skallben
Diplomat
Going to do the nasty and quote Wikipedia on some interesting parts:
Keep in mind, there are only 9 millions in this tiny country - there is quite alot of interesting aspects for such a small country.
"The citizens enjoy a high standard of living and the country is generally perceived as modern and liberal,[2] with an organizational and corporate culture that is non-hierarchical and collectivist compared to its Anglo-Saxon counterparts.[3] Nature conservation, environmental protection and energy efficiency are generally prioritized in policy making and embraced by the general public in Sweden."
This "liberal" attitude is less to be found outside the densely populated areas though. We have our share of "rednecks" aswell. Also, lately there is a trend of increased authoritarianism lately.
History:
"The mid 1600s and the early 1700s were Sweden's most successful years as a Great Power. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent during the rule of Charles X (1622–1660) after the treaty of Roskilde in 1658. However, after more than a half century of almost constant warfare the Swedish economy had deteriorated. It would become the lifetime task of Charles' son, Charles XI (1655-1697), to rebuild the economy and refit the army. His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden Charles XII, was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet. Sweden's largest threat at this time, Russia, had a larger army but was far behind in both equipment and training. The Swedish army crushed the Russians at the Battle of Narva in 1700, one of the first battles of the Great Northern War. This led to an overambitious campaign against Russia in 1707, however, ending in a decisive Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava (1709). The campaign had a successful opening for Sweden, which came to occupy half of Poland and making Charles able to claim the Polish throne. But after a long march exposed by cossack raids, the Russian Tsar Peter the Great's scorched-earth techniques and the cold Russian climate, the Swedes stood weakened with a shattered confidence, and enormously outnumbered against the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant the beginning of the end for Sweden as Empire."
Hardworking people
"According to the book, The Flight of the Creative Class, by the U.S. economist, Professor Richard Florida of George Mason University, Sweden is ranked as having the best creativity in Europe for business and is predicted to become a talent magnet for the world’s most purposeful workers. The book compiled an index to measure the kind of creativity most useful to business – talent, technology and tolerance – and found Sweden to be the number one spot in Europe and the world. The top ten countries, in descending order, are: Sweden, Japan, Finland, the US, Switzerland, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany."
Music
"Sweden has a major market for new age and ecologically or environmentally aware music, as well a large portion of pop and rock music have liberal and left-wing political messages."
"With ABBA, Sweden entered into a new era, in which Swedish pop music gained international prominence. Sweden is sometimes referred to as the third largest exporter of pop and rock music in the world, after the US and the UK, but this is disputable and difficult to verify."
Technological innovations:
"The famous Coca Cola bottles introduced in 1916 were designed by the Swedish-American Alex Samuelsson.[73] The zipper was invented in 1913 by Swedish-American Gideon Sundbäck who improved the primitive zip-lock to the model we are using in nowadays. Carl Richard Nyberg got a patent on the blow torch in 1881.[74] The kerosene stove or "Primus" kitchen was invented by Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist in 1892 which was a huge Swedish export success. The 100-scale Celsius temperature scale was invented in the mid 18th century by Anders Celsius. Probably the most famous Swedish invention, dynamite was created by Alfred Nobel in 1867. Gustaf Dalén invented the life-saving gas-driven lighthouse used in shorelines all around the world. Dalén received the Nobel Prize in 1912 for his invention. In 1907 Sven Wingquist created the spheric bearing, since 1907 the world's only bearing factory, Svenska Kullager Fabriken was set up by Wingquist. In the 1920's Baltzar von Platen and Carld Munters created a gas-absorption refrigerator with no mechanic parts based on the absorptions-principle. This was a world sensation and was retailed worldwide by Electrolux which still is a market leading company. Baltzar von Platen also created worlds first arificial diamond by compressing coal in a special pressure chamber. The first pacemaker ever installed in a living person was built by the inventor Rune Elmqvist and the surgery was completed by Åke Senning in 1958. In 1878, Gustaf de Laval created the separator, separating milk from cream and making production of butter much easier and faster. The heritage of Gustav de Laval is still existent in the world leading company Alfa Laval. The modern propeller used in ships was created by John Ericsson in 1839. The safety match, invented in 1844 by Gustaf Erik Pasch, still makes Swedish Match a world leading company. The improvement of Alexander Graham Bell's invention in 1876, Lars Magnus Ericsson constructed the first hand held phone for which he got patents in 1895. Ericsson is today one of the world's largest Telecom corporations. In 1930 Ruben Rausing and Erik Åkerlund founded the company "Åkerlund & Rausing" which invented the plastic-covered cardboard cases. Tetra Pak is still the world leading producer of this kind of packages. Johan Petter Johansson invented the adjustable spanner in 1888 which was designed so that the grip gets tighter while the wrench is being pulled. Bluetooth is also a Swedish invention."
There's more to it. Our high-tech industry is one of the worlds most advanced. One of the first flat-screen types was swedish, allthough the patent was sold to Japan (WTH why noone financed it beats me). Alot of important medicinal breakthroughs are swedish. You also got the famous Biologist Carl von Linné who travelled all over the world to categorize and name plants and animals.
And there are alot of terribly boring people in this country who doesnt know how to drink alcohol like civilized people
Keep in mind, there are only 9 millions in this tiny country - there is quite alot of interesting aspects for such a small country.
