Did you know? Sweden is the only country in the world where donations stand for more than 1% of the GDP.
Mind-Blowing, isn’t it? With over 10.24 million people, Sweden is not only one of the best countries to travel or live in, but it is also a country filled with interesting facts that you should know.
Awesome Facts about Sweden
1. Over 57% of Sweden is covered by forests, an area equivalent to the United Kingdom.
2. It may be hard to believe, but Swedish wasn’t made the official language of Sweden until 2009.
3. In 1974, Kim Il-sung took 1,000 Volvo sedans from Sweden to North Korea and never paid the swedes.
4. The generous Sweden is the only country in the world where donations stand for more than 1% of the GDP.
5. Except for the Peace Prize, all the Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, on 10 December.
As of now, Sweden obtained 33 Nobel prizes. And has the highest per capita ratio for any country with over 1 million inhabitants.
Interesting Facts about Sweden
6. Since, 2011, the official Twitter account of @Sweden is given to a random swede every week to manage. Sadly, this was scrapped in 2018.
7. University/college is free in Sweden. To help cover living expenses, all students have the right to a student grant and an affordable loan.
8. In Sweden, parents have the privilege of 480 days of paid parental leave when a child is born or adopted.
9. Roughly 20% of the country’s police stations close during the summer since everyone is on vacation.
10. Anyone in the world can now call a completely random Swede as part of a new initiative.
Sweden provides a phone number that enables people from all over the world to speak with “a random Swede” about anything.
Of the incoming calls, 37 percent have come from Turkey, followed by the US at 30 percent and the UK at seven percent.
Shocking Facts about Sweden
11. Sweden had a eugenics program from 1936-1976. During this time, the government sterilized 63,000 women deemed socially unfit.
The Swedish government took action in 1999 to make amends for the 6,000–15,000 of them who had forced sterilizations.
12. The word for ‘yes’ in most of Sweden is ‘ja’. But in the north of the country, a unique sound is used instead, which is soo weird and awesome at the same time.
13. The Swedes are too good at recycling that there’s no more garbage to burn. So, Sweden imports garbage and burns them to earn a few bucks.
14. Children of all ages have the right to choose which school they want to go to. And many high schools give laptops to students.
15. In Sweden, they have the Freedom to roam (Allemansrätten). Under this, Everyone has the right to exercise, pick berries, camp, and hike on both public and private land.
Cool Facts about Sweden
16. Of all the countries in the world, the Swedish capital has got one of the coolest public transport systems.
It is said that walking into Stockholm metro station feels like entering the “world’s longest art exhibition”. It is over 110 kilometers (68 miles) long.
About 90 of the 100 stations were decorated by over 150 artists in different themes and forms.
17. Donald is so famous that in 2006 the country had to change the law to forbid voting for non-existent candidates as protest voters would typically write in ‘Donald Duck’!
18. Sweden has been at peace for the past 202 years (since 1815).
19. Swedes enjoy Five weeks of paid vacation per year.
20. In the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi, there is the renowned Ice Hotel. The hotel is crafted each year from two-tonne blocks of ice from the nearby Torne River. And Despite being made entirely of frozen water, the gigantic igloo is still required to have fire alarms fitted!
That’s it for this post guys, I hope you had fun while reading 20 Awesome facts about the Sweden.
And in case you’re interested in reading other articles:
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