SWEDEN

Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Nothern Europe. Sweden borders Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunel across the Oresund. At 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.7 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre, with the population mostly concentrated in the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population lives in urban areas. 

FOOD AND ECONOM:

Food in Daily Life: There is a wide array of culinary choices, including pizza, kebabs, falafel, hamburgers, and Chinese cuisine. Nonetheless, it is customary to identify certain items as particularly Swedish because of their association with the agricultural or early industrial past. The term husmanskost, or homely fare, refers to a basic diet of potatoes, meat or fish, and a hearty sauce. A less agrarian dinner alternative is the smörgåsbord. This buffet meal of cold and hot hors d'oeuvres often includes various forms of herring, meats, cheeses, and vegetables.

Breakfast typically includes bread with butter or cheese; muesli or cornflakes with filmjölk, a yogurtlike milk product; and coffee. Relatively light hot or cold lunches at midday customarily are followed by early-evening suppers. Common components of these two meals include bread, pasta, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, peas, herring, salmon, and meat. Immigration has enriched the range of restaurants, and restaurant patronage is rising.

Food customs at Ceremonial Occasions: The smörgåsbord is well adapted to festive meals such as Christmas, Easter, Midsummer, and wedding banquets. Meat and fish dishes have greater prominence at these times, as do schnapps and other alcoholic beverages. Certain holidays have trademark dishes: The feast of Saint Lucia (13 December) calls for saffron buns, Midsummer revelers eat pickled herring and new potatoes, and late summer is a time for crayfish parties ( kräftskivor ) and, in the north, gatherings for the ingestion of fermented herring(surströmming).

Land Tenure and Property: Less than a tenth of the land is devoted to agriculture, mostly in the form of family farms. Forested land is held largely by individuals and corporations; the state owns less than 5 percent. Access to nature is protected by allemansrätten, the right of common access to land. This law makes it permissible for anyone to walk and camp on almost all private property; landowners are not permitted to barricade their estates. Strict building codes safeguard the quality of publicly accessible spaces. Urban apartment units are often owned by national renters' associations rather than by private landlords, an arrangement that makes it possible for working-class people to obtain desirable addresses.   



SOME MONUMENTS:

Kalmar Castle

Kalmar Castle, located in Kalmar, in eastern Sweden, is a national monument perched on a small peninsula that juts out into the Kalmar Strait waterway. Originally constructed as a defense against pirates in the 12th century, the castle has played a significant role in Swedish history, earning its centuries-old nickname, “The Key to the Kingdom.”

Tanum

Tanum is not only a municipality in western Sweden but a national monument site of centuries-old rock carvings. The carvings, which resemble figure drawings, date back to the Bronze Age of Europe and depict the beliefs and activities of daily life during that era. Figures on the rock surfaces include ships, various animals and symbols of agriculture. One of the carvings is over 6 feet tall and is believed to represent Odin, the Norse god of war. The carvings cover flat rock surface that spans roughly seven square miles.

Lacko Castle

Lacko Castle, located in western Sweden in the town of Lidkoping, is a historical monument of Sweden that dates back to the 12th century. Located on the edge of picturesque Lake Vanern, Lacko Castle is a masterpiece of architectural grandeur that has housed many rulers and undergone many structural reformations and annexes. With more than 250 rooms, Lacko Castle is open to the public for guided or independent tours of its interior.

QUESTION:

1.- Do you like live in Sweden? Explain your own answer.

2.- What type of food do you like more? Why?

3.- If you go to Sweden, what do you like to do?