Sweden is the biggest sausage in the Scandinavian sizzle, covering an area of 450,000 sq km (175,500 sq mi). The dominant characteristics of the landscape can be attributed to glacial activity. The 7000km-long (4330mi) coastline, particularly in the west and near Stockholm, is constantly cut by fjords (long, narrow sea inlets). Lubbers rue that it doesn't get much drier inland, with about 100,000 lakes plugged into Sweden. The islands of Öland and Gotland, south of Stockholm, consist of flat limestone, but they're sand-fringed and have been turned into beachy retreats for urban escapees. Norrland (a practical term for the northern 60% of the country) is sparsely populated, comprising a near-uniform expanse of forest, river and rapid. Norway provides a natural frontier to the west on the other side of Skanderna, Sweden's modest mountain range. Sweden's highest peak is the glacier-capped northern peak of Mt Kebnekaise at 2111m (6924ft).
Moose, deer and fox are common throughout Sweden and, of all Sweden's wild creatures, these are the ones you're most likely to spot, though hopefully not as they come through your windscreen. Wolf, lynx and brown bear populations have suffered at the hands of encroaching agriculture and eager hunters, but are making a comeback in some western provinces and the mountain regions. Wolverine survive in the mountains only by preying on domestic livestock, making no friends with farmers in their fight against extinction. Varied bird life twitters, flutters and swoops from seaside to snowline, with the kingfisher perhaps the most beautiful, and the woodpecker the best at carpentry. The northern lakes and streams are choice places to spot Sweden's fisherfolk boasting about big 'uns of the salmon trout clan.
Environment in Sweden
