Population (2004): 9 million.
Annual growth rate: 0.18% (2004).
Ethnic groups: Indigenous Swedes, ethnic Finns, ethnic Lapps.
Immigrants: Finns, Bosnians, Iranians, Norwegians, Danes, Hungarians, Iraqis, and Turks.
Religions: Lutheran (87%), Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim.
Education: Years compulsory--9. Literacy: 100%.
Health (2003): Infant mortality rate--3.42/1,000. Life expectancy--men 78 years, women 82 years.
Work force (4.1 million, 2002): Services--74%; industry--24%; agriculture--2%. Unemployment (2004) 5.4%.
Sweden has one of the world's highest life expectancies and one of the lowest birth rates. The country's largest ethnic and linguistic minorities include 15,000 Lapps and 50,000 indigenous Finnish speakers in the north as well as 960,000 immigrants mainly from the Nordic countries, but also from Asia, Africa, South America, and the rest of Europe. More than 1 million people, one-eighth of the population, are either foreign born or the children of immigrants.
|
