Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0346/03462.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 22KB | 397 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03462}
$Pretitle{441}
$Title{Sweden
Geography of Sweden}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Swedish Institute}
$Affiliation{Swedish Embassy, Washington DC}
$Subject{sweden
swedish
areas
north
sweden's
southern
norrland
government
large
central}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Coast*0346201.scf
Mountains*0346202.scf
Forests and Lakes*0346203.scf
Rok Stone*0346204.scf
Table D.*0346201.tab
}
Country:     Sweden
Book:        Fact Sheets on Sweden
Author:      Swedish Institute
Affiliation: Swedish Embassy, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Geography of Sweden

[See Coast: Courtesy Swedish Embassy, Washington DC.]

[See Mountains: Courtesy Swedish Embassy, Washington DC.]

[See Forests and Lakes: Courtesy Swedish Embassy, Washington DC.]

     Sweden is one of the countries on earth located furthest from the
Equator. It extends from north to south at roughly the same latitude as Alaska
or-in the Southern Hemisphere-the stretch of ocean between Cape Horn in South
America and the Antarctic continent. In terms of area it is similar to Spain,
Iraq, Cameroon, Thailand or California. In population, it is in the same
league as Belgium, Ecuador, Syria or New Jersey.

[See Table D.: Distances and Population]

     A land of ancient bedrock, Sweden was settled later than most countries;
yet its national government has relatively old roots. By the 16th century
Sweden had evolved into a strongly centralized nation, with Stockholm as its
capital. The size of the country changed: Finland was part of Sweden until
1809. What is now southern and western Sweden was conquered in 1658 from the
then Danish-Norwegian union. During certain periods Sweden also had provinces
on the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, and even colonies in
North America and the West Indies. In 1905, a nearly century-old union with
Norway was dissolved, but since 1812 Sweden's borders have been unchanged and
the country has been spared from war.

     Today the Nordic countries (Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and
Finland), whose central portion is called Scandinavia, cooperate closely in
many fields. Sweden nevertheless pursues a foreign policy based on
non-participation in alliances, aimed at maintaining neutrality in war time.

Geology

     Sweden is situated in a geologically very stable portion of the great
Eurasian land mass. The southernmost part of the country (Skane, sometimes
called Scania) is a continuation of the fertile plains of Denmark and northern
Germany. Further north is a heavily wooded highland region (Smaland) with
soils that are less rich. The rest of southern Sweden consists of a fairly
level but fragmented landscape of primary rock with a varied terrain of
fields, hills, lakes and islands that is especially typical of the broad zone
between the cities of Stockholm and Goteborg (Gothenburg).

     North of this belt is a borderline area separating the more southerly
regions from the terrain of Norrland-the region comprising the northern
three-fifths of Sweden-with its rolling landscape of hills and mountains,
forests and large river valleys. Along this borderline are deposits of iron
and other ores, which gave rise to Sweden's oldest industrial region,
Bergslagen. Further north are the copper, lead and zinc ores of the
Vasterbotten region and the large iron ore deposits of Kiruna and
Gallivare-Malmberget. In these northerly areas as in much of Sweden, however,
granite and gneiss predominate. The western border between Sweden and Norway
mainly follows the Scandinavian mountain range. Its peaks, rising 1,000-2,000
meters (to nearly 7,000 feet) above sea level, were folded during the Silurian
and Devonian periods but were raised during the Tertiary period. Sweden's
largest rivers originate in these mountains.

     Also dating from more recent times (the Cambro-Silurian era) is the sand
and limestone bedrock found on Oland and Gotland-two large, mainly flat
islands in the Baltic-and in some other places in southern and central Sweden.

     During several periods, Scandinavia has been covered by inland ice. The
most recent Ice Age ended only about 10,000 years ago. The weight and
movement of the ice altered the landscape. The hard cliffs of primary rock
were polished into the rounded shapes characteristic of Sweden's
archipelagoes. Hollows were deepened into valleys and lakes. Gravel,
boulders, sand and clay created irregular moraine strata. Glacial rivers
polished and rounded the stones and bits of gravel which were deposited in
glacial estuaries and gravel ridges. These sandy ridges served for a long time
as transportation routes in the humid lowlands, and the ridges were later
important as sand pits. Finely ground material that sank slowly to the sea
bottom outside the ice cap now forms the fertile clays of the central Swedish
plains.

     Since the last Ice Age, the land in northern and central Sweden has been
rising, in some places by up to one meter (over three feet) per century.

Climate

     Sweden's climate is a function of the country's location in the border
zone between Arctic and warmer air masses as well as its proximity to the
Atlantic, with its warm Gulf Stream. Because of the tilt in the earth's axis
and its rotation around the sun, the polar regions experience an extreme
contrast between long summer days and equally long winter nights. In the
summer sunlight lasts around the clock in the portion of Sweden located north
of the Arctic Circle, but even as far south as Stockholm (59N) the June nights
have only a few hours of semi-darkness. The opposite-only a few hours  of
daylight-is true in December.

     Considering its geographic location Scandinavia enjoys a very favorable
climate. Atlantic low pressure areas often blow in warmth and precipitation
from the southwest. The weather is changeable, a few hours of rain are often
followed by sunlight and wind the next day and then new rainfall. Given this
type of weather, the temperature differences between night and day, summer and
winter, are not so great-especially in western Sweden. Another type of
weather, however, creates a more contrasting climate: high pressure zones to
the east, which create stable, dry, sunny weather. This high pressure leads to
hot spells in summer and cold ones in winter. The battle between the more
temperate Atlantic weather and the more extreme continental weather is an
important reality to farmers and vacationers. The difference between the
weather in southern and northern Sweden is slight in the summer, when Norrland
warms up because of its very long days.

     Fall and winter arrive early in the northern interior, while the southern
coastal areas enjoy long, mild fall weather. Norrland has colder and longer
winters than southernmost Sweden, where there is often rain interspersed with
snowfall. In terms of average daily temperatures, spring arrives in Skane
during February and not until late May in northernmost Norrland, but the
further north one travels, the more quickly the bursting buds and opening
leaves of spring give way to full-blown summer.

Natural scenery, flora and fauna

     Much of the Swedish landscape is dominated by coniferous forests, in
southern Sweden often blended with such deciduous trees as birch and aspen.
Deciduous forests (beech, oak) used to grow along the southern and
southwestern coast but have been replaced by farms, and in recent years also
by planted coniferous forest. But these and other hardwoods such as linden,
ash, maple and elm trees are found throughout southern Sweden up to the border
of Norrland. Other vegetation follows largely the same geography. Because of
their lime-rich bedrock and favorable local climate, Gotland, Oland and parts
of the Scandinavian mountain range have an interesting flora that includes
numerous varieties of orchids.

     Sweden's fauna has been determined by the climate and history of the
period since the last Ice Age and by human settlement. While the wolf has been
almost completely eradicated, bears and lynx still inhabit the northern
forests. Through