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History of Sweden (since 1989)
Encyclopedia
This article describes the history of Sweden
from 1989 until present day.
After a period of rapid growth and unprecedented prosperity during the late 1980s, by 1990 the Swedish economy
overheated, and after a controversial bill freezing salaries and banning strikes failed in parliament
, the social democrat
government led by Prime Minister
Ingvar Carlsson
resigned in February 1990. At this time the respected Finance Minister
Kjell-Olof Feldt
left the government in protest over what he saw as irresponsible economic policies. Carlsson soon formed a new government, but by the time of the general election in September 1990 the economy was in free fall, and with rapidly rising unemployment, the social democrats received the smallest share of votes in sixty years (37.7 %), resulting in the loss of office to the opposition, a centre-right coalition.
Around the same time a convicted murderer and bank robber of German origin known as Lasermannen
("the Laser Man") shot eleven and killed one person in an attempted serial killing
, which scared other Swedish immigrants, whom he targeted.
In response to the perceived failure of the social democrats to handle the economy and in protest over what was seen as outdated socialist policies (state-run monopolies in for example television, radio, telephone services & hospital care), newly formed reformist-populist
party Ny demokrati made a successful surprise push for the Riksdag in the 1991 elections, enabling a new centre-right government to be formed. Under the leadership of Carl Bildt
, the new government was determined to profile itself as anti-socialist and cosmopolitan, with the aim of initiating many reforms. Blaming some of the excesses of the Nordic model
for the economic crisis, it wanted to initiate reforms and started dismantling of state-run monopolies, lowering of taxes, reshaping and internationalization of higher education, and laid the foundation for Sweden's subsequent entry into the European Union
.
However, the new government had inherited the most serious economic crisis seen in fifty years, which meant that instead of focusing on reforms, it had to spend almost its entire period in office (1991–1994) in crisis management mode. Consumer
prices went up, house prices down and unemployment
rocketed. In late 1992, under the pressure of a flurry of financial speculation that shook
several European currencies
at this time, the Riksbank briefly raised its target rate to 500% in an effort to defend the fixed exchange rate of the Swedish krona
, but it had to be set free against other currencies, and immediately dropped about 15% against the US Dollar. During 1991 and 1992, the housing bubble that had built up during the 80s deflated, leaving many banks nearly insolvent, leading to the Swedish banking rescue
, where the government had to guarantee all deposits in the nation's 114 banks and some nationalized at a cost of 64 billion SEK.
The drain on the state treasury from 1992 on was overwhelming and the current account deficit and national debt surged, and though agreements were soon reached with the Social democrats on measures to tackle the crisis, the hard conditions and deep economic recession
were to last throughout the nineties. Because of this, the Bildt Cabinet is by many regarded as largely a failure, not only because the recession meant it was unable to do the reforms it set out to do, disenfranchising its core voters, but also because it wasn't seen as handling the crisis effectively, while making some obvious mistakes (such as the costly defence of the krona), sending swing voters into the arms of the opposition.
While the lasting policy impact was limited, with notable exceptions such as the introduction of commercial TV/Radio and school vouchers, the most profound impact of the Bildt era was that most people came to associate a non-social democrat run country with recession and general misery (a picture also skilfully painted in the next three general elections by the social democrats), thereby effectively locking out the center-right parties from cabinet positions for the next twelve years. In recent years however, the Bildt government reputation has been restored to some degree, not least through the international praise given for the model way it in handled the bank bailouts
.
The 1994 elections restored Ingvar Carlsson's Social democratic minority government. During the interregnum after the election, the car and passenger ferry M/S Estonia
was lost in the Baltic Sea on September 28, killing 852 people, most Swedish, in one of the worst maritime disasters in modern history. One of the few positive events during the time was Sweden's surprise run at the FIFA World Cup 1994, which earned Team Sweden and a pressured people a bronze medal and some nights of party in the hot summer of 1994. Göran Persson
was appointed finance minister and saddled with the difficult task of balancing the budget by aggressively cutting social programs and benefits, something most Swedes initially intensely resented, but an achievement for which he eventually came to be respected. After Carlsson's retirement in 1996, Persson replaced him, and remained in power until he lost the 2006 elections.
Sweden entered the European Union
in 1995 after a consultative referendum the previous year
. The entry into the EU in some ways turned a page in Swedish history and could be seen as signifying the end of Swedish exceptionality
and neutrality
. Twentieth century Sweden often took an insular view and kept Europe and what was going on "on the continent" at an arm's length. EU membership challenged this, but a majority of the electorate is still eurosceptic
, and it is unlikely that a referendum at any other time but in conjunction with a very severe recession would have yielded a positive result. The Oresund Bridge
between Malmö
and Copenhagen
, Denmark
, opened in 2000, is sometimes seen as a symbol of Sweden's stronger ties to continental Europe.
During the late 1990s, the Swedish Armed Forces
were severely downsized, with enlistment decreasing to 20% of all young men (from 90% at the height of the cold war), but remained present in UN peacekeeping forces, not least the Yugoslav wars
, where former prime minister Carl Bildt was envoy for the EU, and later the UN.
In the first half of 2001, Sweden held the rotating EU Presidency, and hosted a series of high-profile meetings and workshops, culminating in June with a summit in Gothenburg
visited by George W. Bush
and all the major EU heads of government - this was the first visit of a sitting US President in Sweden. This summit was an important step for the eastward expansion of the EU
three years later, but the event was challenged by protesting left-wing groups rioting and attacking police downtown. A referendum in 2003, after years of uneasy discussion, lead to a resounding no to the proposed adoption of the euro
. The perplexing effect on the leading political strata, many business people and the media, in all of which groups the support for the adoption of the euro had been overwhelming, of this vote was increased by the bitter fact that the campaign had been disrupted four days prematurely by the assassination of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh
, who, had she lived, would likely have succeeded Göran Persson within one or two years (as confirmed by the PM himself in later interviews and by her obvious standing within her party).