"The citizens enjoy a high standard of living and the country is generally perceived as modern and liberal,[2] with an organizational and corporate culture that is non-hierarchical and collectivist compared to its Anglo-Saxon counterparts.[3] Nature conservation, environmental protection and energy efficiency are generally prioritized in policy making and embraced by the general public in Sweden."
This "liberal" attitude is less to be found outside the densely populated areas though. We have our share of "rednecks" aswell. Also, lately there is a trend of increased authoritarianism lately.
History:
"The mid 1600s and the early 1700s were Sweden's most successful years as a Great Power. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent during the rule of Charles X (1622–1660) after the treaty of Roskilde in 1658. However, after more than a half century of almost constant warfare the Swedish economy had deteriorated. It would become the lifetime task of Charles' son, Charles XI (1655-1697), to rebuild the economy and refit the army. His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden Charles XII, was one of the finest arsenals in the world, a large standing army and a great fleet. Sweden's largest threat at this time, Russia, had a larger army but was far behind in both equipment and training. The Swedish army crushed the Russians at the Battle of Narva in 1700, one of the first battles of the Great Northern War. This led to an overambitious campaign against Russia in 1707, however, ending in a decisive Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava (1709). The campaign had a successful opening for Sweden, which came to occupy half of Poland and making Charles able to claim the Polish throne. But after a long march exposed by cossack raids, the Russian Tsar Peter the Great's scorched-earth techniques and the cold Russian climate, the Swedes stood weakened with a shattered confidence, and enormously outnumbered against the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant the beginning of the end for Sweden as Empire."
Hardworking people
"According to the book, The Flight of the Creative Class, by the U.S. economist, Professor Richard Florida of George Mason University, Sweden is ranked as having the best creativity in Europe for business and is predicted to become a talent magnet for the world’s most purposeful workers. The book compiled an index to measure the kind of creativity most useful to business – talent, technology and tolerance – and found Sweden to be the number one spot in Europe and the world. The top ten countries, in descending order, are: Sweden, Japan, Finland, the US, Switzerland, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany."
Music
"Sweden has a major market for new age and ecologically or environmentally aware music, as well a large portion of pop and rock music have liberal and left-wing political messages."
"With ABBA, Sweden entered into a new era, in which Swedish pop music gained international prominence. Sweden is sometimes referred to as the third largest exporter of pop and rock music in the world, after the US and the UK, but this is disputable and difficult to verify."
Technological innovations:
"The famous Coca Cola bottles introduced in 1916 were designed by the Swedish-American Alex Samuelsson.[73] The zipper was invented in 1913 by Swedish-American Gideon Sundbäck who improved the primitive zip-lock to the model we are using in nowadays. Carl Richard Nyberg got a patent on the blow torch in 1881.[74] The kerosene stove or "Primus" kitchen was invented by Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist in 1892 which was a huge Swedish export success. The 100-scale Celsius temperature scale was invented in the mid 18th century by Anders Celsius. Probably the most famous Swedish invention, dynamite was created by Alfred Nobel in 1867. Gustaf Dalén invented the life-saving gas-driven lighthouse used in shorelines all around the world. Dalén received the Nobel Prize in 1912 for his invention. In 1907 Sven Wingquist created the spheric bearing, since 1907 the world's only bearing factory, Svenska Kullager Fabriken was set up by Wingquist. In the 1920's Baltzar von Platen and Carld Munters created a gas-absorption refrigerator with no mechanic parts based on the absorptions-principle. This was a world sensation and was retailed worldwide by Electrolux which still is a market leading company. Baltzar von Platen also created worlds first arificial diamond by compressing coal in a special pressure chamber. The first pacemaker ever installed in a living person was built by the inventor Rune Elmqvist and the surgery was completed by Åke Senning in 1958. In 1878, Gustaf de Laval created the separator, separating milk from cream and making production of butter much easier and faster. The heritage of Gustav de Laval is still existent in the world leading company Alfa Laval. The modern propeller used in ships was created by John Ericsson in 1839. The safety match, invented in 1844 by Gustaf Erik Pasch, still makes Swedish Match a world leading company. The improvement of Alexander Graham Bell's invention in 1876, Lars Magnus Ericsson constructed the first hand held phone for which he got patents in 1895. Ericsson is today one of the world's largest Telecom corporations. In 1930 Ruben Rausing and Erik Åkerlund founded the company "Åkerlund & Rausing" which invented the plastic-covered cardboard cases. Tetra Pak is still the world leading producer of this kind of packages. Johan Petter Johansson invented the adjustable spanner in 1888 which was designed so that the grip gets tighter while the wrench is being pulled. Bluetooth is also a Swedish invention."
There's more to it. Our high-tech industry is one of the worlds most advanced. One of the first flat-screen types was swedish, allthough the patent was sold to Japan (WTH why noone financed it beats me). Alot of important medicinal breakthroughs are swedish. You also got the famous Biologist Carl von Linné who travelled all over the world to categorize and name plants and animals.
And there are alot of terribly boring people in this country who doesnt know how to drink alcohol like civilized people
![[pissed]](/images/smilies/pissed.gif "Pissed [pissed]")
