Introduction
by Eve Andersson and Philip Greenspun
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Introductionby Eve Andersson and Philip Greenspun |
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It's hard to believe that the peaceful people of Sweden
descended from the Vikings. Swedes have one of the highest standards
of living and life expectancies in the world. They have a 99%
literacy rate and I read somewhere that they buy the most books per
capita of any country in the world.
The country is the third-largest in western Europe, with an area of
173,732 square miles (449,964 square km), a little larger than
California and 3.5 times the size of New York State. But the population is
quite small: 8,857,000 residents (1995 est.), one quarter that of
California's. More than half of the land is covered
with forests.
The northern two thirds of the country (Norrland) is mountainous. The south (Svealand and Götaland) is flat and contains most of the population.
It's a lovely place to visit, even if you don't speak Swedish (most
Swedes are fluent in English). Come to see the beautiful cities, nature,
water, the midnight sun (in the northern parts), and, of course, the
smiling, friendly people.