While the assassination of Anna Lindh was not connected to the campaigning on the Euro, or on EU issues in general, and while the trend toward a rejective vote was clear in polls weeks before the referendum, both the Gothenburg riots and the no to the euro show that many Swedes, and in particular many young Swedes, feel disenfranchised by the new EU-oriented and less self-assured country they are living in.
In the tsunami disaster
on Boxing Day 2004, thousands of Swedish tourists in Thailand and other parts of south-east Asia were affected - Sweden was the Western country
hardest struck by the catastrophe. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs was unmanned due to the holidays, and the lack of government action caused a political scandal which shook the confidence of Persson's cabinet, not least foreign minister Laila Freivalds
. She resigned after another scandal, where she had been informed in advance of a Swedish Security Service
shutdown of the Sweden Democrats' web site featuring the infamous Muhammad cartoons. Swedish press noted that this was the first case of Swedish government censorship due to foreign threat since World War II
. Sweden is one of few western countries where these cartoons have not been published in any mainstream mass media, but was still affected though the proximity to Denmark - Swedish-Danish dairy producer Arla
suffered from middle-eastern boycotts, and when Minister for International Development Cooperation Carin Jämtin
went to Sudan
to investigate the Darfur genocide, the governor of Darfur used the cartoons as a pretext not to receive her.
Sweden has diplomatic relations
with Guinea-Bissau
.
led by former leftist
leader Gudrun Schyman
, the euro-skeptical June List
(originating in the European Parliamentary elections of 2004) and the anti-copyright
Pirate Party
ran for the riksdag election of 2006 with attention from mass media, but little success. In this election, the conservative coalition "Allians för Sverige" ("Alliance for Sweden") gained a majority in the riksdag and presented Fredrik Reinfeldt
of the Moderates as their prime minister candidate. The success of the Sweden Democrats
, who gained seats in several municipal councils
, and got 2.9% of the Riksdag votes (though not meeting the 4% threshold), intimidated the established parties. During the first week, there was a series of scandals, where some of the cabinet ministers from the Moderate Party turned out to have dodged the television license fee, and paid maids under the table. Ministers Maria Borelius
and Cecilia Stegö Chilo
stepped down after only a few days in office. The cabinet was criticised for lack of gender equality
and diversity
because it contained only nine women (out of 22 ministers), but defenders of the cabinet pointed out that Sweden had gotten its first African-born minister (Nyamko Sabuni
) and the first openly homosexual minister (Andreas Carlgren
) ever. Foreign minister Carl Bildt
was questioned for his former directorship in Vostok Nafta, and his possible bias in the question of the planned Nord Stream pipeline between Russia and Germany on the floor of the Baltic sea, through Swedish territorial waters.
Reinfeldt's policy is focused at lowering unemployment, by lowering taxes, as well as allowances for sick and unemployed. Until the onset of the subprime crisis employment rose, though the opposition claims that the main cause has been the current global prosperity.
During the second half of 2009, Sweden held the rotating EU Precedency
, during which Reinfeldt represented the EU at several high profile summits with Barack Obama
and other world leaders, including the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference
in Copenhagen
. Reinfeldt also presided over the final negotiations surrounding implementation of The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, resulting in the appointment of Herman Van Rompuy
as President of the European Council
and Catherine Ashton as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
.
The boost in perceived statesmanship that Persson enjoyed hosting the EU Presidency in 2001 largely evaded Reinfeldt however, and in opinion polls ahead of the 2010 general election support for his government continuously trails that of the opposition, which in December 2008 joined forces to form a Red-Green coalition
to challenge the ruling liberal alliance. Starting in 2009, the Sweden Democrats consistently enjoy support of over 4% in the opinion polls, and along with the Pirate Party
, which got 7.1% in the 2009 EU Parliament election
, has the potential to become kingmaker
s and alter the political landscape at the 2010 general election
.
In December 2009 Cecilia Malmström
was nominated new EU Commissioner
, to succeed Margot Wallström
, who was appointed UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict
.
Following in her father's
footsteps marrying a commoner
, on 24 February 2009 the Royal Court of Sweden
officially announced the engagement of Crown Princess Victoria
to Daniel Westling
. The wedding
took place on 19 June 2010 in Stockholm. On 11 August 2009, her sister, Princess Madeleine
, announced her engagement to Jonas Bergström.
On December 11, 2010, the Swedish capital of Stockholm was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing himself and injuring two others. Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt
described the event as the "Most worrying attempt at terrorist attack in crowded part of central Stockholm. Failed — but could have been truly catastrophic." Although Swedish citizens of foreign background have committed suicide attacks abroad, this was the first time such an incident took place on Swedish ground. The incident is known as the 2010 Stockholm bombings
.
. Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt
(M)
and American President Bill Clinton
were the world's first heads of government to exchange e-mail
. Mobile telephony
spread fast during the same decade, thanks to fruitful cooperation between the manufacturer Ericsson
and government-owned network operator Televerket
(which is now part of TeliaSonera
). Sweden has converted to digital terrestrial television
and is expanding the 3G
network.
Since the 1990s, Sweden has been relatively tolerant to homosexuality
and in 2002 outlawed hate speech
against it. The first prosecution for this crime was in 2004-5 against Pentecostalist Åke Green
, a case which brought international attention. However, Åke Green was eventually acquitted. Same-sex marriage
was legalized in 2009.
Another criminal case that brought international attention was The Pirate Bay trial
in 2009, where four individuals was charged with promoting copyright infringement
with the popular torrent tracking website
The Pirate Bay
.
The perceived unfair prosecution of file sharers and general curtailment of freedom and privacy on the Internet gave rise to the Pirate Party
, which gained a lot of traction ahead of the 2009 EU Parliament elections
, also as a response
to the hotly contested IPRED and FRA Law
s, which require ISPs to record and authorizes the state to warrantlessly monitor telecommunication and Internet traffic.
introduced Expedition Robinson
, the origin of the Survivor
format, which launched the reality television
genre world wide. The show was one of the biggest and most controversial successes in Scandinavia: the final episode of season four was viewed by 4,045,000 people out of a total population of 8.8 million.
