Sweden

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Kingdom of Sweden[1]
National anthem	Du Gamla, du Fria
Capital (and largest city)	Stockholm
Official language	Swedish, Samiska, others
Government type	Constitutional monarchy
King	Carl XVI Gustav
Prime Minister	Fredrik Reinfeldt
Area	~450,295 km²
Population	9,074,055 (July 2010 estimate)
Currency	Swedish krona (SEK)
Country codes	Internet TLD : .se Calling code : +46

Sweden (Swedish: Sverige) is a Scandinavian country straddling both Norway and Finland. Traditionally a large producer of iron ore and timber, Sweden was an important military power in the seventeenth century until it was eclipsed by Peter the Great's Russia. Politically, Sweden is renowned for its welfare system, one of the most generous in the world today. Fiscal prudence in recent years has allowed it to weather various economic downturns, including high unemployment in the 1990's and a world economic downturn in 2000/2002. Sweden joined the European Union in 1995, but voted to reject the implementation of the common currency (the Euro) in a 2003 referendum of the people.

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