Travel to Sweden (Europe)

Sweden, officially, the Kingdom of Sweden is situated on the southeast of the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe, with nine million people living in an area of 449,964 km2. However, 90% of the population mainly lives in the south and the central area. Among its nine million people, 81.9% are Swedes and 5.1% are Finns.

Sweden has bordered with a lot of countries via land and water. In terms of the land border, to its west, it is Norway, and to the northeast, it is Finland. With regards to water border, it has Denmark, Germany and Poland to the south and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia to the east. A bridge channel was also built between Sweden and Denmark.

The official language of the country is Swedish and most people speak English as their second language, however, it will be helpful to know some basic ones like ‘Say hej for hello, and tack for thank you'. It was the Swedish Empire in 17th century, but until now there is not a war in Sweden for almost two century, from which we can see that this is country which loves peace very much.

Nowadays, Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is h King Carl XVI Gustaf while the Prime Minister is responsible for the day-to-day business. With the stable in politics, Sweden's economy continues to grow. According to latest news, from April to June, Swedish economy grew 3.7% compared to same period last year. The World Economic Forum 2009-2010 competitiveness index ranks Sweden the 4th most competitive economy in the world.

So, what drives the economy of Sweden forward? The answer may result from its worldwide brands such as Ericsson, Volvo, ABB, H&M, IKEA and so forth.

Volvo

The automobile brand Volvo has almost become the substitute word of ‘safety' in people's mind. The luxury and secure feeling it offers to the customers has contributed it huge success. However, this car brand recently has been sold to a company in China by Ford.

IKEA

Want to add some furniture in your house? Go to IKEA. Due to its low price strategy, it has been now the world's largest furniture retailer. People sometimes will mistake IKEA as an American brand, but actually, IKEA was founded by the 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden in 1943. The advertising campaign by IKEA is quite innovative and pioneer compared with its competitors. It launched the first commercial advertisement to target lesbians and tried to reach gay customers by featuring a transgender woman.

H&M

Sweden is not just a country famous for quality, it is also fashionable enough. The success of its clothes brand H&M can be seen from the fact that nearly more than 80% of people in European countries have at least one piece of H&M.

Airports

Sweden has 42 airports. The major ones are: Stockholm-Arlanda International Airport (the largest in Scandinavia.), Gothenburg International Airport, Malmö-Sturup International Airport, Stockholm-Skavsta Airport, Stockholm-Bromma Airport, Luleå Airport and Umeå Airport. Hiring a car will make the most of your journey in Sweden. Care rental companies like Avis, National, Sixt, Thrifty, Hertz Europe car, Budget and Auto Europe Car rental will take care of your needs.

Till some time back, tourists coming to Sweden were only from neighboring countries and also from some countries of Europe. It is only some time ago that Sweden has started paying attention towards its tourism sector and developed into a global hotspot for tourism. Even after the tourism sector opening up, the major part of tourists coming to Sweden were restricted to evident destinations like Stockholm. But now people are moving more towards hidden destinations of Sweden such as the city of Gothenburg. The city of Gothenburg is full of cultural delights and natural attractions for the tourists.

This city of Gothenburg is situated in the county of Vastergotland on the western coast of Sweden. It has the privilege to be the second biggest city in entire Sweden. It also has the privilege to have Sweden’s biggest University City with more than .6 million students living here. Because of such a big population of students from all over the world, this city consists of rich and varied culture.

The building heritages in this city are as spectacular as dreams can get which consists some building from seventeenth century. Some buildings were built in eighteenth century at the time of rule of East India Company. This East India Company made Gothenburg the major trade hub in entire Europe. Arts from nineteenth century contain centers like main streets of Kungsportavenyn and many others. This legacy of building surprises is still continued by Gert Wingardh and still holds its significant influence on the city’s architecture.

This city is also recognized as the leaders in European music. This is said so because Gothenburg is the home of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra [worldwide masters in Swedish classical music]. Gothenburg also holds an annual Gothenburg International Film Festival. It is the biggest film festival to be organized in Scandinavian countries. There are countless theatres in this city of Gothenburg which consists very famous Gothenburg City Theatre, the Backa [youth] theatre and folkteatern.

Above all the above mentioned attractions of Gothenburg, the attraction to provide tasty food to curb appetite is the best known all around the world. This city is very famous for producing world class chefs that are specialist in Swedish food and dishes. Its closeness to the coast of North Sea means it has abundant supply of high quality fish which are used for preparing huge variety of fish related products. Michelin starred restaurants of Gothenburg are famous worldwide. It is said regarding Gothenburg that the Sweden’s best raw fishes are found here in a place called Feskekorka which means ‘fish church’ in English. 

It is an indoor market which specializes in selling of fishes and only fishes. Other than fishes, Gothenburg city is the city with highest number of cafes and coffee shops in Sweden. This business is flourishing so much in Gothenburg because major part of Gothenburg’s population is made up of students. Everybody knows that studies and coffees make up a ‘good, not good but excellent’ combination.

Gothenburg city holds its characteristic of being close to the nature. Probably, this is the reason why people coming to Sweden are inclined more towards it and its nature rather than going to other high flying cities in Sweden.

