🇸🇪map Sweden [Overview]

Sweden, or Sverige in Swedish, stretches along the eastern side of the Scandinavian Peninsula, with Norway to the west, Finland to the northeast, and a long Baltic Sea coastline dotted with islands and fishing towns. Most people live in the south around Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö, while the far north is a vast landscape of forests, rivers, and mountains edging into the Arctic Circle. The country blends modern cities with easy access to nature—think archipelago ferries after work and ski trails lit at night in winter. Up in the north lives the indigenous Sami community, whose reindeer herding traditions remain a living part of Swedish life.

You’ll hear Swedish in daily life, and almost everyone speaks excellent English, which makes settling in far easier for newcomers. The cities are designed for people first—walkable neighborhoods with parks, childcare, health clinics, and transit built in—an approach Sweden has exported as a global model since the mid-20th century. You’ll notice an emphasis on safety and order, from meticulously signed bike lanes to sober-driving campaigns that helped drive traffic deaths to very low levels. Summer cottages and allotment gardens are a common escape for city residents, and the country’s thousands of lakes and long summer days draw people outdoors as soon as the sun cooperates.

Economy

Sweden’s economy is service-driven and highly international, with strengths in advanced manufacturing, clean tech, life sciences, fintech, and design. Global firms in engineering and telecom sit alongside a vibrant startup scene, while day-to-day jobs also span education, healthcare, retail, and public services. Forestry and mineral resources underpin parts of the industrial base, and sustainable timber and paper products remain important exports. Agriculture is limited by climate, but food standards are famously stringent and the domestic market is sophisticated.

Connectivity to the world is part of Sweden’s DNA: export-oriented companies, widespread English proficiency, and a policy tradition that leans into EU cooperation. Sweden is a member of the European Union and participates in European single-market rules; it also aligns closely with Nordic neighbors on cross-border labor mobility and infrastructure. International air links connect Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö/Copenhagen to hubs across Europe and beyond, and digital infrastructure is strong even in smaller towns. For expatriates, this translates to a stable environment with efficient services and a predictable regulatory culture.

Culture

Swedish is the dominant language, but you’ll hear many others in the streets, reflecting decades of immigration that have made the cities multicultural. Sweden has long seen itself as egalitarian and consensus-driven, and you’ll feel that in everyday interactions: people queue neatly, meetings start on time, and decisions are often discussed until everyone is comfortable. The population historically centered on ethnic Swedes, with the Sami in the north, and more recent waves adding communities from across Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. Coffee culture is serious—fika, the daily coffee-and-pastry pause, is a social ritual at work and at home.

A short sketch of the past helps make sense of the present: Viking-age traders and seafarers once linked Sweden to both Western Europe and the rivers of what is now Russia. Later monarchs centralized power, unified the realm, and wove Lutheran traditions into public life. Today, religious practice is generally low-key; the Church of Sweden (Lutheran) remains the largest affiliation, but many Swedes describe themselves as secular. National holidays include Midsummer in June with flower crowns and maypoles, the light-struck National Day on 6 June, and Lucia on 13 December, when candle-lit processions usher in the depths of winter. Add in long summer vacations, countryside crayfish parties in August, and the first semla of late winter, and you have a calendar that follows the seasons as closely as any clock.

Liam
Liam is an international business advisor and expatriate consultant originally from Dublin, Ireland, with over 16 years of experience in European, Middle Eastern, and Asia-Pacific markets. Having worked for major global consulting firms and managed corporate relocations across the UK, Ireland, UAE, and Oceania, Liam has extensive experience helping professionals navigate international assignments in English-speaking markets and key business hubs. His background includes facilitating moves for both European professionals expanding globally and international talent relocating to the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the Gulf region.