Several Swedish recording artists and bands gained international success
during the period, such as Ace of Base
, The Cardigans
, Dr. Alban
, Army of Lovers
, Stakka Bo, Rednex
and Robyn
. In 1993, Ace of Base
had the world's biggest-selling debut album with a 23 millon album sales for 'Happy Nation'. In addition, Swedish Songwriter/Producer Denniz Pop
and Max Martin
have written worldwide hits for pop artists like Britney Spears
, Backstreet Boys
and Celine Dion
. Heavy metal bands such as Dismember
, Entombed
and At the Gates
in the 1990s has had a huge influence on metal music worldwide, while bands such as In Flames
, Opeth
, Dark Tranquillity
and Amon Amarth
are well-known worldwide and help to spread the good image of Sweden to the rest of the world. In the last couple of years, many Swedish indie pop/rock acts have become widely known outside the country, for example Lykke Li
, The Knife
and Mando Diao
.
and Anja Pärson
), golf (Annika Sörenstam
), ice hockey (Mats Sundin
and Peter Forsberg
), and football
(Tomas Brolin
, Henrik Larsson
and Zlatan Ibrahimović
). Sweden has also emerged as a great power in track and field
with world champions as Carolina Klüft
, Kajsa Bergqvist
, Stefan Holm
, Christian Olsson
and Susanna Kallur
, and hosting of the World Championships in 1995
and the European Championships in 2006, both in Gothenburg
. The national swimming
team has boasted champions like Anders Holmertz
, Therese Alshammar
and Emma Igelström
. In 2006, the ice hockey team won gold at the Turin Olympics
and also at the World Championship
in Riga
, becoming the first hockey team ever to win at both the Winter Olympics and the World Championships in the same year.
Sweden is eighth in the all-time Olympic Games medal count (ninth for the Summer Olympic Games
and sixth for the Winter Olympic Games
). Although this success can be partly explained by competing countries' casualties in the World Wars, and boycotts during the Cold War, Sweden remains a great power in sports despite its small size.
In 2001, having successfully managed Roma, Fiorentina
, Benfica, Sampdoria
and Lazio
, Sven-Göran Eriksson
controversially became the first foreign manager of the English national team, managing the team for two World Cups and Euro 2004. He made it to spot 97 on the 100 Greatest Swedes
list published by the daily DN
in 2009. Elin Nordegren
married professional golfer
Tiger Woods
in 2004 and gained world wide attention during their public falling out in late 2009.
History of Sweden
Modern Sweden started out of the Kalmar Union formed in 1397 and by the unification of the country by King Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. In the 17th century Sweden expanded its territories to form the Swedish empire. Most of these conquered territories had to be given up during the 18th century...
from 1989 until present day.
After a period of rapid growth and unprecedented prosperity during the late 1980s, by 1990 the Swedish economy
Economy of Sweden
The economy of Sweden is a developed diverse economy, aided by timber, hydropower and iron ore. These constitute the resource base of an economy oriented toward foreign trade...
overheated, and after a controversial bill freezing salaries and banning strikes failed in parliament
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
, the social democrat
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
government led by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
Ingvar Carlsson
Ingvar Carlsson
Gösta Ingvar Carlsson is a Swedish politician, Prime Minister of Sweden and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party ....
resigned in February 1990. At this time the respected Finance Minister
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
Kjell-Olof Feldt
Kjell-Olof Feldt
Kjell-Olof Feldt is a Swedish Social Democratic politician, born 18 August 1931 in Holmsund, since 1974 a part of Umeå Municipality, Västerbottens län. Feldt was Minister of Trade 1970-1975, and assistant Minister of Finance 1975-1976...
left the government in protest over what he saw as irresponsible economic policies. Carlsson soon formed a new government, but by the time of the general election in September 1990 the economy was in free fall, and with rapidly rising unemployment, the social democrats received the smallest share of votes in sixty years (37.7 %), resulting in the loss of office to the opposition, a centre-right coalition.
Around the same time a convicted murderer and bank robber of German origin known as Lasermannen
John Ausonius
John Wolfgang Alexander Ausonius , known in the media as Lasermannen is a Swedish convicted murderer, bank robber, and attempted serial killer. From August 1991 to January 1992 he shot eleven people in the Stockholm and Uppsala area, most of whom were immigrants, killing one and seriously injuring...
("the Laser Man") shot eleven and killed one person in an attempted serial killing
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
, which scared other Swedish immigrants, whom he targeted.
The Bildt Era
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
party Ny demokrati made a successful surprise push for the Riksdag in the 1991 elections, enabling a new centre-right government to be formed. Under the leadership of Carl Bildt
Carl Bildt
, Honorary KCMG is a Swedish politician, diplomat and nobleman. Formerly Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, Bildt has served as Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs since 6 October 2006...
, the new government was determined to profile itself as anti-socialist and cosmopolitan, with the aim of initiating many reforms. Blaming some of the excesses of the Nordic model
Nordic model
The Nordic model refers to the economic and social models of the Nordic countries . This particular adaptation of the mixed market economy is characterised by "universalist" welfare states , which are aimed specifically at enhancing individual autonomy, ensuring the universal provision of basic human...
for the economic crisis, it wanted to initiate reforms and started dismantling of state-run monopolies, lowering of taxes, reshaping and internationalization of higher education, and laid the foundation for Sweden's subsequent entry into the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
However, the new government had inherited the most serious economic crisis seen in fifty years, which meant that instead of focusing on reforms, it had to spend almost its entire period in office (1991–1994) in crisis management mode. Consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
prices went up, house prices down and unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
rocketed. In late 1992, under the pressure of a flurry of financial speculation that shook
Black Wednesday
In politics and economics, Black Wednesday refers to the events of 16 September 1992 when the British Conservative government was forced to withdraw the pound sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism after they were unable to keep it above its agreed lower limit...
several European currencies
Exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency...
at this time, the Riksbank briefly raised its target rate to 500% in an effort to defend the fixed exchange rate of the Swedish krona
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
, but it had to be set free against other currencies, and immediately dropped about 15% against the US Dollar. During 1991 and 1992, the housing bubble that had built up during the 80s deflated, leaving many banks nearly insolvent, leading to the Swedish banking rescue
Swedish banking rescue
During 1991 and 1992, a housing bubble in Sweden deflated, resulting in a severe credit crunch and widespread bank insolvency. The causes were similar to those of the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007-2008...
