Chapter 1 of 13 in Sverige i fokus

The country of Sweden: municipalities, regions, climate and nature

Quick answers

How many municipalities does Sweden have?

290 municipalities (kommuner). Sweden is also divided into 21 counties (län) and 25 provinces (landskap).

What are the three parts of Sweden?

Götaland in the south, Svealand in the middle and Norrland in the north. Norrland covers more than half of the country's area.

How long is Sweden?

About 1,600 kilometres from Treriksröset in the north to Smygehuk in the south.

How many people live in Sweden?

Almost 11 million people. About 85 per cent live in cities.

The citizenship test (medborgarskapsprovet) is written in Swedish, so learn the Swedish key words in brackets as you read. This page is also available in Swedish: Landet Sverige.

Chapter 1 of Sverige i fokus, the study material from UHR, covers Sweden’s geography, climate and nature. It also describes the country’s natural resources and how Sweden works against climate change. Here we go through the chapter in our own words, and at the end you find what the test usually asks about.

Where is Sweden and how big is the country?

Sweden is in the Nordic region (Norden), in northern Europe. The northernmost part lies north of the Arctic Circle (polcirkeln), in the Arctic area. The country is long and narrow (avlångt). From the northernmost point, Treriksröset, to the southernmost, Smygehuk, is about 1,600 kilometres.

The Nordic region has five countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Sweden is the largest of them.

Sweden has a long coast. The sea on the east side is the Baltic Sea (Östersjön). Sweden’s two largest islands, Gotland and Öland, are there. On the west side the seas are called Skagerrak and Kattegatt.

Why does Sweden have a mild climate?

Sweden lies far north, but the climate is milder than in many other places at the same latitude (breddgrad). The reason is the Gulf Stream (Golfströmmen) and the North Atlantic Current (Nordatlantiska strömmen). They carry warm water from the Gulf of Mexico across the Atlantic towards Europe. The sea water warms the air, and the winds then bring the milder, moister air over Sweden.

How did the ice age shape the landscape?

About 10,000 years ago an ice sheet several kilometres thick covered Sweden. The period is called the ice age (istiden). When the ice melted it left traces that are still visible today: many lakes, archipelagos with thousands of islands, and plains with soil that can be farmed. The ice also shaped the mountains.

The mountains (fjällen). The mountain range Skanderna runs along the border with Norway and is called fjällen. It is too cold and windy there for trees. The landscape is open, with rock, grass and low plants. Sweden’s highest mountain, Kebnekaise, is about 2,000 metres high.

Forest and lakes. More than half of Sweden’s area is forest. In the north, where it is colder, most trees are conifers (barrträd) such as spruce and pine. Further south, deciduous trees (lövträd) are more common. There are lakes all over the country. The three largest are Vänern, Vättern and Mälaren. There are also several hundred watercourses (vattendrag). The largest rivers (älvar) flow in northern Sweden, from the mountains down to the sea.

Archipelago (skärgård). An archipelago is a sea area with many islands close to land. There are archipelagos along the coast in the north, along the east coast down to Småland, and on the west coast outside Gothenburg and in Bohuslän. Sweden has about 250,000 islands, more than any other country in the world.

What are the parts of Sweden?

Sweden is divided into three parts (landsdelar): Götaland in the south, Svealand in the middle and Norrland in the north. Norrland is the largest and covers more than half of the country’s area.

The country is also divided into 25 provinces (landskap). In the past the provinces had their own laws. Today they have no role in how Sweden is governed. Still, many Swedes feel a connection to the province where they were born or live. Sverige i fokus does not list which provinces are in Norrland, so you do not need that for the test.

How many municipalities does Sweden have?

Sweden has 290 municipalities (kommuner) and 21 counties (län). The municipalities are the local level, where decisions about schools and elderly care, for example, are made. The counties are the state’s division of the country. Chapter 3 explains how the municipalities are governed. There you also learn that Sweden has 21 regions (regioner), which run health care.

This is how the numbers fit together: 3 parts of the country, 25 provinces, 21 counties and 290 municipalities. The test can ask about any of them, and the question will use the Swedish words: landsdelar, landskap, län and kommuner.

