Union . His despotic rule, strongly characterised by intolerance towards the Protestants, sparked a civil war that plunged Sweden into poverty. In opposition, Sigismund's uncle and successor, Charles Vasa , summoned
9652-724: The Wends" was copied from the Danish title, while the Danish kings called themselves "Kings of the Gotlanders" (which, like "Geats", was translated into "Goths" in Latin). "Wends" is a term normally used to describe the Slavic peoples who inhabited large areas of modern east Germany and Pomerania. See further in the Misplaced Pages articles King of the Goths and King of the Wends . The titles, however, changed in 1973 when
9779-555: The area of present-day Sweden and 50,000 from the Finnish part of Sweden . Executive power was historically shared between the King and an aristocratic Privy council until 1680, followed by the King's autocratic rule initiated by the commoner estates of the Riksdag. As a reaction to the failed Great Northern War, a parliamentary system was introduced in 1719, followed by three different flavours of constitutional monarchy in 1772, 1789 and 1809,
9906-618: The canal. Sweden also has plenty of long rivers draining the lakes. Northern and central Sweden have several wide rivers known as älvar , commonly sourced within the Scandinavian Mountains. The longest river is Klarälven - Göta älv , which originates in Trøndelag in central Norway, running 1,160 kilometres (720 mi) before it enters the sea at Gothenburg . In southern Sweden, narrower rivers known as åar are also common. The vast majority of municipal seats are set either on
10033-685: The city Göteborg ( Gothenburg ) has formerly been considered to have been named after the river Göta älv , it may instead have been named after the Geats ('fortress of the Geats') when it was founded in 1621. Until 1973 the official title of the Swedish king was "King of Sweden" (earlier: of the Swedes), the Geats/Goths and the Wends (with the formula Sveriges, Götes och Vendes konung , in Latin N.N. Dei Gratia, Suecorum, Gothorum et Vandalorum Rex ). The title "King of
10160-567: The company mainly focuses on racing simulators for Windows, Race Pro was developed for the Xbox 360 console, published by Atari and released in February 2009. In May 2009 SimBin released Volvo – The Game as a freeware for Windows. It included six cars, two racetracks and a time trial mode. Cars include the Volvo S60 , Volvo S40 and Volvo 850 . In 2013, SimBin released RaceRoom Racing Experience ,
10287-516: The country. Some of the asylum restrictions were relaxed again later. On 30 November 2021, Magdalena Andersson became Sweden's first female prime minister. The September 2022 general election ended in a narrow win to a bloc of right-wing parties. On 18 October 2022, Ulf Kristersson of the Moderate Party became the new Prime Minister. Situated in Northern Europe, Sweden lies west of
10414-591: The custom of styling themselves as also the kings of the Geats in the 1270s. In the 11th century, the Swedish House of Munsö became extinct with the death of Emund the Old . Stenkil , a Geat, was elected king of the Swedes, and the Geats would be influential in the shaping of Sweden as a Christian kingdom. However, this election also ushered in a long period of civil unrest between Christians and pagans and between Geats and Swedes. The Geats tended to be more Christian, and
10541-615: The first battles of the Great Northern War , the Russian army was so severely devastated that Sweden had an open chance to invade Russia. However, Charles XII did not pursue the Russian army, instead turning against Poland and defeating the Polish king, Augustus II the Strong , and his Saxon allies at the Battle of Kliszów in 1702. This gave Russia time to rebuild and modernise its army. After
10668-509: The founders of Kievan Rus' . The Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan described these Vikings saying: I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Itil . I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blond and ruddy; they wear neither tunics nor caftans, but the men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free. Each man has an axe,
10795-508: The fourth century further associated these groups with the earlier Getae of Dacia, but this is now disputed. The Götaland theory (Swedish "Västgötaskolan") is a disparate group of theories, which have attempted to prove that some events and even places that are traditionally placed around Mälaren , especially ones that are associated with the formation of medieval Sweden, instead should be located to Västergötland. The methods ranged from relatively scholarly efforts to dowsing . This "school"
