7.2.1 Sweden Geography, Climate, Vegetation
Description
This article is from the Nordic countries FAQ, by Antti Lahelma and Johan Olofsson, with numerous contributions by others.
7.2.1 Sweden Geography, Climate, Vegetation
[ By: Ahrvid Engholm and Antti Lahelma ]
Sweden occupies the Eastern part of the Scandinavian peninsula. It's a long
(1572 kilometers) and rather narrow country, and the largest of the Nordic
countries. It shares a long border with Norway to the west and a shorter
border with Finland in the east; Denmark lies to the south across the Danish
straits, over one of which (Öresund) a huge bridge is being built. The
Baltic Sea islands of Gotland and Öland are integral parts of Sweden.
Northwestern Sweden is crossed by an ancient mountain chain; the remainder
of the north is a southeast-sloping plateau that rises to between 200 and
500 meters. South of the Norrland, forming the region of Svealand in central
Sweden and Götaland farther south, is a varied region of plains and rift
valleys. (The region Götaland should strictly speeking not be used for more
than the provinces Dalsland, Västergötland and Östergötland, but most often
also Bohuslän, Halland, Småland, Skåne and Bleking are understood as
provinces of Götaland, as they are incorporated in the Swedish realm after
being captured in the 17th century.) To the north of the highlands is the
Central Swedish Depression, a down-faulted, lake-strewn lowland extending
across the peninsula from near Göteborg to east of Stockholm and Uppsala. To
the south is Skåne, a low-lying, predominantly agricultural area.
Because of it's large area and latitudinal extent, Sweden has a number of
climate regimes. A cold, maritime climate dominates the country's west
coast. The northern two-thirds of the country has a continental climate
marked by severe winters. The south central areas experience the long,
rather cold winters of the north, but they enjoy milder summers. The
mountain regions remain cool in summer. In January temperatures average
-0.8°C at Lund in the south), -2.8°C at Stockholm, and -13.7°C at Jokkmokk
north of the the Arctic Circle. In July, the temperature variation is lower
because of the sun shines the longer the further north one goes: 15°C at
Jokkmokk, 18°C at Stockholm, and only 17°C at Lund. Snow remains on the
ground for 40 days in southernmost Sweden, 100 days in the Stockholm area,
and 250 days in the northwest mountains.
Forest covers ca. 64% of the land area. It consists of a summer-green forest
of beeches, oaks, and other deciduous trees in the south, a mixed forest of
deciduous and coniferous trees in central Sweden, and a predominantly
coniferous forest of mainly pines and spruce in the north. Mountain birch
and dwarf birch grow in colder upland areas, and tundra covers the highest
elevations. Treeless moors (peat moss and marshland) cover more than 14% of
all Sweden and as much as 40% in western areas of the south and parts of
Norrland. Bears, wolves and lynxes are now found only in isolated woodlands,
elk and deer are the common large animals found elsewhere.
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