Where do people in Sweden live?

Almost 11 million people live in Sweden. They are not spread evenly. Most live in southern Sweden and along the coasts. About 85 per cent live in cities.

The three largest cities are Stockholm, Gothenburg (Göteborg) and Malmö. About four million people live in and around these three cities.

What natural resources does Sweden have?

Sweden is rich in several important natural resources (naturresurser): iron ore and other minerals, forest, farmland and water.

Iron ore and minerals. Ore (malm) is extracted in mines. The largest mines are in Norrbotten county, for example in Kiruna and Malmberget. Iron is used to make steel. Copper, zinc, lead and gold are also mined. Iron and steel have long been important for Sweden’s economy.

Water. Sweden has good access to water in lakes, watercourses and rivers. The water is used as drinking water, in farming and in industry. It is also a source of energy. Several rivers have hydropower plants (vattenkraftverk) that make electricity from running water. Hydropower produces a large share of Sweden’s electricity.

Farmland. Farming is harder in the north, where it is colder. That is why most farming is in southern Sweden.

Forest. Products from the forest are sold to many countries and have long been an important part of Sweden’s trade. Examples are pulp (pappersmassa, cellulosa), paper, cardboard and timber for the building industry.

What is Sweden doing about climate change?

The Earth’s climate has always changed, but today the warming is faster. Researchers and the UN climate panel show that the main cause is human emissions (utsläpp) of greenhouse gases (växthusgaser) from transport, industry and farming. When the Earth gets warmer, the ice at the poles melts and sea levels rise. Extreme weather such as heatwaves, heavy rain and drought becomes more common.

In Sweden this can mean more heavy rain with flooding, and more warm periods in summer with drought and forest fires.

Sweden has a climate act (klimatlagen) with climate policy goals. One goal is that emissions of greenhouse gases should be as close to zero as possible by 2045. Sweden should then not emit more greenhouse gases than nature can absorb. Sweden also works with other countries, for example on technology for wind, water and solar energy.

Sustainable development (hållbar utveckling) means using natural resources so that future generations can also live well. It covers the environment, society and the economy. States, companies and individuals can all contribute. In everyday life you can use public transport, save electricity and heating, sort your waste and recycle.

What the test usually asks about

• The number of municipalities (290), counties (21), provinces (25) and parts of the country (3).
• The three parts of the country and that Norrland is the largest.
• Why the climate is mild: the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current.
• Sweden’s length (about 1,600 km), highest mountain (Kebnekaise) and largest lakes (Vänern, Vättern, Mälaren).
• The seas around Sweden and the two largest islands, Gotland and Öland.
• The population: almost 11 million, 85 per cent in cities, the three largest cities.
• The natural resources: iron ore in Norrbotten, hydropower, forest, and farming in the south.
• The climate goal: close to zero emissions by 2045.

Practise chapter 1

Now test yourself with three open questions on chapter 1; the rest are in the course. We wrote the questions in the style of the test, with four answer options. They are not UHR’s questions. Read the explanation after each answer and the facts will stick better. When you are ready for all chapters at once, try the practice test.

Difficult words in this chapter

polcirkeln

the Arctic Circle, a line around the Earth far to the north; north of it the climate is arctic

breddgrad

latitude, how far north or south a place is on the Earth

avlångt

long and narrow

skärgård

archipelago, a sea area with many islands close to land

vattendrag

watercourses, running water such as streams and rivers

naturresurser

natural resources, things in nature that people use, such as forest, ore and water

växthusgaser

greenhouse gases, gases that make the Earth warmer, for example from cars and factories

hållbar utveckling

sustainable development, using nature so that people in the future can also live well

utsläpp

emissions, what is released into the air or water, for example exhaust fumes

The course

The full course, all 13 chapters

MonthYear

99SEK per month

or 499 SEK for a full year

• Lessons for every chapter of Sverige i fokus
• Practice questions with explanations and page references
• A mock test in the same form as the August test
• Difficult words explained in plain Swedish

Coming soon

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Sources

• Sverige i fokus, UHR (2026): pp. 5–9