GeographySweden

Tablecontents

1 Location 2 Geographic coordinates 3 Area 4 Land boundaries 5 Maritime claims 6 Elevation extremes 7 Natural resources 8 Land use 9 Natural hazards 10 Environment 11 See also 12 References

Location

Northern Europe, Scandinavian Peninsula, borderingBaltic Sea, GulfBothnia, Kattegat,Skagerrak, between FinlandNorway. Strategic location along Öresund andDanish Straits linking BalticNorth Seas.

• Climate: temperatesouthcold, cloudy winterscool, partly cloudy summers; subarcticnorth
• Terrain: mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountainswest

Geographic coordinates

• 62°00' North
• 15°00' East

Area

• total: 449,964 km²
• land: 410,934 km²
• water: 39,030 km²
• slightly larger than California

Land boundaries

• total: 2,205 km
• border countries: Finland 586 km, Norway 1,619 km
• Coastline: 3,218 km

Maritime claims

• continental shelf: 200-m depth or todepthexploitation
• exclusive economic zone: agreed boundaries or midlines
• territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (adjustments madereturnportionstraitshigh seas)

Elevation extremes

• lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
• highest point: Kebnekaise 2,111 m

Natural resources

• zinc
• iron ore
• lead
• copper
• silver
• timber
• uranium
• hydropower

Land use

• arable land: 7%
• permanent crops: 0%
• permanent pastures: 1%
• forestswoodland: 68%
• other: 24% (1993 est.)
• Irrigated land: 1,150 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards

ice floes insurrounding waters, especially inGulfBothnia, can interferemaritime traffic

Environment

• current issues: acid rain damaging soilslakes; pollution ofNorth Sea andBaltic Sea
• international agreements: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law ofSea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
  • signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

See also

• ListislandsSweden
• ListlakesSweden
• ListriversSweden
• Listnational parksSweden

References

• CIA World Factbook 2001