SWEDEN: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Of course, there are always the more popular images of Sweden that come up for most people: Swedish meatballs, Vikings, Swedish fish, IKEA-broken marriages, buxom blonde bombshells, and the Swedish chef. But there’s one thing that comes to my mind when I think of Sweden: Anthony Bourdain’s absolute loathing hatred for the band ABBA. Every single time he’s went to Sweden, he mentions this to the shocked chagrin of his Swedish hosts. Oh, and snow and cold.

Sweden is another country that was named by someone else: the Dutch in this case. However, the Old English and ultimately Latin, Old Norse and other similar languages referred to this area as being the land of the Swedes. The word Swede itself may have stemmed from a Proto-Germanic word meaning “one’s own,” referring to the Germanic tribe itself.

Sweden is located in northern Europe, part of the Scandinavian countries. Surrounded by Norway to the west, Finland to the east, and Denmark to the southwest, it also has a coastline along the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia. It’s across the water from Germany and Poland on the southern end and Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to the east. The border between Sweden and Norway is quite mountainous and the longest uninterrupted European border. Because Sweden is so long, its climate and landscape varies quite a bit from agricultural in the south and gets more forested the farther north you go. Despite its being such a northern country, southern winters are nothing like the far north; its proximity to the water keeps it fairly mild (similar to how Long Island, NY doesn’t get quite the cold temps as other areas of the state do). The northern 15% of the country is in the Arctic Circle, where there are days when the sun never sets in the summer and never rises in the winter.

The earliest people were hunter-gatherers, probably chasing some reindeer, probably doing a little fishing. The Swedes entered their Viking era from about the 8th century to the 11th century. Their accomplishments and tragedies are carved in runestones around Scandinavia. The epic poem Beowulf even chronicled the wars between Svealand (Sweden) and Göteland (Gothia). As Sweden moved into the Middle Ages, it somehow avoided the feudalism and slavery that embraced much of the rest of Europe. People here were more or less a group of free farmers with a handful of larger cities here and there. However, it was still poor and bartering seemed to be how things were dealt. During the 1300s, the country couldn’t escape the devastating effects of the Black Death. It would take nearly 500 years for the population numbers to recover from these losses that only took two years to unfold. The Hanseatic League formed after this, an agreement among many of the countries that touched the Baltic Sea that essentially swept the seas of piracy and encouraged trade among themselves, and Stockholm became a very popular place to be because of this. However, Sweden broke apart when things started to change and went out on their own, entering into their own golden era. Sweden grew during the 1600s and gained land and influence, including the introduction of Protestantism. They entered several wars, including Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and with Russia. The last war Sweden took part in was in 1814 with the Battle of Leipzig, which was in relation to the Napoleonic Wars. The mid-1800s saw the beginning of modernization and industrialization, and many Swedes were also looking at areas abroad. Many came to the US during this time, and many of those ended up in areas in the Midwest, especially Minnesota (the city of Lindström, MN is known as America’s Little Sweden). Officially, Sweden was neutral during WWI and WWII, but was often thought to have been under Germany’s influence. After the wars, Sweden tried to strengthen its diplomatic and economic ties with other countries in Europe. There have been some periods of economic instability, and in recent years, there has also been some real challenges on the socio-political front regarding immigration in recent years.

Stockholm is capital and largest city in not only Sweden, but in all of the Nordic countries. It’s located on the eastern side of the country where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. The central part of the city is stretched across 14 different islands that make up the Stockholm archipelago. There are actually tons of smaller islands that dot the waterways all over this region. It’s not only the center of government, but also of media, culture, education along with being the corporate headquarters for many multinational companies.

A Volvo at an IKEA in Sweden... thanks, Reddit!

Sweden has a high GDP and high standard of living. Its exports include hydropower, timber, arms (weaponry, not body parts -- don’t be creepy), iron ore, and they depend on foreign trade. They have strong industries in technology (especially mobile phone technology) and the automotive industry. Several Swedish companies are internationally known: IKEA, Volvo, Ericsson, Sony Ericsson Mobile (my Japanese host father worked for them for many years), Electrolux, and Securitas. Sweden also has a low income inequality and is one of the few members of the EU that does not use the euro, opting for their own krona currency instead.

Lutheranism was introduced at the end of the 1500s to replace the Norse paganism that most of the people followed. Other religions, like Roman Catholicism and Judaism, expanded into Sweden during the 1700s. However, the country loosened its religious constraints during the 1800s and allowed for other denominations and secularism. Because of immigration, there is a sizable Muslim population in Sweden. And according to a study in 2015, only 21% believe in a god (which is down 14% from seven years earlier).

Sweden’s official language is Swedish, but it was only given its official status in 2009. The language is closely related to Norwegian and Danish. Because of the large number of Finns in Sweden, the Finnish language has been recognized as a minority language along with Sami, Yiddish, Romani, and Meänkieli (a group of Finnish dialects spoken in northern Sweden). Arabic is also spoken by many people in minority communities. After WWII, English gained its standing as a global language and especially one to learn for the sciences and technology.

Swedish scientists have invented and developed quite a few scientific discoveries. Some of their works have completely changed the way we work in the world, and some are names we all recognize (at least if you haven’t been living under a rock). Some of the names and inventions that might sound familiar include Anders Celsius (created the 100-point temperature scale), Gustaf Erik Pasch (invented the safety match), Martin Wiberg (invented a bunch of things but is known for his work with computers in 1875), Alfred Nobel (invented dynamite and namesake of the Nobel Prizes), Jonas Offrell (invented the revolver around the same time Samuel Colt was doing the same thing), Helge Palmcrantz (invented a type of machine gun), Lars Magnus Ericsson (inventor and owner of telecom tech company), Carl Rickard Nyberg (invented the blowtorch), Inge Edler (helped develop ECG technology for the heart), Nils Bohlin (developed 3-point seat belt system), and a ton of other things used in the medical field and technology.