Interested to know how you can earn your degree in any Sweden colleges? Colleges in Sweden are among the best colleges all over the world. Getting to study in one will prove to be a great challenge to you. Familiarize yourself with the system of education in Sweden. You can do this easily as information online proliferate.

Learn about the different degree programs that the Sweden colleges offer. See which of these programs from tuition free colleges suits you. Evaluate yourself, list down your interest. Double check them with the degree programs to find out which one is for you. Colleges in Sweden are known for being student centered. This is to facilitate more learning in preparation for the real world. They cater to their students need, which in turn motivates the student to yearn for more learning.

It is for the same reason that there are a number of foreign students in Sweden Colleges. In fact, this is one top destination for students who want to study abroad. Studying in any college in Sweden need not be that expensive. There are numerous tuition free colleges that offer great quality education in Sweden. With the great support that Sweden gives to the education sector, it is no wonder that they are able to offer courses that are tuition free.

Earn your degree today from one of the best colleges around. Find out how going online now and discover which of the Sweden colleges is for you. Looking for more resources on Sweden Colleges?

What is the 4th largest real estate market in Europe? It is also the place where the Saab and Ikea are located? Sweden is the 4th largest property mass in Europe.  The total population is about 9 million. Britain, by comparison is home to about fifty nine million people who live in an area half the size of the Sweden. Sweden is generally considered as being cold and expensive. It is also true that the standard of living is Sweden is more than the Britain; however property prices are comparatively lower, and in fact during summer it is hotter than the United Kingdom, and not almost as wet during winter.

If you are planning to purchase a property or apartments, holiday house, houses, cottage or villa to buy or rent in Sweden, then it is always better to consult a real estate agent or letting agent who could provide you a lot of information about buying houses, selling houses, housing for rent or buy, rent housing, rent housing, rent an apartment, apartment for rent and various other details. However it is also necessary to consult or take the help of a financial advisor so that you would come know about the various mortgage options available in the market.

Sweden is a member of the EU, even though such as Britain it has not adopted the euro as its currency, the GDP of Sweden per capita is approximately fifteen percent above the EU25 average, making one of the ten richest nations in Europe. The cost of living is high by United Kingdom standards, however property rates are extremely low with country villas from 69,000 pounds (100,000 euros) and cottages priced from 27,500 pounds (40,000 euros)

One the west coast of Sweden, the Gothenburg is the major industrial and port center.  It is has a lively business and entertainment area and home to world-class opera house and rental houses. On the south coast of Sweden, the Malmo maybe has the greatest economic potential of all the cities of Sweden, following the completion of the sixteen kilometer long tunnel and bridge connecting it to Copenhagen, Denmark, where the workers are choosing to work in the Copenhagen, and stay in Malmo where property rates are cheaper. The difference between property rates in Sweden and its surrounded countries is because of the Swedes - usually preferring to rent instead of purchasing property since supply and demand for tenanted profession is one of the best anywhere in the world.

It is the best place to make your investments. You could consult any of the real estate agent or company, if you would like to rent out or sell your property or would like to buy sell rent properties in Sweden. Always take help from an experienced real estate agent who provides high quality services at reasonable rates. You could even consult any of the real estate firm as well, since they will be having good knowledge about the present market condition.

With a modern and highly industrialized economy, enjoying a developed distribution system as well as excellent internal and external communications, Sweden economy is one of the most prosperous in the world. Based on the income and region, in 2005, the World Bank has made a classification, according to which the country has a total surface area of 390.8 thousand square kilometers, with a total forest area of 191.1 thousand square kilometers.

The natural resources include timber, hydropower, and iron ore, which all constitute the foundations of a solid economy focused on foreign trade. Among major industries, Sweden takes pride in its motor vehicles, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and forestry. Dominating peace as well as neutrality for the most part of the 20th century, have only helped Sweden in its goal to achieve excellent standard of living, despite its system of high-tech capitalism.

However, Sweden is quite famous due to its high taxes and large public sector, as it has the second highest total tax revenue, after Denmark, as a share of the country's income. Starting with 2007, the Sweden total tax revenue was 47.8% of GDP, decreasing from 49.1%, only one year before.

The Industrial as well as the agricultural sectors both play a significant role in the high economic level and performance of the country, both contributing a lot to the country's Gross Domestic Product. The major industries in the country are iron, steel, wood pulp, paper products, and motor vehicles. The important agricultural products in the country are wheat, barley, sugar and milk.

Sweden exports cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys and clothing, mainly to US, Germany, Denmark, UK and Netherlands and imports commodities in the country, such as clothing, iron, steel, as well as chemicals, from countries such as UK, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and Finland. Over the past years Sweden has experienced a trade as well as account surplus, the current surplus as registered in 2005 is estimated at $23 billions.

Recently Sweden has had very good results in the economic scenario, and more than that both at a domestic level, as well as at an international level, the country also enjoys a progressively better stability. The country’s economy has also been targeted towards a better and more attentive control of the fear, installed nationwide by the rising price level.