, where the government had to guarantee all deposits in the nation's 114 banks and some nationalized at a cost of 64 billion SEK.
The drain on the state treasury from 1992 on was overwhelming and the current account deficit and national debt surged, and though agreements were soon reached with the Social democrats on measures to tackle the crisis, the hard conditions and deep economic recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
were to last throughout the nineties. Because of this, the Bildt Cabinet is by many regarded as largely a failure, not only because the recession meant it was unable to do the reforms it set out to do, disenfranchising its core voters, but also because it wasn't seen as handling the crisis effectively, while making some obvious mistakes (such as the costly defence of the krona), sending swing voters into the arms of the opposition.
While the lasting policy impact was limited, with notable exceptions such as the introduction of commercial TV/Radio and school vouchers, the most profound impact of the Bildt era was that most people came to associate a non-social democrat run country with recession and general misery (a picture also skilfully painted in the next three general elections by the social democrats), thereby effectively locking out the center-right parties from cabinet positions for the next twelve years. In recent years however, the Bildt government reputation has been restored to some degree, not least through the international praise given for the model way it in handled the bank bailouts
Swedish banking rescue
During 1991 and 1992, a housing bubble in Sweden deflated, resulting in a severe credit crunch and widespread bank insolvency. The causes were similar to those of the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007-2008...
.
The Persson Era
M/S Estonia
MS Estonia, previously MS Viking Sally , MS Silja Star , and MS Wasa King , was a cruise ferry built in 1979/80 at the German shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg. The ship sank in the Baltic Sea in one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century...
was lost in the Baltic Sea on September 28, killing 852 people, most Swedish, in one of the worst maritime disasters in modern history. One of the few positive events during the time was Sweden's surprise run at the FIFA World Cup 1994, which earned Team Sweden and a pressured people a bronze medal and some nights of party in the hot summer of 1994. Göran Persson
Göran Persson
Hans Göran Persson was the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Conceding defeat in the September 2006 general election, he announced that he would resign as party leader, and Mona Sahlin was elected to succeed him as...
was appointed finance minister and saddled with the difficult task of balancing the budget by aggressively cutting social programs and benefits, something most Swedes initially intensely resented, but an achievement for which he eventually came to be respected. After Carlsson's retirement in 1996, Persson replaced him, and remained in power until he lost the 2006 elections.
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
in 1995 after a consultative referendum the previous year
Referendums in Sweden
Since the introduction of parliamentarism in Sweden, six referendums have been held. The constitution of 1974 provides for binding referendums. However, none of the referendums held have been binding but rather have been of an advisory and consultative nature and not formally binding on the...
. The entry into the EU in some ways turned a page in Swedish history and could be seen as signifying the end of Swedish exceptionality
Swedish welfare
Social welfare in Sweden is made up of several organizations and systems dealing with welfare. It is mostly funded by taxes, and executed by the public sector on all levels of government as well as private organisations...
and neutrality
Neutrality (international relations)
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
. Twentieth century Sweden often took an insular view and kept Europe and what was going on "on the continent" at an arm's length. EU membership challenged this, but a majority of the electorate is still eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
, and it is unlikely that a referendum at any other time but in conjunction with a very severe recession would have yielded a positive result. The Oresund Bridge
Oresund Bridge
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined twin-track railway and dual carriageway bridge-tunnel across the Øresund strait.The bridge connects Sweden and Denmark, and it is the longest road and rail bridge in Europe. The Øresund Bridge also connects two major Metropolitan Areas: those of the...
between Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
and Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, opened in 2000, is sometimes seen as a symbol of Sweden's stronger ties to continental Europe.
During the late 1990s, the Swedish Armed Forces
Swedish Armed Forces
The Swedish Armed Forces is a Swedish Government Agency responsible for the operation of the armed forces of the Realm. The primary task of the agency is to train, organize and to deploy military forces, domestically and abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the Realm in the...
were severely downsized, with enlistment decreasing to 20% of all young men (from 90% at the height of the cold war), but remained present in UN peacekeeping forces, not least the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
, where former prime minister Carl Bildt was envoy for the EU, and later the UN.
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
visited by George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and all the major EU heads of government - this was the first visit of a sitting US President in Sweden. This summit was an important step for the eastward expansion of the EU
Enlargement of the European Union
The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
three years later, but the event was challenged by protesting left-wing groups rioting and attacking police downtown. A referendum in 2003, after years of uneasy discussion, lead to a resounding no to the proposed adoption of the euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
. The perplexing effect on the leading political strata, many business people and the media, in all of which groups the support for the adoption of the euro had been overwhelming, of this vote was increased by the bitter fact that the campaign had been disrupted four days prematurely by the assassination of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh
Anna Lindh
Ylva Anna Maria Lindh was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League 1984-1990, Member of Parliament 1982-1985 and 1998-2003...
, who, had she lived, would likely have succeeded Göran Persson within one or two years (as confirmed by the PM himself in later interviews and by her obvious standing within her party).
In the tsunami disaster
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
on Boxing Day 2004, thousands of Swedish tourists in Thailand and other parts of south-east Asia were affected - Sweden was the Western country
Countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
This article lists the countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting tsunami in alphabetical order – for detailed information about each country see their individual articles...
hardest struck by the catastrophe. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs was unmanned due to the holidays, and the lack of government action caused a political scandal which shook the confidence of Persson's cabinet, not least foreign minister Laila Freivalds
Laila Freivalds
Laila Ligita Freivalds is a Swedish Social Democratic politician and a former Swedish Minister for Justice, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister....
