Geography of Sweden - Definition and Overview

Location

Northern Europe, Scandinavian Peninsula, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Kattegat, and Skagerrak, between Finland and Norway. Strategic location along Öresund and the Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas.

• Climate: temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north
• Terrain: mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west

Geographic coordinates

• 62°00' North
• 15°00' East

Area

• total: 449,964 km²
• land: 4103,934 km²
• water: 39,030 km²
• slightly larger than California

Land boundaries

• total: 2,205 km
• border countries: Finland 586 km, Norway 1,619 km
• Coastline: 3,218 km

Maritime claims

• continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
• exclusive economic zone: agreed boundaries or midlines
• territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (adjustments made to return a portion of straits to high seas)

Elevation extremes

• lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
• highest point: Kebnekaise 2,111 m

Natural resources

• zinc
• iron ore
• lead
• copper
• silver
• timber
• uranium
• hydropower

Land use

• arable land: 7%
• permanent crops: 0%
• permanent pastures: 1%
• forests and woodland: 68%
• other: 24% (1993 est.)
• Irrigated land: 1,150 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards

ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic

Environment

• current issues: acid rain damaging soils and lakes; pollution of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea
• international agreements: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
  • signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

See also

• List of islands of Sweden
• List of lakes in Sweden
• List of rivers in Sweden
• List of national parks of Sweden

References

• CIA World Factbook 2001