Swedish Culture (Part 3) - A bit of history

Sweden

 A journey through Swedish culture

A bit of history

            Archaeologists say that the area that today correspond to Swedish territory, started to be occupied for hunters and collector peoples in the Stone Age, after the last Ice Age. A long time later, during the Bronze Age, it was the turn of commercial peoples occupied the south part of the country, since was found remains of commercial cities.

            A truly important people that lived in this region, in the 7^th century, was Viking people. They left a big contribution in maritime technology and in building of cities. More than just that, the Swedish people are Viking descents. So, it is still possible to find Viking features in Swedes nowadays. The called Viking Age, between 9^th and 11^th centuries, was not just in Sweden, because this people lived in Scandinavia peninsula and nearby lands.   

            Kalmar Union was a moment in the Swedish history in that Sweden, Norway and Denmark were together under a same monarch. But, in 1523, Gustav Eriksson Vasa, who later would be called like King Gustav I of Sweden, the first Vasa King (Vasa Dynasty), he removed Kingdom of Sweden from that union and also introduced the Protestantism like a official religion. Sweden still took part of some wars, the Thirty Years War, for example.

            However, nowadays, Swedish people are a peaceful people who do not take part in military conflicts. The last war was in 1814, in the Campaign against Norway, which establish a union under Swedish control. This union was dissolved in 1905, in a peaceful way. However, the pass of the years made Norway became richer that Sweden, due to discovery of oil in Norwegian territory. Norway has a HDI (Human Development Index) higher than Sweden has. This situation makes some Swedish wish a united kingdom with Norway came back, through weddings between royal families.

Greater coat of arms of Sweden

            Sweden takes part of European Union, but it does not use Euro like its currency. The country preferred to conserve own currency, Svensk krona (Swedish krona). However, their currency is more devalued that Euro, nowadays. Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and also is the biggest city of the country, followed by Malmö and Göteborg.

Göteborg