Sweden Country

Sweden Human Geography

Europe

According to 800zipcodes, the population of Sweden (as of the whole Scandinavian area) seems to have been favored by a softening of the climate that would have manifested itself immediately after the glacial period. It is in fact a land of ancient human settlement, perhaps as early as the seventh millennium BC. C.; there is evidence of agricultural activities since the third millennium and in the Bronze Age, as well as in the subsequent Iron Age, amber objects and metal artifacts were widely traded. The first news about the Swedish populations, however, comes from Tacitus; in Roman times the country was firmly in the hands of Germanic peoples among whom the Suiones predominated or Svioni (in Swedish Svear, from which probably the name of Sweden), settled in the regions to the N of Lake Mälaren, in the area gravitating to the current city of Uppsala, while further to the S the Gauti or Goti (in Swedish Gotar); in the far north lived, just like today (but reduced to just 8500 individuals), the Lapps, who migrated from the East perhaps between the fifth and second millennium BC. C. and notoriously of non-Germanic origin. It is up to the Svioni, the true ancestors of the current Swedes, to have unified under their dominion all of Sweden, which entered the history of Europe in the century. VII d. C. and that at the time of the Vikings, great navigators and colonizers, was characterized by a particularly flourishing commercial life; with the subsequent Christianization of the country, Sweden was by now definitively inserted in the context of European culture. Regarding the size of the population over time, Sweden has an exceptionally long series of precise demographic statistics. The first census dates back to 1749, which gave a total of approx. 1.8 million inhab., Passed to 2.3 million in 1800 and 3.4 million in 1850. In fact, in the last century there was a considerable increase in the population; on the contrary, the excessive demographic weight promoted a very significant emigration: one million Swedes flowed into the United States (in relation to the total number of residents, the Scandinavian one represented one of the strongest migratory flows in the world), Great Lakes, whose environmental conditions were similar to those of the motherland. But even in the period of most intense emigration the internal demographic increase was remarkable, so much so that Sweden registered 5 million inhab. at the beginning of the 20th century.

This was due to the decrease in the mortality rate (thanks among other things to various medical achievements, such as smallpox vaccination), while the birth rate remained high. Only later did that birth control, family planning, begin to be promoted, which for decades has been a concept acquired by Scandinavian culture and mentality: the annual demographic increase in Sweden is slightly positive, with a birth rate that barely exceeds that of mortality, while the average life expectancy is among the highest in the world: 80.1 years for men and 83.7 for women (2013). They are about to reach 9 million inhab. and emigration is limited, while the growing job opportunities have given rise to a moderate immigration stream (about 64,000 people in 2002), in particular from neighboring Finland. The average density is 21.5 residents / km², but the examination of the great Swedish regions shows the very marked imbalance imposed by above all physical conditions; Norrland is almost deserted, on the contrary, its population tends to decline due to continuous internal migrations towards the rest of the country, despite the attempts made by the government to curb this exodus, for example by installing new work centers. The vast Norrbotten (over 98,000 km²) has 3 residents / km² and the same number of Jämtland. The most populated region is that which belongs to Stockholm (331 residents / km², 2013 estimate), but the density of Scania is also high (116 residents / km²), in relation to its agricultural and industrial activities. Another imbalance, mostly due to growing industrialization, is the rural exodus and, on the other hand, the accentuation of urbanism.

Sweden Country