. She resigned after another scandal, where she had been informed in advance of a Swedish Security Service
Swedish Security Service
The Swedish Security Service , former name Rikspolisstyrelsens säkerhetsavdelning , is the security service of Sweden, belonging to the Swedish National Police Board....
shutdown of the Sweden Democrats' web site featuring the infamous Muhammad cartoons. Swedish press noted that this was the first case of Swedish government censorship due to foreign threat since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Sweden is one of few western countries where these cartoons have not been published in any mainstream mass media, but was still affected though the proximity to Denmark - Swedish-Danish dairy producer Arla
Arla
Arla can refer to*Arla Aabba *Arla *Arla Foods*Arla, Greece*Association of Residential Letting Agents *Arla Plast...
suffered from middle-eastern boycotts, and when Minister for International Development Cooperation Carin Jämtin
Carin Jämtin
Carin Jämtin is a Swedish Social Democratic politician and the party-Secretary of the Social Democratic Party since 26 March 2011. She was Minister for International Development Cooperation in the Swedish government between 2003 and 2006.-Early career:She has briefly studied at Stockholm...
went to Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
to investigate the Darfur genocide, the governor of Darfur used the cartoons as a pretext not to receive her.
Sweden has diplomatic relations
Guinea-Bissau–Sweden relations
Guinea-Bissau–Sweden relations is the bilateral foreign relations between the two countries Guinea-Bissau and Sweden. The ambassador of Sweden to Senegal is accredited to Guinea-Bissau. Sweden has an honourary consulate in Bissau...
with Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
.
The Reinfeldt Era
Several new political parties - among them Feminist InitiativeFeminist Initiative (Sweden)
Feminist Initiative is a feminist political party in Sweden. The party was formed in 2005 and announced on 9 September 2005 that it would put up candidates for the 2006 parliamentary elections in Sweden...
led by former leftist
Left Party (Sweden)
The Left Party is a socialist and feminist political party in Sweden, from 1967 to 1990 known as the Left Party – The Communists .On welfare issues, the party opposes privatizations...
leader Gudrun Schyman
Gudrun Schyman
Gudrun Schyman is a Swedish politician. She served as leader of the Swedish Left Party from 1993 until January 2003. She remained a member of the Left Party until 2004, when she left to focus entirely on her feminist political work...
, the euro-skeptical June List
June List
The June List is a Swedish, eurosceptic political party. Founded in 2004, it received 14% in the European Parliament election of the same year - gaining three seats. In the elections of 2009, however, it saw an 11% slump in support and lost all of its seats...
(originating in the European Parliamentary elections of 2004) and the anti-copyright
Anti-copyright
Anti-copyright refers to the complete or partial opposition to prevalent copyright laws. Copyright is known as the owner's right for copies to be only made by the owner or with his/her authorization in form of a license....
Pirate Party
Pirate Party
The Pirate Party is a political party in Sweden founded in 2006. Its sudden popularity has given rise to parties with the same name and similar goals in Europe and worldwide, forming the international Pirate Party movement....
ran for the riksdag election of 2006 with attention from mass media, but little success. In this election, the conservative coalition "Allians för Sverige" ("Alliance for Sweden") gained a majority in the riksdag and presented Fredrik Reinfeldt
Fredrik Reinfeldt
John Fredrik Reinfeldt is the Prime Minister of Sweden, leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party and former President of the European Council...
of the Moderates as their prime minister candidate. The success of the Sweden Democrats
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats is a political party in Sweden, founded in 1988. SD describes itself as a nationalist movement although others use the term far-right. Since 2005, its party chairman is Jimmie Åkesson, while Björn Söder is the party secretary and parliamentary group leader. An Anemone...
, who gained seats in several municipal councils
Municipalities of Sweden
The municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...
, and got 2.9% of the Riksdag votes (though not meeting the 4% threshold), intimidated the established parties. During the first week, there was a series of scandals, where some of the cabinet ministers from the Moderate Party turned out to have dodged the television license fee, and paid maids under the table. Ministers Maria Borelius
Maria Borelius
Maria Sigrid Astrid Borelius is a Swedish journalist, entrepreneur and former politician. Following the 2006 Swedish general election she was elected a Member of Parliament for the Moderate Party, and on 6 October 2006 she was presented as Minister for Foreign Trade in Fredrik Reinfeldt's new...
and Cecilia Stegö Chilo
Cecilia Stegö Chilò
Marie Cecilia Stegö Chilò was the Swedish Minister for Culture for ten days, from October 6, 2006 to October 16, 2006. Prior to her appointment as a cabinet member she was Chief executive officer of the Swedish Free Enterprise Foundation , and Director of Timbro, a neoliberal, free-market...
stepped down after only a few days in office. The cabinet was criticised for lack of gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
and diversity
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
because it contained only nine women (out of 22 ministers), but defenders of the cabinet pointed out that Sweden had gotten its first African-born minister (Nyamko Sabuni
Nyamko Sabuni
Nyamko Ana Sabuni is a politician, currently serving as Minister for Integration and Gender Equality in the Swedish government. She is a member of the Liberal People's Party...
) and the first openly homosexual minister (Andreas Carlgren
Andreas Carlgren
Hemming Andreas Carlgren is a Swedish Centre Party politician, and a former Minister for the Environment in the Swedish government.- Education and career :...
) ever. Foreign minister Carl Bildt
Carl Bildt
, Honorary KCMG is a Swedish politician, diplomat and nobleman. Formerly Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, Bildt has served as Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs since 6 October 2006...
was questioned for his former directorship in Vostok Nafta, and his possible bias in the question of the planned Nord Stream pipeline between Russia and Germany on the floor of the Baltic sea, through Swedish territorial waters.
Reinfeldt's policy is focused at lowering unemployment, by lowering taxes, as well as allowances for sick and unemployed. Until the onset of the subprime crisis employment rose, though the opposition claims that the main cause has been the current global prosperity.
