When the word Sweden is said most people automatically think of blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls and don't really know much more about Sweden than that. Sweden is a beautiful country that is loved by many people. From the midnight sun in June and July to the beaches and the friendly people, Sweden is one country that many people should acquire to learn more about. There are 8.5 million people and Sweden and only about 58% of them have blonde hair and blue eyes. They live an interesting culture and live on beautiful land. In this paper, I plan to tell you about Sweden by telling you about the history, geography, and climate, and a lot about their culture.
             Sweden has been inhabited for about five thousand years and has had its ups and downs with the power that it has held. "Queen Margrethe I of Denmark united Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in the union of Kalmar in 1897." (Culturegram 1) Sweden was autonomous and had its own parliament in 1435. Later in 1523, it became its own kingdom and Gustaf Vasa I was its ruler. Sweden fought with Denmark and Russia in the 16th and 17th centuries and was known as one of the Great Powers of Europe. It acquired Norway in 1814 through Napoleic Wars. Later in the 19th century, Sweden's power declined. Vikings were a tremendous part of Swedish history. This era began in the year 800 A.D. and many people described the Vikings to be barbaric people who killed monks and burned books. Yet Vikings were all of that, they were also wonderful sailors who had superior ship-building technology. They built longships with shallow hulls, which enabled them to be strong enough for strong storms, but shallow enough to beach for a surprise attack. The Vikings were also great traders and had a lot of gold and silver. Their head-trading center started in the city of Kiev, which is now where the nation's capital is today. "This early trading center was on the island of Björkö on lake Mäloren, where its fertile valley g...