Sweden

Where the name comes from

Sweden comes from Old English Sweoþēod, “Swede people”; Swedish Sverige means “Swedish realm”, and the people’s name may mean “one’s own kin”.

First people

People settled here after the Ice Age, and Norse-speaking communities traded and voyaged across the Baltic and beyond in the Viking Age, roughly 750–1100.¹

Known for

Sweden is known for its right of public access, which lets people walk and camp briefly across much of the countryside, and for brands such as IKEA and the Nobel Prizes.^2,3

Outside rule

Sweden was never colonized; instead, it ruled Finland for centuries and built a Baltic empire in the 1600s.⁴

The modern country

The medieval Swedish kingdom grew gradually rather than from one original Viking tribe, and Gustav Vasa made it a hereditary monarchy after 1523.⁵