During the second half of 2009, Sweden held the rotating EU Precedency
Presidency of the Council of the European Union
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the responsibility for the functioning of the Council of the European Union that rotates between the member states of the European Union every six months. The presidency is not a single president but rather the task is undertaken by a national...
, during which Reinfeldt represented the EU at several high profile summits with Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
and other world leaders, including the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference
2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit, was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 December and 18 December. The conference included the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. Reinfeldt also presided over the final negotiations surrounding implementation of The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, resulting in the appointment of Herman Van Rompuy
Herman Van Rompuy
Herman Achille Van Rompuy is the first long-term and full-time President of the European Council...
as President of the European Council
President of the European Council
The President of the European Council is a principal representative of the European Union on the world stage, and the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council...
and Catherine Ashton as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is the main co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy within the European Union...
.
The boost in perceived statesmanship that Persson enjoyed hosting the EU Presidency in 2001 largely evaded Reinfeldt however, and in opinion polls ahead of the 2010 general election support for his government continuously trails that of the opposition, which in December 2008 joined forces to form a Red-Green coalition
Red-Greens (Sweden)
The Red-Greens was the name of a co-operation of red-green political parties in Sweden, publicly launched on 7 December 2008, largely based on the Norwegian ruling Red-Green Coalition. It consisted of the three parties in the Riksdag , sitting in opposition to the Alliance coalition government...
to challenge the ruling liberal alliance. Starting in 2009, the Sweden Democrats consistently enjoy support of over 4% in the opinion polls, and along with the Pirate Party
Pirate Party
The Pirate Party is a political party in Sweden founded in 2006. Its sudden popularity has given rise to parties with the same name and similar goals in Europe and worldwide, forming the international Pirate Party movement....
, which got 7.1% in the 2009 EU Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
, has the potential to become kingmaker
Kingmaker
Kingmaker is a term originally applied to the activities of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick — "Warwick the Kingmaker" — during the Wars of the Roses in England. The term has come to be applied more generally to a person or group that has great influence in a royal or political succession,...
s and alter the political landscape at the 2010 general election
Swedish general election, 2010
A general election to the Riksdag, parliament of Sweden, was held on . The main contenders of the election were the governing centre-right coalition the Alliance and the oppositional centre-left Red-Greens coalition A general election to the Riksdag, parliament of Sweden, was held on . The main...
.
In December 2009 Cecilia Malmström
Cecilia Malmström
Anna Cecilia Malmström is a Swedish politician currently serving as European Commissioner for Home Affairs in the Barroso Commission...
was nominated new EU Commissioner
European Commissioner
A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Member within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission...
, to succeed Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström
Margot Elisabeth Wallström is a Swedish social democratic, currently holding the job as . Prior to this post, she served as European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy...
, who was appointed UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict
UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict
United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict is an international body within the United Nations system. Its stated purpose is to unite the work of 13 UN entities with the goal of ending sexual violence in conflict...
.
Following in her father's
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
footsteps marrying a commoner
Commoner
In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Therefore, any member of the Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince Harry of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title,...
, on 24 February 2009 the Royal Court of Sweden
Royal Court of Sweden
The Royal Court of Sweden is the official name for the organisation that supports the Monarch of Sweden, and the Royal House...
officially announced the engagement of Crown Princess Victoria
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland is the heiress-apparent to the Swedish throne. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Sweden's fourth queen regnant .-Early life:...
to Daniel Westling
Daniel Westling
Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland is the husband of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. Prior to his marriage to the heiress apparent, Daniel was a personal trainer and gym owner and ran a company called Balance Training with three gyms in central Stockholm.-Early life:Daniel was born in Örebro ...
. The wedding
Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling
The royal wedding between Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling took place on 2010 in Stockholm Cathedral. It has been described as "Europe's biggest royal wedding since the Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981." Westling's style and title after the marriage is now...
took place on 19 June 2010 in Stockholm. On 11 August 2009, her sister, Princess Madeleine
Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland
Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland is the youngest child and second daughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden...
, announced her engagement to Jonas Bergström.
On December 11, 2010, the Swedish capital of Stockholm was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing himself and injuring two others. Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt
Carl Bildt
, Honorary KCMG is a Swedish politician, diplomat and nobleman. Formerly Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, Bildt has served as Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs since 6 October 2006...
described the event as the "Most worrying attempt at terrorist attack in crowded part of central Stockholm. Failed — but could have been truly catastrophic." Although Swedish citizens of foreign background have committed suicide attacks abroad, this was the first time such an incident took place on Swedish ground. The incident is known as the 2010 Stockholm bombings
2010 Stockholm bombings
The 2010 Stockholm bombings occurred on 11 December 2010 when two bombs exploded in central Stockholm, Sweden, killing the bomber and injuring two people. Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt and the Swedish Security Service described the bombings as acts of terrorism.Taimour Abdulwahab...
.
Culture and mass media
During the 1990s Sweden became a leading power in information technologyInformation technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
. Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt
Carl Bildt
, Honorary KCMG is a Swedish politician, diplomat and nobleman. Formerly Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, Bildt has served as Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs since 6 October 2006...
(M)
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League by a group of conservatives in the Swedish parliament...
and American President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
were the world's first heads of government to exchange e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
. Mobile telephony
Mobile telephony
Mobile telephony is the provision of telephone services to phones which may move around freely rather than stay fixed in one location. Mobile phones connect to a terrestrial cellular network of base stations , whereas satellite phones connect to orbiting satellites...
spread fast during the same decade, thanks to fruitful cooperation between the manufacturer Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
and government-owned network operator Televerket
Televerket
Televerket is the name of two government telecommunications agencies:*Televerket , former name of Swedish company Telia, later merged to TeliaSonera.*Televerket, former name of Norwegian company Telenor...
(which is now part of TeliaSonera
TeliaSonera
TeliaSonera AB is the dominant telephone company and mobile network operator in Sweden and Finland. The company has operations in other countries in Northern, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Spain, with a total of 150 million mobile customers...
