Most of Sweden has a temperate climate, despite its northern latitude, with four distinct seasons and mild temperatures throughout the year. The country can be divided into three types of climate; the southernmost part has an oceanic climate, the central part has a humid continental climate and the northernmost part has a subarctic climate.However, Sweden is much warmer and drier than other places at the similar latitude, and even somewhat further south, mainly because of the Gulf Stream^.For example, central and southern Sweden has much warmer winters than many parts of Russia, Canada, and the northern United States. Because of its high northern latitude, the length of daylight varies greatly. North of the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets for part of each summer, and for part of the winter the sun never rises. The capital of Stockholm’s daylight lasts for more than 18 hours in late June, but only around 6 hours in late December. Most of Sweden has between 1,600 to 2,000 hours of sunshine annually.

Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into twenty-one counties (län). Each county has a County Administrative Board or länsstyrelse, which is appointed by the government (the first Swedish County Administrative Board was made up by the Swedish Prime Minister Axel Oxenstierna in 1634). In each county there is also a separate County Council or landsting, which is elected directly by the people. Each county further divides into a number of municipalities or kommuner, with a total of 290 municipalities in 2004. Municipal government in Sweden is similar to city commission government and cabinet-style council government. A legislative municipal assembly (kommunfullmäktige) of between 31 and 101 members (always an uneven number) is elected from party-list proportional representation at municipal elections, held every four years in conjunction with the national parliamentary elections.

Being an advanced industrial nation, research plays a key role for economic development as well as for society at large, Sweden’s high-quality scientific and technological development is renowned throughout the world.

Altogether, the public and the private sector in Sweden allocate nearly four per cent of GDP to research & development (R&D), which makes Sweden one the countries that invest most in R&D in terms of percentage of GDP. The standard of Swedish research is high and Sweden is a world leader in a number of important fields. Sweden tops Europe in comparative statistics both in terms of research investments as a percentage of GDP and in the number of published scientific works per capita.^[99]

Though a relatively small country, Sweden has long been at the forefront of research and development. For several decades, the Swedish government, committed to strengthening R&D, has set high priorities on scientific and R&D activities. This strong engagement has helped make Sweden a leading country in terms of innovation.

Sweden has in late years taken an interest in the fashion industry, through headquartering famous brands like Hennes & Mauritz (operating as H&M), J. Lindeberg (operating as JL), Gina Tricot, Tiger of Sweden, Odd Molly, Dagmar, Cheap Monday, Gant, Lexington, Svea, Resteröds, Nudie Jeans, WESC and Filippa K within its borders. These companies, however, are comprised largely of buyers who import fashionable goods from throughout Europe and the Americas, continuing the trend of Swedish business toward multinational economic dependency like many of its neighbours.

The modern name Sweden is derived through “back-formation” from Old English Sweoðeod, which meant “people of the Swedes” (Old Norse Svíþjóð, Latin Suetidi). This word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas (Old Norse Sviar, Latin Suiones). The Swedish name Sverige literally means “Realm of the Swedes”, excluding the Geats in Götaland.

The etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but suggestively deriving from Proto-Germanic *Swihoniz meaning “one’s own”,referring to one’s own Germanic tribe.

If you want sunshine, visit between late May and late July, bearing in mind that August can be both hot and wet. Many youth hostels, camping grounds and attractions open only in summer, from late June to mid-August. Swedes are big on holidays, and even Stockholm shuts down for two or three days around Christmas and midsummer, so plan accordingly. Most Swedes take their vacations from late June to mid-August, so hostels are crowded, but this is also when most hotels offer discounts of up to 50%.

Travel in winter is somewhat restricted and requires some planning as well as serious winter clothing, but there are good opportunities for activities like skiing, dogsledding and snowmobiling. The big cities are in full swing all year, but the smaller towns almost go into hibernation when the temperatures begin to drop (the notable exceptions being popular ski resort towns like Åre, and Jukkasjärvi, home to the Ice Hotel).

Stockholm (help·info) (IPA: ['stɔkhɔlm]; UN/LOCODE: SE STO) is the largest city and capital of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the official residence of the Swedish monarch.

Stockholm has been the political and economic centre of Sweden since the 13th century. Today Stockholm Municipality is the largest of the municipalities of Sweden, with a population of 795,163 (December 2007), and Stockholm urban area with a population of 1,252,020 (2005) is Sweden’s largest continuously built-up area. The metropolitan area of Stockholm has a population of 1,949,516 (December 2007).^[1] Its strategic location on several islands on the east coast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, has been historically important.