SVEZIA. - I. GEOGRAPHY
The largest (450,000 sq. km.) of the Scandinavian countries; the fourth, in area, among European countries (v. NORVEGIA).
It occupies the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula and consists of a mountainous region (along the border with Norway) that descends toward the Baltic through a series of undulating terraces, cut by long, symmetrical valleys that frequently open out into lakes, amid a monotonous landscape of forests; in the southern sector, it also includes a broad expanse of plain (Götaland), which gives way to the three largest lakes of the peninsula (Vänér, Vätter, and Mälar). The coast lacks the exceptional wealth of inlets that characterizes the Norwegian coast, and, above all, the beneficial warmth of ocean waters.
The climate is characterized by the long duration of the extreme seasons: winter becomes still longer toward the north (one seventh of Swedish territory lies beyond the Arctic Circle), where precipitation—which is generally moderate—also becomes heavier. Nevertheless, the country benefits to a not inconsiderable degree from the influence of the warm currents of the North Atlantic.
S. is above all a country of forests (which cover approximately half the territory, and whose products rank foremost among its exports), while agriculture, despite its high technical level, cannot, owing to the limited extent of arable land (8% of the territory, as against 28% unproductive land), meet national requirements (more than half of the cereals must be imported). Livestock breeding, which is continually flourishing, provides substantial profits (butter and cheese); another major resource is industry, which, although it can essentially rely only on domestic timber and iron (central S. and Lapland; the reserves of silver, copper, arsenic, and zinc are modest), has brought the country to a position of privilege through the high quality of production directed toward specialized and costly articles. Moreover, industrial activity has now established itself in almost every branch: the lack of fuel is largely made good by hydroelectric power, whose installations are among the most powerful in Europe.
The population, highly homogeneous from an ethnic (few Finns and very few Lapps) and religious (Protestant) standpoint, amounts to approximately 7 million inhabitants (15 per sq. km.). Its distribution is highly varied, with minimal densities in the northern regions and strong urban concentrations in central S. and Götaland. The capital, Stockholm (715,000 inhabitants), is by far the most populous inhabited center; of the others, only Göteborg (346,000) and Malmö (190,000) exceed 100,000 inhabitants.
S. is organized as a hereditary constitutional monarchy, with a bicameral representative government.
II. CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
The Roman historian Tacitus, after discussing the peoples of northern Germany, speaks of the Suiones, peoples highly skilled in the handling of weapons and experienced sailors. From the term Suiones derive swear and the present-day Sverige (S.). According to Tacitus, moreover, these Suiones constituted various civitates under a single leader. Ca.**(Ist. Exc. Catt.)