When I found out I was moving to Sweden, I honestly didn’t know much about it. It rarely came on my radar and I became curious about the country’s geography. I wanted to know the different regions of Sweden, major cities, and know how big is it really?
Sweden vs California
So naturally, my mind went to comparing it to somewhere in the U.S. and California was that place. Straightaway, when you examine a map, both places are similarly shaped like a long peninsula.
Looking at the numbers, Sweden has 173,860 sq miles of landmass with a relatively low population of ~10 million. On the other hand, California has a slightly smaller landmass of 163,695 sq miles but has a population of ~39 million.
This gives you a good reference for how big the landmass of Sweden really is. Also, the population difference for an entire country vs a state is pretty crazy.
Sweden within Europe
However, we know the U.S. is massive, so a more fair comparison is within its own continent. In Europe, Sweden is the largest (by area) of the Nordic countries and is the fifth largest (by area) country in Europe behind Russia, Ukraine, France, and Spain.
The 3 Main Regions
Sweden has 21 regions and 290 municipalities. Although, traditionally, Sweden is categorized into 3 distinct bigger regions: Norrland, Svealand, and Götaland. This translates very simply to the northern land, central land, and southern land.
Norrland
This is the biggest and least populated region of Sweden. After all, part of this region is in the Arctic Circle – so can you blame people for not living in these conditions? What it lacks in population, makes up for in vast nature – it has many mountains, glaciers, lakes, and river valleys. This is where to go to see untouched and beautiful wilderness.
Some cities in Norrland include Umeå, Kiruna and Sundsvall. These cities have a population of ~ 130,000 or less.
Svealand
Svealand has archipelagos, agriculture, forests, and lakes. It is the smallest of the three regions, yet is home to the biggest city of Stockholm. The city itself is situated on 14 archipelagos with more than 50 bridges that connect the islands. And just 20 mins outside of the city is the Stockholm Archipelago which has over 30,000 islands.
In addition, there is Lake Mälaren which is an arm of the Baltic Sea. It connects Stockholm and Västerås and is one of the best lakes to ice skate in the winter when it freezes over.
Other cities in this region are Uppsala, Västerås, and Köping.
Götaland
Götaland has fertile agriculture, long beaches, canoeing, and fishing. Major agricultural crops in this region are grains, potatoes, and beets. There are popular and picturesque fishing villages on the west coast of the region like Smögen. These are popular vacation spots for Swedes and other tourists alike.
The major cities in this region include Gothenburg, Malmö, and Lund.
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