10922-630: The ill-fated expedition of Ingvar the Far-Travelled to Serkland , the region south-east of the Caspian Sea . Its members are commemorated on the Ingvar runestones , none of which mentions any survivor. During the early stages of the Viking Age, a centre of trade in northern Europe developed at Birka on the island of Björkö , not far from where Stockholm was later constructed, in mid-latitude Sweden. Birka
11049-501: The industrialised economy that exists today. Strong grassroots movements sprang up in Sweden during the latter half of the 19th century (trade unions, temperance groups, and independent religious groups), creating a strong foundation of democratic principles. These movements precipitated Sweden's migration into a modern parliamentary democracy, achieved by the time of World War I. As the Industrial Revolution progressed during
11176-534: The king, only the Swedes. When the West Geatish law or Westrogothic law was put to paper, it reminded the Geats that they had to accept the election of the Swedes: Sveær egho konong at taka ok sva vrækæ meaning "It is the Swedes who have the right of choosing ["taking"] and also deposing the king" and then he rode Eriksgatan "mæþ gislum ofvan" – "with hostages from above [the realm]" through Södermanland ,
11303-506: The largest country in Northern Europe. The lowest elevation in Sweden is in the bay of Lake Hammarsjön, near Kristianstad , at −2.41 m (−7.91 ft) below sea level. The highest point is Kebnekaise at 2,111 m (6,926 ft) above sea level . Sweden has 25 provinces or landskap . While these provinces serve no political or administrative purpose, they play an important role in people's self-identity . The provinces are usually grouped together in three large lands , parts,
11430-425: The largest tribes. Procopius and Jordanes both mention the Geats, but after them, foreign sources about Scandinavia are scarce until the 9th century, when Anglo-Saxon and Frankish sources do shed some light on the area. In these, the Geats are absent, which has led some scholars to conclude that they were no longer an independent nation and had been subsumed by the Swedes. Norwegian and Icelandic scaldic sources from
11557-500: The last year of the war, Sweden began to play a role in humanitarian efforts, and many refugees, among them several thousand Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe, were rescued thanks to the Swedish rescue missions to internment camps and partly because Sweden served as a haven for refugees. The Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and his colleagues ensured the safety of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews. Nevertheless, both Swedes and others have argued that Sweden could have done more to oppose
11684-548: The latter granting several civil liberties. Already during the first of those three periods, the 'Era of Liberty' (1719–72) the Swedish Rikstag had developed into a very active Parliament, and this tradition continued into the nineteenth century, laying the basis for the transition towards modern democracy at the end of that century. In the 18th century, Sweden did not have enough resources to maintain its territories outside Scandinavia, and most of them were lost, culminating with
11811-423: The lifetime task of Charles X's son, Charles XI , to rebuild the economy and refit the army. 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. Russia, the most serious threat to Sweden at this time, had a larger army but lagged far behind in both equipment and training. After the Battle of Narva in 1700, one of
11938-404: The literal meaning "they who pour their seed". (For more information see Goths § Etymology .) The names could also allude to watercourses in the land where they were living, but this is not generally accepted to be the case, partly because that would mean that the names' similarity would be coincidental. A more specific theory about the word Gautigoths is that it means the Goths who live near
12065-731: The lives of 852 people (501 of them were Swedes ), being one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century. Until 2022, Sweden generally remained non-aligned militarily, although it participated in some joint military exercises with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and some other countries, stationed its troops under NATO command in Afghanistan , took part in EU-sponsored peacekeeping operations in Kosovo , Bosnia and Herzegovina , and Cyprus , and helped enforce