). Sweden has converted to digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
and is expanding the 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
network.
Since the 1990s, Sweden has been relatively tolerant to homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and in 2002 outlawed hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
against it. The first prosecution for this crime was in 2004-5 against Pentecostalist Åke Green
Åke Green
Åke Green , born 3 June 1941, is a Swedish Pentecostal Christian pastor who was prosecuted, but acquitted, under Sweden's law against hate speech because of critical opinions on homosexuality in his sermons. The district court found him guilty and sentenced him to one month in prison. The sentence...
, a case which brought international attention. However, Åke Green was eventually acquitted. Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
was legalized in 2009.
Another criminal case that brought international attention was The Pirate Bay trial
The Pirate Bay trial
The Pirate Bay trial is a joint criminal and civil prosecution in Sweden of four individuals charged for promoting the copyright infringement of others with the torrent tracking website The Pirate Bay...
in 2009, where four individuals was charged with promoting copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
with the popular torrent tracking website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay is a Swedish website which hosts magnet links and .torrent files, which allow users to share electronic files, including multimedia, computer games and software via BitTorrent...
.
The perceived unfair prosecution of file sharers and general curtailment of freedom and privacy on the Internet gave rise to the Pirate Party
Pirate Party
The Pirate Party is a political party in Sweden founded in 2006. Its sudden popularity has given rise to parties with the same name and similar goals in Europe and worldwide, forming the international Pirate Party movement....
, which gained a lot of traction ahead of the 2009 EU Parliament elections
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
, also as a response
Criticism of the FRA law
The FRA law, a controversial anti-terrorist legislative package in Sweden, has been heavily criticized both in Sweden and elsewhere.- Political parties :...
to the hotly contested IPRED and FRA Law
FRA law
The FRA law is a Swedish legislative package that authorizes the state to warrantlessly wiretap all telephone and Internet traffic that crosses Sweden's borders...
s, which require ISPs to record and authorizes the state to warrantlessly monitor telecommunication and Internet traffic.
Popular culture
In 1997 SVTSveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
introduced Expedition Robinson
Expedition Robinson
Sources-External links:* *...
, the origin of the Survivor
Survivor (TV series)
Survivor is a reality television game show format produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in the wilderness and compete for cash and other prizes. The show uses a system of progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to vote off other tribe...
format, which launched the reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
genre world wide. The show was one of the biggest and most controversial successes in Scandinavia: the final episode of season four was viewed by 4,045,000 people out of a total population of 8.8 million.
Several Swedish recording artists and bands gained international success
Swedish music abroad
Sweden is one of the largest exporters of pop and rock music in the world. Many Swedish artists have enjoyed success on the British and American charts and in other English speaking countries.-1970s: ABBA:...
during the period, such as Ace of Base
Ace of Base
Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren...
, The Cardigans
The Cardigans
The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in the town of Jönköping in October 1992.Their debut album Emmerdale gave them a solid base in their home country and enjoyed some success abroad, especially in Japan. It was not until their second album Life that an international reputation was secured...
, Dr. Alban
Dr. Alban
Alban Uzoma Nwapa , known by his stage name Dr. Alban, is a Nigerian, Sweden-based musician and producer with his own record label dr-records. His music can best be described as a Eurodance/hip-hop reggae with a dancehall style. He is most famous for his worldwide 1992 hit "It's My...
, Army of Lovers
Army Of Lovers
Army of Lovers are a Swedish dance music group formed in 1987.The name of the band alludes to a documentary Armee der Liebenden oder Revolte der Perversen about the German gay rights activist Rosa von Praunheim, the title of which in turn alludes to the Theban Band.-History:The founding members,...
, Stakka Bo, Rednex
Rednex
Rednex is a Swedish techno/folk/bluegrass band. They had an international novelty hit with the song "Cotton Eye Joe" in 1994. Although extremely popular in Germany, where the band holds the record of most total weeks at No.1 on the German singles chart over the past 30 years—scoring such hits as...
and Robyn
Robyn
Robin Miriam Carlsson , better known by her stage name Robyn, is a Swedish recording artist, singer, and songwriter. Robyn became known in the late nineties for her worldwide dance-pop hit "Do You Know " from her debut album Robyn Is Here . She co-wrote the song "Du gör mig hel igen" for...
. In 1993, Ace of Base
Ace of Base
Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren...
had the world's biggest-selling debut album with a 23 millon album sales for 'Happy Nation'. In addition, Swedish Songwriter/Producer Denniz Pop
Denniz Pop
Dag Krister Volle , better known under the artistic name Denniz Pop , was a Swedish DJ, music producer and songwriter....
and Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
have written worldwide hits for pop artists like Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
and Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
. Heavy metal bands such as Dismember
Dismember (band)
Dismember was a Swedish death metal band that formed in 1988. They are well known in the death metal underground. They split up in October 2011.-History:...
, Entombed
Entombed (band)
Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...
and At the Gates
At the Gates
At the Gates is an extreme metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden, and a major progenitor of the Gothenburg death-metal sound. Their early albums lean towards a death metal sound, but later albums sound more like melodic death metal.Initially active from 1990 to 1996, the band reformed in 2007 for a...
in the 1990s has had a huge influence on metal music worldwide, while bands such as In Flames
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...
, Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
, Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are one of the longest-standing bands from the original Gothenburg metal scene, and are one of the most integral pioneers of the melodic death metal genre of music....
and Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth is a Swedish viking metal band from Tumba, Sweden founded in 1992, and takes its name from the Sindarin translation of Mount Doom, a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. The band comprises vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström...
are well-known worldwide and help to spread the good image of Sweden to the rest of the world. In the last couple of years, many Swedish indie pop/rock acts have become widely known outside the country, for example Lykke Li
Lykke Li
Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson , better known by her stage name Lykke Li , is a Swedish singer-songwriter. Her music often blends elements of pop, indie rock and electronic; various instruments can also be found in her songs, including violins, synthesizers, tambourines, trumpets, saxophones and cellos...
