Geography Quiz Arcade

Sweden 🇸🇪

Sweden is a country in Europe with a population of 10,549,349. Its capital is Stockholm. The official currency is SEK, and the main languages are Swedish.

Quick facts

  • Capital: Stockholm
  • Continent: Europe
  • Population: 10,549,349
  • Area: 450,295 km²
  • Density: 23.4 people per km²
  • Currency: SEK
  • Languages: Swedish
  • ISO code: SE

Where Sweden sits

Sweden 🇸🇪 is one of 46 countries in Europe, with its capital at Stockholm. It covers 450,295 square kilometres — 55th in the world — and is home to about 10,549,349 people, 87th globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How Sweden compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Sweden sits closest to Czechia and Honduras. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Uzbekistan and Morocco.

At 23.4 people per square kilometre it is about 2.5 times below the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.

Swedish is an official language in 2 countries here, among them Finland. The SEK is used by Sweden and no one else.

To see Sweden next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember Sweden

Stockholm is built on fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea, which is why it is called 'the Venice of the North'. For the flag, picture a yellow cross of sunshine on a blue sea.

The flag of Sweden: blue and yellow

🇸🇪 The flag is a blue flag with a golden-yellow Nordic cross, shifted towards the flagpole. The colours come from Sweden's coat of arms, which is blue with a gold cross. Blue and yellow have been Swedish colours since at least 1275.

Region and neighbours

Sweden is a large Nordic country in Northern Europe, on the Scandinavian Peninsula, between Norway and Finland. It shares land borders with 2 countries: Norway and Finland.

Three facts about Sweden

  1. Lake Vänern is the largest lake in Sweden and the third-largest in Europe.
  2. The highest mountain in Sweden is Kebnekaise, about 2,097 m high.
  3. Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, founded the Nobel Prizes.

Sources: Wikipedia: Sweden, Wikipedia: Flag of Sweden, Wikipedia: Stockholm, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on Sweden

Quizzes that include Sweden

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Sweden those are:

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Read more about Sweden

Nearby countries

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the Sweden flag?

The flag of Sweden is a blue flag with a golden-yellow Nordic cross, shifted towards the flagpole. The colours come from Sweden's coat of arms, which is blue with a gold cross. Blue and yellow have been Swedish colours since at least 1275.

Which countries border Sweden?

Sweden shares land borders with Norway and Finland.

How can I remember the capital of Sweden?

Stockholm is built on fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea, which is why it is called 'the Venice of the North'. For the flag, picture a yellow cross of sunshine on a blue sea.