Culture: Country: SWEDEN:
- Location: Between Finland and Norway in Northen Europe, bording the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Kattegat and Skagerrak.
- Capital: Stockholm.
- Indigenous Population: Swedes with finish and sami minorities; First Generation Immigrants: Finnis, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks and Turks.
- Population: There are 9.7 million people.
- Religions: Lutheran 87%. Others are: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist.
- Language: the language primaly come from Latin, The officila language is Swedish; One of two key minority language is Saami is spoken in Northern regions; and finally they speak Finnish too.
- Culture: One of the first characteristics of Swedish culture that swedes are egalitarian in Nature. In terms Swedes rarely take hospitality or kidness for granted and as such they will give often give a Thanks; Behaviors: are strongly balanced towards as long or everything in moderation; In Sweden competition is NOT encouraged and children are NOT raisd to believe that they are any more special than any other child.
- Lucia: December 13, Lucia and her attendants visit places like schools,
hospitals, offices and churches and sing traditional songs like Sankta Lucia. The Lucia tradition is based on the legend of a pious
Sicilian girl who wanted to devote her life to God instead of marrying. When
she refused the proposal of a nobleman she was killed, and subsequently she
became a martyr.
- Advent: Advent is the period of four weeks immediately
preceding Christmas. Each Sunday during this period a
new candle is lit in a special Advent candlestick. This means that, on the
fourth Sunday, there are four candles burning, and Christmas is about to begin.
- Chritmas:
On Christmas Day a lot of Swedes get up early to attend a
special church service at six or seven, which is called julottan (literally:
Christmas-early-in the-morning)
- Easter: Next to Christmas and Midsummer, Easter is the most important festival of the year. In the old days, it was thought that, during this period, all witches went away to see the devil and the place where they met was called Blåkulla. If you spend Easter in Sweden, you will see allusions to this belief in the papers and on TV. Also, on Easter Eve many children today dress up as Easter witches. They put on the gaudiest clothes they can find, paint their faces in the same fashion and knock on people´s doors asking for candy or money in exchange of drawings.
- Walpurgis Night: The celebration of Walpurgis dates back to the Viking Era. It was a festival to honour the return of Spring, and is only one of the several pagan festivals still celebrated in Sweden
- Midsummer´s eve: Midsummer's eve is probably the most popular festival day in Sweden, together withChristmas. Midsummer is an old pagan celebration, dating back to the Viking Era. It was a fertility rite originally, where the May pole was a phallic symbol, "impregnating" Mother nature. It was hoped that this would help to give a good harvest in the autumn. In modern times, it is a national holiday, where family and friends meet, eat herringand fresh potatoes and drink schnapps and beer. The actual day of the celebration is also the longest day of the year (summer solstice), signifying that summer has reached the half-way point.
Important Cities:
- Stockholm. 2. Gothenburg. 3. Malmo. 4.Uppsala 5. Lund 6. Helsingbord. 7. Malmö.
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