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

DENMARK: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

It’s the land that brought us both Vikings and Legos. My mom and I have discussed this at length and decided this conversation had to have taken place (in fact, this is the actual transcript): “[Viking spokesman:] I know most people think the Vikings are somewhat defunct – what little they know, right? – but I have this idea. Why rape and pillage anymore? That was so 10^th century.  We’ll change our tactics: we’ll attack from inside homes. We’ve created this incredibly heinous weapon called the Lego. It looks just like a child’s toy – parents will be scrambling to buy as many of these possible, making us a lot of money. Kids will drop these all over the floor in their slobovian ways, and the adults will step on them and practically die in minutes. Kids are immune to the diabolical powers Legos hold. It’s practically perfect in our Danish mastery of taking over the world, one brick at a time.” Ok, maybe it might not be EXACTLY that way, but it sure seemed plausible to me.

Denmark lies on a peninsula just north of Germany in the North Sea and includes 407 islands (of which only 70 are inhabitable). Denmark also lays claim to the island of Greenland (off the coast of Canada) and the Faroe Islands, which are located between Scotland and Iceland.  Although it’s not exactly clear, the word Denmark is thought to be derived from the word “Dani” which refers to a group of people who were indigenous to the area, and the word “mark” which may refer to woodland or a border land. Denmark is also one of the handful of countries that border only one country.  Technically, it shares a land border with just Germany, but it is also connected by Sweden by bridge. 

As far as its early history goes, the people are ethnically related to the Germanic peoples from the south and Scandinavians to the north, and were invaded (and ethnically cleansed) by the Anglo-Saxons. Between the 8^th and 10^th centuries, some Danes (as well as some Swedes and Norwegians) were known as Vikings, who were ruthless, invading, pillaging, and generally taking over wherever they wanted.  They’re often depicted wearing helmets with horns coming from the sides in large boats with highly ornamented figurehead on the bow. (Just watch "How to Train Your Dragon.") Although they weren’t Danish, two of the most famous Vikings were Eric the Red and his son Leif Ericksson.  The Vikings were great explorers, credited with discovering Iceland and the eastern shores of Canada (especially Newfoundland). One of the early kings of Denmark and Norway is Harald Bluetooth. In fact, the Bluetooth icon is actually an overlay of the Nordic runes for the letters H and B (his initials).  Too bad I can never get a bluetooth connection to actually connect. It’s more like blurtooth.  It’s rumored that it was Harald Bluetooth who officially wrote the name “Denmark” on jelling stones, which are giant stones near the city of Jelling that have rune writing on them.  In following the footsteps of the Dutch East India Company, the Danes laid its own claims to regions in India as well (specifically the region of Tranquebar) and the islands known as the US Virgin Islands, known then as the Danish West Indies.  During WWII, Denmark signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, which they invaded Denmark anyway.  Nowadays, Denmark generally does peacekeeping missions in various countries. 

The capital city is Copenhagen, a city of about 1.9 million (about my size of city).  The name Copenhagen means “chapman’s haven” or “merchant’s harbour.”  It’s located mostly on the eastern shore of the island of Zealand and partly on the island of Amager. It’s also right across the sound from the Swedish cities of Malmö and Landskrona.  I’ve always imagined that it was super cold there, but because the island is situated where it is, it doesn’t normally get below 10º F in the winter and average temps in the summer are between 60-70ºF. I’d say this is one more reason why I should move here. It’s a world-class city with museums, universities, nightlife, sports teams, and of course, beer. Copenhagen is also home to one of the world’s best restaurants, Noma, ranked number one for three years in a row by Restaurant magazine. 

Denmark enjoys a fairly strong economy.  They have the lowest level of income inequality in the world and the highest minimum wage in the world as well (I read it’s roughly around $19/hr). And they’re really into green/clean energy and energy efficiency.  Denmark has utilized wind energy for a long time and is working on integrating this wind energy with the national grid. Right now, they’re also working on creating and integrating the electric plug-in car technology.  They also huge on being a “cycling society” – getting rid of so many cars on the roads daily and modifying their infrastructure to create bike lanes. 

The vast majority of the people speak Danish, which is related to Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, and German.  Because the people of the Faroe Islands also speak Faroese and the people of Greenland also speak Greenlandic, these are also official languages as well.  There are quite a few German speakers near the German border, which makes German one of the more popular foreign languages to learn, along with English.

The vast majority – almost 80% of the population – are Lutheran.  Of course, Lutheranism is the established religion of Denmark.  There is a very small Muslim population, and recently there is a “new” religion called Forn Sithr which is basically centered around pre-Christian Norse paganism. 

In some ways, Denmark has long been a progressive country and is a country of many firsts and number-ones.  It was the first country to legalize pornography in 1969 as well as establish gender-neutral marriages twenty years later.  They also excel in the sciences, giving the world the famous physicist Neils Bohr and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.  Adopted in 1219, the Danish flag is the oldest flag in the world that is still used by an independent country.  There have been several studies which rank Denmark as one of the happiest countries in the world. The Danish royal family can trace its uninterrupted line all the way back to 934AD – the oldest royal family line in Europe.  The architect for the famous Sydney Opera House in Australia was designed by a Danish guy (Jørn Utzen), which was recognized as a World Heritage Site, and he was only the second recipient who was still living at the time of the induction. The longest suspension bridge in Europe (called the Great Belt Fixed Link) links the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen, making it also the third-longest in the world.  And Denmark has the oldest and second-oldest amusement parks in the world -- the Dyrehavsbakken opened in 1583 and Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843.  I’m very excited to cook food from Denmark, listen to my Spotify playlists for Denmark, and discover other really cool things about this country.  In fact, I’m going to go make my sourdough starter for my rugbrød right now.

Up next: holidays and celebrations