12192-558: The loss in 1809 of eastern Sweden to Russia, which became the highly autonomous Grand Principality of Finland in Imperial Russia . In interest of re-establishing Swedish dominance in the Baltic Sea, Sweden allied itself against its traditional ally and benefactor, France, in the Napoleonic Wars . However, in 1810, a French Marshal, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte , was chosen as heir presumptive to Charles XIII ; in 1818, he established
12319-548: The new king Carl XVI Gustaf decided that his royal title should simply be "King of Sweden". The disappearance of the old title was his decision alone. Geatas was originally Proto-Germanic * Gautoz and Goths and Gutar ( Gotlanders ) were * Gutaniz . * Gautoz and * Gutaniz are two ablaut grades of a Proto-Germanic word * geutan with the meaning "to pour" (modern Swedish gjuta , modern German giessen ). The word comes from an Indo-European root meaning to pour, offer sacrifice. There were consequently two derivations from
12446-669: The new religion did not begin to fully replace paganism until the 12th century. During that century, Sweden was undergoing dynastic struggles between the Erik and Sverker clans. The conflict ended when a third clan married into the Erik clan, founding the Bjälbo dynasty, which gradually consolidated Sweden into a stronger state. According to the Legend of Saint Erik and the Erik's Chronicle , Swedish kings conducted
12573-592: The northern Norrland, the central Svealand and southern Götaland. The sparsely populated Norrland encompasses almost 60% of the country. Sweden also has the Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve , one of the largest protected areas in Europe, totaling 562,772 ha (approx. 5,628 km ). About 15% of Sweden lies north of the Arctic Circle . Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, with increasing forest coverage northward. Around 65% of Sweden's total land area
12700-453: The objections of Turkey and Hungary, Sweden became a NATO member on 7 March 2024. In recent decades Sweden has become a more culturally diverse nation due to significant immigration; in 2013, it was estimated that 15% of the population was foreign-born, and an additional 5% of the population were born to two immigrant parents. The influx of immigrants has brought new social challenges. Violent incidents have periodically occurred including
12827-471: The origins of the ethnonym Jute , it may be a secondary formation of the toponym Jutland, where jut is derived from a Proto-Indo-European root * eud meaning "water". Since the 19th century, there has also been a suggestion that Beowulf's people were Gutes (from the island of Gotland in Sweden). According to the poem, the weather-geats or sea-geats , as they are called are supposed to have lived east of
12954-485: The population dying between 1349 and 1351. During this period, the cities began to acquire greater rights and were heavily influenced by German merchants of the Hanseatic League , active especially at Visby . In 1397, Queen Margaret I of Denmark (the former daughter-in-law of Magnus Eriksson) established the personal union of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark through the Kalmar Union . However, Margaret's successors, whose rule
13081-529: The population in Viking Age Birka was between 500 and 1000 people. Archaeological finds indicate that Birka still was wealthy in the 9th and 10th centuries. Thousands of graves, coins, jewelry and other luxury items have been found there. The actual age of the kingdom of Sweden is unknown. Determining its age depends mostly on whether Sweden is considered a nation when the Svear (Swedes) ruled Svealand or when
13208-626: The precursor to its first commercial game. The company has released GTR - FIA GT Racing Game , GT Legends , and a sequel to GTR Racing called GTR - FIA GT Racing Game 2 , all published by 10tacle as well as RACE - The Official WTCC Game published by Eidos Interactive and RACE 07 - The Official WTCC Game which was the first SimBin game to include Formula cars. RACE 07 has gone on to have nine expansion packs released for it: GTR Evolution , STCC - The Game , Race On , Formula Raceroom , STCC The Game 2 , GT Power Expansion , WTCC 2010 , Retro Expansion , and Race Injection . Although
13335-546: The provinces of Scania, Blekinge, and Halland in the southwest of the Scandinavian peninsula, which were part of the Kingdom of Denmark during this period, feudalism never developed in Sweden as it did in much of Europe. As a result, the peasantry remained largely a class of free farmers throughout most of Swedish history. Slavery , also known as thralldom , was not common in Sweden, and the institution gradually diminished due to
