About 15 percent of the country lies within the Arctic Circle. From about late May until mid-July, sunlight lasts around the clock north of the Arctic Circle, but, even as far south as Stockholm, the nights during this period have only a few hours of semidarkness. In mid-December, on the other hand, Stockholm experiences only about 5.5 hours of daylight; in areas as far north as Lappland, there are nearly 20 hours of total darkness relieved by a mere 4 hours of twilight.

Considering its northerly geographic location (at the latitude of parts of Greenland and Siberia), Sweden enjoys a favourable climate. From the southwest, Atlantic low-pressure winds blow in air warmed by the North Atlantic Current and make the weather mild but changeable. Another type of influence comes from continental high pressures to the east. These create sunny weather, which is hot in summer and cold in winter. The interaction between the Atlantic and continental influences causes periodic shifts in climate.

The north-to-south extension of the country and the higher elevation of the northern part results in great regional differences in winter climate. The northern interior receives heavy snowfall for up to eight months of the year and has severe temperatures that drop as low as −22 to −40 °F (−30 to −40 °C). The average January temperature in Haparanda at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia is 10 °F (−12 °C). Sea ice covers the Gulf of Bothnia from November to May.

In southern Sweden winters vary more from year to year than in the north; snowfall is irregular, and average January temperatures range between 23 and 32 °F (−5 and 0 °C). Coastal waters seldom freeze.

Summer temperatures vary far less, although summer is much shorter in the north. In terms of average daily temperature, “spring” arrives in Skåne during February but not until late May in northernmost Norrland; then it may come virtually overnight. The mean July temperature in Haparanda is 59 °F (15 °C), and in Malmö 63 °F (17 °C).

Late summer and autumn are the rainiest seasons, but precipitation falls throughout the year. Annual precipitation averages about 24 inches (600 mm).

Plant and animal life

Most of Sweden is dominated by forests of fir, pine, and birch. Southern Sweden has more mixed forests, and in the far south deciduous trees such as beech, oak, linden, ash, elm, and maple are common. The forests are rich in berries, lingonberries and blueberries among them, and mushrooms. In Sweden anyone is entitled to hike through the forests and fields and pick berries and mushrooms.

In the high mountains coniferous trees give way to mountain birches, which extend up to the tree line at an elevation of 1,600 to 2,900 feet (480 to 880 metres). The treeless mountains with their heaths, marshes, and boulder fields have Alpine flora. Dwarf birch and willows are typical.

Owing to their limestone bedrock and mild climate, Gotland and Öland have a special flora that includes many orchids.

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Bears and lynx still inhabit the northern forests, while wolves are making a comeback, having become almost completely extinct in the 20th century. Throughout the country are large numbers of moose, roe deer, foxes, and hares. The moose is a great prize for hunters, but it also constitutes a traffic hazard. Hunting and fishing are closely regulated, and many species of animals are fully protected. Large herds of domesticated reindeer owned by Sami (Lapps) graze the northern mountains and forests.

Winter birdlife is dominated by a few species, but summer brings large numbers of migratory birds from southern Europe and Africa, as, for example, cranes and wild geese. Sweden has a rich variety of aquatic animal life, but environmental pollution has taken its toll. This applies significantly to the Baltic seal. Fish species include the cod and mackerel of the deep, salty Atlantic and the salmon and pike found in the far less saline Baltic and in lakes and rivers. Atlantic herring and its smaller relative, the Baltic herring, are traditional staple foods.

Conservation

Sweden has been in the vanguard of countries seeking to preserve the natural environment. It was the first European country to establish a national park (Sarek National Park was established in 1909), thereby preserving part of Europe’s last wilderness. The first Nature Conservancy Act was adopted in 1909, and in 1969 a modern environmental protection act was passed. Since then tens of thousands of square miles have been set aside as national parks and nature reserves. Serious environmental problems persist nevertheless. About one-fifth of the lakes in Sweden have been damaged by acidification, and groundwater too is threatened. A chief cause is sulfur fallout (i.e., contamination by what is commonly known as acid rain); most of the sulfur is discharged into the atmosphere by industrial facilities in nearby countries. Pollution in the Baltic Sea and the coastal waters of the Kattegat and Skagerrak also is considered severe.

Ethnic groups

Although different groups of immigrants have influenced Swedish culture through the centuries, the population historically has been unusually homogeneous in ethnic stock, language, and religion. It is only since World War II that notable change has occurred in the ethnic pattern. From 1970 to the early 1990s, net immigration accounted for about three-fourths of the population growth. By far, most of the immigrants came from the neighbouring Nordic countries, with which Sweden shares a common labour market.

In the 1980s Sweden began to receive an increasing number of asylum seekers from Asian and African countries such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Eritrea, and Somalia, as well as from Latin American countries that were suffering under repressive governments. Then from 2010 to 2014 the number of people seeking asylum in Sweden expanded dramatically, reaching more than 80,000 in 2014, and that number doubled to more than 160,000 in 2015. Many of these people were fleeing the Syrian Civil War. From the beginning of that conflict, Sweden had granted residency to any Syrian seeking asylum (some 70,000 in total). Thus, by 2016 one in six Swedish residents had been born outside the country, and Sweden, feeling the strain of the mass influx of migrants, enacted new and more stringent immigration restrictions.

Sweden has two minority groups of indigenous inhabitants: the Finnish-speaking people of the northeast along the Finnish border, and the Sami (Lapp) population of about 15,000 scattered throughout the northern Swedish interior. Once a hunting and fishing people, the latter group developed a reindeer-herding system that they still operate. Most of the Sami in Sweden have other occupations as well.

Languages

Swedish, the national language of Sweden and the mother tongue of approximately nine-tenths of the population, is a Nordic language. It belongs to the North Germanic (Scandinavian) subgroup of the Germanic languages and is closely related to the Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faeroese languages. It has been influenced at times by German, but it has also borrowed some words and syntax from French, English, and Finnish. A common standard language (rikssvenska) has been in use more than 100 years. The traditionally varying dialects of the provinces, although homogenized rapidly through the influences of education and the mass media, are still widely spoken. Swedish is also spoken by about 300,000 Finland-Swedes. Swedish law recognizes Sami and Finnish (both of which belong to the Uralic language group), as well as Meänkieli (the Finnish of the Torne Valley), Romani, and Yiddish as national minority languages, along with sign language. About 200 languages are now spoken in Sweden, owing to immigrants and refugees.