, The Knife
The Knife
The Knife are a Swedish electronic music duo from Gothenburg, formed in 1999. The group consists of siblings Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer, who together also run their own record company, Rabid Records. They first received international attention after their song "Heartbeats", covered by...
and Mando Diao
Mando Diao
Mando Diao is an alternative rock band from Borlänge, Sweden. The band got their breakthrough with the release of the album Hurricane Bar. Their main fan base is in Sweden, Germany, and Japan although their influence has recently spread to Western Europe, most notably the UK.-Origin:The roots of...
.
Sports
Sweden has continued its success in sports such as alpine skiing (Pernilla WibergPernilla Wiberg
Pernilla Wiberg is a Swedish former alpine ski racer, who competed on the World Cup circuit between 1990 and 2002. On club level, she represented Norrköpings SK.-Career:...
and Anja Pärson
Anja Pärson
Anja Sofia Tess Pärson is a Swedish-Sámi alpine skier, the winner of seven World Championships gold medals and two Overall Alpine Skiing World Cup titles. She has won a total of 42 World cup races.-Biography:...
), golf (Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...
), ice hockey (Mats Sundin
Mats Sundin
Mats Johan Sundin is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player. Originally drafted first overall in 1989, Sundin played his first four seasons in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques. He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994, where he played the majority of his career, serving 11...
and Peter Forsberg
Peter Forsberg
Peter Mattias "Foppa" Forsberg is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player and currently an assistant general manager of Modo Sports. Known for his on-ice vision and physical play, Forsberg is considered one of the most complete players of his generation...
), and football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
(Tomas Brolin
Tomas Brolin
Per Tomas Brolin is a Swedish former professional football player who had a successful period with A.C. Parma during the early nineties winning the 1992 Coppa Italia, the 1993 Cup Winners' Cup, the 1993 UEFA Super Cup and the 1995 UEFA Cup.Brolin also played for the Swedish national team,...
, Henrik Larsson
Henrik Larsson
Henrik Edward Larsson MBE is a retired Swedish footballer and current manager of Landskrona BoIS.Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. He moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they qualified to Allsvenskan 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before...
and Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....
). Sweden has also emerged as a great power in track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
with world champions as Carolina Klüft
Carolina Klüft
Carolina Evelyn Klüft is a Swedish athlete competing in triple jump, long jump and formerly in heptathlon and pentathlon. She won the Olympic heptathlon title in 2004...
, Kajsa Bergqvist
Kajsa Bergqvist
Kajsa Margareta Bergqvist is a Swedish former high jumper. She won one bronze medal in the Olympic Games, one gold and two bronze medals in the World Championships in Athletics and one gold and one bronze in the European Championships. Her personal outdoor record of 2.06 m, set in Germany in 2003,...
, Stefan Holm
Stefan Holm
Stefan Christian Holm is a retired Swedish high jumper. He has won an Olympic gold medal, a silver in the World Championships, and one silver and one bronze medal in the European Championships...
, Christian Olsson
Christian Olsson
Christian Olsson is a Swedish athlete competing in high jump and triple jump. He has won an Olympic gold medal, three gold and one silver medal in the World Championships and two gold medals in the European Championships...
and Susanna Kallur
Susanna Kallur
Susanna Elisabeth Kallur is a Swedish athlete competing mainly in sprint hurdles. She has won several international medals, including the gold medal in the 100 m hurdles at the 2006 European Athletics Championships...
, and hosting of the World Championships in 1995
1995 World Championships in Athletics
The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden between August 5 and August 13.This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nations....
and the European Championships in 2006, both in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
. The national swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
team has boasted champions like Anders Holmertz
Anders Holmertz
Anders Holmertz is a Swedish retired swimmer who was a leader in freestyle races in the 1980s and at the beginning of 1990s, though often missing personal success. He also settled a record in the 400 m freestyle...
, Therese Alshammar
Therese Alshammar
Malin Therese Alshammar is a Swedish swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. Standing at 1.80 m, she is a specialist of short races in freestyle and butterfly...
and Emma Igelström
Emma Igelström
Emma Igelström is a former breaststroke swimmer and European record holder from Sweden. She competed in the 2000 Olympics She quit her career because of Bulimia nervosa.-Long course :...
. In 2006, the ice hockey team won gold at the Turin Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
and also at the World Championship
2006 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships
The 2006 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships was the 70th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams representing 45 countries participated in four levels of competition. The competition also served as qualifications for the 2007 competition...
in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, becoming the first hockey team ever to win at both the Winter Olympics and the World Championships in the same year.
Sweden is eighth in the all-time Olympic Games medal count (ninth for the Summer Olympic Games
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
and sixth for the Winter Olympic Games
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...
). Although this success can be partly explained by competing countries' casualties in the World Wars, and boycotts during the Cold War, Sweden remains a great power in sports despite its small size.
In 2001, having successfully managed Roma, Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A...
, Benfica, Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...
and Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
, Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
controversially became the first foreign manager of the English national team, managing the team for two World Cups and Euro 2004. He made it to spot 97 on the 100 Greatest Swedes
Historiens 100 viktigaste svenskar
Historiens 100 viktigaste svenskar is a book by Niklas Ekdal and Petter Karlsson, published in 2009. Before the book was released, the list was published by Dagens Nyheter between April 14 and May 6...
list published by the daily DN
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
in 2009. Elin Nordegren
Elin Nordegren
Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren is a former Swedish model and the ex-wife of professional golfer Tiger Woods.- Early life :Nordegren was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her mother, Barbro Holmberg, is a politician and the former Swedish migration and asylum policy minister, and the current Governor of...
married professional golfer
Professional golfer
In golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained. An amateur who breaches the rules of amateur status may lose his or her amateur status. A golfer who has lost his or her amateur status may not play in amateur competitions until amateur status has been reinstated;...
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
in 2004 and gained world wide attention during their public falling out in late 2009.