13462-643: The right to tax Poland's trade on the Baltic (3.5% on the value of goods), and kept control of many of the cities in Royal and Ducal Prussia (including Piława ( Pillau ), Memel and Elbląg (Elbing). The Swedes later conducted a series of invasions into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, known as the Deluge . After more than half a century of almost constant warfare, the Swedish economy had deteriorated. It became
13589-467: The river Gaut , today's Göta älv ( Old Norse : Gautelfr ). It might also have been a conflation of the word Gauti with a gloss of Goths . In the 17th century the name Göta älv , 'River of the Geats', replaced the earlier names Götälven and Gautelfr . The etymology of the word Gaut (as mentioned above) derives from the Proto-Germanic word * geutan , and the extended meaning of "to pour"
13716-577: The role as the heroic ancestors. The Geats were traditionally divided into several petty kingdoms , or districts, which had their own things (popular assemblies) and laws. The largest one of these districts was Västergötland (West Geatland), and it was in Västergötland that the Thing of all Geats was held every year, in the vicinity of Skara . Despite the name, the thing was only for the inhabitants of Västergötland and Dalsland . The equivalent in Östergötland
13843-558: The same Proto-Germanic ethnonym. It is a long-standing controversy whether the Goths were Geats. Both Old Icelandic and Old English literary sources clearly separate the Geats (Isl. Gautar , OEng Geatas ) from the Goths/ Gutar (Isl. Gotar , OEng. Gotenas ); but the Gothic historian Jordanes wrote that the Goths came originally to Dacia from the island of Scandza . Moreover, he described that on this island there were three tribes called
13970-460: The same king, namely Erik the Victorious and his son Olof Skötkonung in the tenth century. These events are often described as the consolidation of Sweden , although substantial areas were conquered and incorporated later. In this context, "Götaland" primarily refers to the provinces of Östergötland and Västergötland . The island of Gotland was contested by various groups, including the Danes,
14097-439: The sea, a river or a lake and the majority of the country's population live in coastal municipalities. Most of Sweden has a temperate climate , despite its northern latitude , with largely four distinct seasons and mild temperatures throughout the year. The winter in the far south is usually weak and is manifested only through some shorter periods with snow and sub-zero temperatures; autumn may well turn into spring there, without
14224-506: The site of Geatish settlement, often alongside strategically important Roman roads and nearby Visigothic and/or Jutish settlements. Defeated Jutes like Hengest and his brother Horsa fled to Kent, while Geats defeated by encroaching Swedes moved to Yorkshire where they founded Gillingshire by the Tees , originally the settlement of the Geatlings . It has also been suggested that East Anglia
14351-421: The spread of Christianity, the difficulty of obtaining slaves from lands east of the Baltic Sea, and by the development of cities before the 16th century. Indeed, both slavery and serfdom were abolished altogether by a decree of King Magnus Eriksson in 1335. Sweden remained a poor and economically underdeveloped country, where barter was the primary means of exchange. In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united in
14478-478: The success of invading Poland, Charles XII decided to make an attempt at invading Russia , but this ended in a decisive Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. After a long march exposed to Cossack raids, the Russian Tsar Peter the Great 's scorched-earth techniques and the extremely cold winter of 1709 , the Swedes stood weakened with a shattered morale and were enormously outnumbered against
14605-459: The third- and fourth-largest lakes Mälaren and Hjälmaren , these lakes take up a significant part of southern Sweden's area. Sweden's extensive waterway availability throughout the south was exploited with the building of the Göta Canal in the 19th century, shortening the potential distance between the Baltic Sea south of Norrköping and Gothenburg by using the lake and river network to facilitate
14732-511: The town of Arboga . During the Riksdag assemblies of 1527 and 1544, under King Gustav Vasa, representatives of all four estates of the realm (clergy, nobility , townsmen and peasants ) were called on to participate for the first time. The monarchy became hereditary in 1544. When Gustav Vasa broke the monopoly power of the Hanseatic League , he was regarded as a hero by the Swedish people. Furthermore, when Sweden did develop, freed itself from