Up next: art and literature

ESTONIA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

There are a few countries that are tucked away in the mysterious corners of Europe, popping up after the massive creation of independent countries during the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Estonia is one of those countries that I only recognized as breaking away from Russia and that its capital Tallinn was mentioned in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series as a trafficking destination.  Despite those dismal attributes, I’m finding there are other far cooler things worth mentioning about this fascinating country. 

The name for the country in the Estonian language is Eesti, which is derived from the Ancient Roman word for the area Aesti.  Although other Scandinavian and Germanic names refer to the area as Eistland and Estland, later Latin versions of Estia and Hestia more likely lent its name to Estonia, as it’s called in English. Estonia lies in the northeastern corner of Europe, with Russia to the east, Latvia to the south, Finland directly to the north across the Gulf of Finland, and Sweden to the west farther across the Baltic Sea.  In fact, the distance between the capital Tallinn and the Finnish capital of Helsinki is merely a 51-mile ferry ride.  There is actually a proposal to build a tunnel for freight-only between the two cities (the shortest distance would be about 50 km/31.1 mi), which would make it the longest tunnel in the world (far longer than the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia that I traveled as a kid, which is 37 km/23 mi). 

The earliest peoples moved into the area after the last glacier melted, about 11,000 years ago.  The oldest settlement dated, the Pulli Settlement, is on the river Pärnu. Historians and anthropologists have noted the changes as the Aestii people moved through the Bronze and Iron Ages, utilizing tools and moving into a more agrarian society, often considering them the ancestors of Baltic peoples. Estonia also had its own Vikings, called the Oeselians, who mostly lived on the island of Saaremaa in the Baltic Sea.  This island is also known for being the site of a major meteor crash that formed the Kaali Crater. 

During the 12^th century, Denmark set its sights on Estonian lands and took it as its own.  They set up their capital in Reval (later known as Tallinn). Estonia, and more specifically the Livonian Confederation, was quite receptive to Martin Luther’s Reformation. The Livonian War of the mid-1500s, was drawn on religious lines among other things and ended up reducing their population by almost half. After the war, control of the country was handed over to Sweden, and the population boomed once again – until the plague hit, followed by the Great Famine three decades later. Roughly 20% of the population wouldn’t make it through those.

Russia later took control of the area, and after WWI and the Estonian War for Independence, they declared independence in 1918 from Russia.  However, Russia took it back during WWII, where it remained under their control until Germany invaded Russia and eventually reached Estonia. Then, to add to the tug-of-war occupation, Russia took it back several years later toward the end of the war where it remained occupied until 1991.

The capital city of Tallinn, is an important port city on the Baltic Sea.   Not only is it the capital but also the largest city in the country.  The old town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It’s also listed as one of the world’s most digital cities. Estonia on a whole can enjoy bragging rights for having one of the fastest Internet speeds in the world.  Tallinn, which used to be known as Reval, has very strong ties to the information technology industry, called by some as the Silicon Valley of Estonia.  In fact, much of the development for Skype and Kazaa was done in Estonia. Tourism is also an important industry in Estonia, famous for its castles, zoos, museums, cultural and historical arts centers, shopping, and sports venues. 

Estonia is considered a high-income country. It also has a low ratio of government debt to GDP as well.  Oil shale mining supplies roughly 90% of electricity for the country.  The country used to be dependent on agriculture, but in modern times, that has given way to food, construction, and electronics-based industries. The strongest trading partners tend to be other Scandinavian countries, as well as Russia, Germany, the UK, and the US. 

Most of the people here speak Estonian, a language closely related to Finnish, although there are strong borrowings from other Germanic languages. Many of the older Estonians may still also use Russian as a secondary language, left over from the previous Russian occupation.  The most commonly studied foreign languages in schools are English, Russian, German, and Finnish. 

Tere means Hello in Estonian.

Clearly, Lutheranism took a strong hold in Estonia from the early days just after Martin Luther hung his famous Ninety-Five Theses.  However, since then, other Christian denominations are also found in Estonia, as well as many followers of various earth-based religions, Islam, and Buddhism. Many Estonians also consider themselves to have no religion at all, or at least some kind of open preference for no one religion in particular. According to some polls, while many Estonians do technically list a religion when asked, many of those also feel somewhat blasé about the whole religion issue, causing Estonia to be listed as one of the least religious countries in the world.

Sounds like my kind of place: saxophones, coffee cups, silverware, martinis, WiFi, and more.

While small and somewhat unassuming, Estonians are doing some fairly progressive and cool things.  They were the first country to try online voting in national elections. They also have one of the largest catalogues of their own folk songs: coming in with over 133,000 written records. Another cool thing for residents of Tallinn is that they get to enjoy free public transportation. (I’m adding this to my list of reason why I should move to Tallinn.) Another thing that I like is that Estonia puts responsibility on pedestrians and bike riders alike in the requirement that if you are walking/riding at night, you have to wear reflective gear.  Makes sense.  All Estonian schools are hooked up to the Internet, and they also have super high literacy rates as well. (Adding this to the list as well…) I have my issues with the flat tax system, but they were the first country to enact this. It hasn’t worked in other countries that tried it after the economic crisis, but it seems to work in Estonia. Another thing that works for me about Estonia is their food. I’m already craving the recipes I picked out. So, without further ado, let’s go explore Estonia.

Up next: holidays and celebrations