Glossary: 50 words you need for the Swedish citizenship test

Unemployment insurance fund: an insurance that pays money if you become unemployed, provided you have been a member and worked enough.

The right to be in nature, even on land someone else owns, as long as you do not disturb or destroy.

The one who employs and pays wages, for example a company, a municipality or a government agency.

Rule by the people: the people decide, usually by electing politicians in free elections.

Someone being treated worse than others because of, for example, sex, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation or age.

The body that decides whether someone has broken the law and settles disputes. The courts are independent of politicians.

The European Union: a cooperation between European countries on, among other things, trade, free movement and common laws.

An organisation for employees that negotiates pay and conditions with employers and helps its members.

The United Nations: an organisation where almost all the world's countries cooperate for peace, security and human rights.

The idea of Sweden as a home for the whole people, where society takes care of everyone. The word is linked to the growth of the welfare state.

A vote where everyone entitled to vote can say yes or no on a specific question.

One of the four laws that decide how Sweden is governed and what rights you have. Harder to change than ordinary laws.

When a country moves from farming to factories and industry, and many people move from the countryside to the towns.

That people with different backgrounds live close to each other, take part in society and feel included.

That women and men have the same rights, obligations and opportunities in society.

An agreement between a trade union and employers on pay and working conditions for all employees at a workplace or in a sector.

A local area with its own elected politicians, responsible for things like schools, elderly care and water.

Checking who is behind a piece of information, why it is being spread and whether it is true, before you believe it.

The state's division of the country into areas. Each county has a county administrative board that represents the state.

More than half, for example of the votes or of the seats in the Riksdag.

A seat in the Riksdag, a regional council or a municipal council. A party gets seats in proportion to how many votes it received.

Value added tax: a tax included in the price of almost everything you buy, which the seller passes on to the state.

A state organisation that carries out what the Riksdag and the government have decided, for example the Tax Agency or the Migration Agency.

Sweden's National Day is celebrated on 6 June and is a public holiday.

Five groups that have lived in Sweden for a long time and have special protection for their language and culture.

That a country does not take sides in a war and does not join military alliances.

That everyone has the right to read documents held by public authorities, such as letters and decisions, unless they are secret.

The parties in the Riksdag that are not in the government and do not support it.

That the government must have the support of the parliament, or at least be tolerated by it, in order to govern.

Radio and TV funded by everyone through tax, meant to be independent of politicians and companies and to serve the whole population.

The prime minister and the ministers. The government runs the country, proposes laws and makes sure the Riksdag's decisions are carried out.

An area larger than the municipality, with its own elected politicians, responsible for healthcare and public transport.

The right to choose your religion, change religion or have no religion at all, and to practise it alone or together with others.

Sweden's parliament. The Riksdag makes laws, decides the state budget and checks the government.

That the law applies equally to everyone, that no one is convicted without a fair trial, and that you can predict what is allowed.

The right to vote in an election.

Not religious. A secular state is neutral in religious matters and is not governed by any religion.

Money that everyone pays to the state, the region and the municipality, for example on wages and on purchases, to pay for welfare.

The state's insurance schemes that pay benefits when you cannot work, for example when you are ill, at home with children or old.

The country's highest representative. In Sweden the king is head of state, but he has no political power.

The head of the government. The prime minister chooses the ministers and leads the government's work.

Old enough to be prosecuted and convicted of a crime. In Sweden you become criminally responsible at 15.

The whole of society's defence: the military defence and the civil defence, which must keep healthcare, schools and food working in crisis and war.

The right to print and distribute texts, for example newspapers and books, without the state checking them in advance.

A people who have lived in an area since very long ago, before other peoples arrived.

The slip with the party's name that you put in the envelope when you vote.

What society provides to everyone living here and pays for with tax: schools, healthcare, elderly care and financial support when needed.

The right to say and write what you think, for example to criticise the government, without being punished for it.

A state lawyer who leads the criminal investigation, decides whether to prosecute and tries to prove in court that the suspect is guilty.

To ask a higher court or body to review a decision again, because you think it is wrong.