14859-635: The tribal period. The native Swedish name, Sverige (a compound of the words Svea and rike , first recorded in the cognate Swēorice in Beowulf ), translates as "realm of the Swedes ", which excluded the Geats in Götaland . The contemporary English variation was derived in the 17th century from Middle Dutch and Middle Low German . As early as 1287, references are found in Middle Dutch referring to
14986-417: The two nations took a long time, however. In the early-20th century, Nordisk familjebok noted that svensk had almost replaced svear as a name for the Swedish people. At the same time, the Swedish ancestors were often referred to as Geats, especially when their heroism or connection to the Goths was to be stressed. This practice disappeared during the 19th century, when the vikings gradually took over
15113-445: The whole structure and organisation of the campaign fell apart with the king's death. Forced to cede large areas of land in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Sweden also lost its place as an empire and as the dominant state on the Baltic Sea. With Sweden's lost influence, Russia emerged as an empire and became one of Europe's dominant nations . As the war finally ended in 1721, Sweden had lost an estimated 200,000 men, 150,000 of those from
15240-553: Was Lionga thing . Unlike the Swedes, who used the division hundare , the Geats used hærrad (modern Swedish härad ), like the Norwegians and the Danes. Surprisingly, it would be the Geatish name that became the common term in the Swedish kingdom. This is possibly related to the fact that several of the medieval Swedish kings were of Geatish extraction and often resided primarily in Götaland. In Västergötland and Dalsland, there were also
15367-459: Was better to be descended from the heroic Visigoths than from stay-at-homers. This cultural movement, which was not restricted to Sweden went by the name Gothicismus or in Swedish Göticism , i.e. Geaticism . After the 15th century and the Kalmar Union , the Swedes and the Geats appear to have begun to perceive themselves as one nation, which is reflected in the evolution of svensk into
15494-461: Was broken. According to Procopius there were 13 "very numerous nations" on the Scandinavian peninsula in the 6th century, which is supported by recent archaeological analyses. Several scholars consider this to be a reasonable number of independent kingdoms at the time, with each consisting of one or more tribes, as reported by Jordanes. However, by 1350, these 13 kingdoms had been reduced in number to only two, Norway and Sweden. The Geats were one of
15621-419: Was brought to prominence in the 1980s following a TV series by Dag Stålsjö . While some serious scholars have attempted to place more emphasis on the Geats in the early history of Sweden than was traditional, Västgötaskolan has never reached any acceptance. The generally accepted identification of Old English Gēatas as the same ethnonym as Swedish götar and Old Norse gautar is based on the observation that
15748-606: Was centred in Denmark, were unable to control the Swedish nobility. In 1520, King Christian II of Denmark , who attempted to restore the Union of Kalmar through military force, ordered the massacre of Swedish nobles in Stockholm, an event known as the " Stockholm Bloodbath ." This atrocity incited the Swedish nobility to renew their resistance, and on 6 June 1523 (now celebrated as Sweden's National Day ), they made Gustav Vasa their king. This
15875-608: Was founded around 750 AD as a trading port by a king or merchants trying to control trade. Birka was the Baltic link in the Dnieper Trade Route through Ladoga ( Aldeigja ) and Novgorod ( Holmsgard ) to the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate . It was abandoned c. AD 975 , around the same time Sigtuna was founded as a Christian town some 35 km to the northeast. It has been estimated that
16002-411: Was integrated into modernised paper production, the steel industry was concentrated and specialised, and mechanical engineering was robotised. Swedish GDP per capita ranking declined during this time. A bursting real estate bubble caused by inadequate controls on lending combined with an international recession and a policy switch from anti-unemployment policies to anti-inflationary policies resulted in
16129-486: Was settled by Geats at this time, or by Wulfings who also came from Götaland, bringing the traditions of Beowulf with them. Any peace that eventually settled in southern Scandinavia was most likely due to exhaustion, and a Danish archaeologist has summarized that in the mid-6th century, and after, Scandinavia "went down to hell". Scandinavian wares appear to have stopped arriving in England, c. 550, suggesting that contact
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