Symbols of Sweden

Elk The Elk is the biggest deer in Europe. We have a season for elk hunting in the autumn.

A little red wooden house.

Winter and skiing Sweden is a very long country from north to south, with both hot and cold weather. We have a lot of snow in the winter, at least in the northern part. It is very common to go cross country skiing. The most famous race is the Vasa Race which is 90 kilometers and has more than 15 000 participants.

Dala horse A well known symbol for Sweden is the ”Dalahorse” It is made in only one place in the world, and that is in the village Nusnäs, just by the lake Siljan, east of the city Mora, in the middle of Dalarna in Sweden.

IKEA is a privately-owned, international home products retailer that sells flat pack furniture, accessories, bathrooms and kitchens at retail stores around the world. IKEA was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden and it is owned by a Dutch-registered foundation controlled by the Kamprad family. The name IKEA is formed from the founder's initials (Ingvar Kamprad) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd (E) and Agunnaryd (A), the farm and village where he grew up.

Another famous Swedish business is “Hennes & Mauritz AB” (operating as H&M). It is a Swedish clothing company, known for its inexpensive and fashionable clothing for women, men, teenagers and children. H&M has more than 1,500 stores in 28 different countries and has more than 68,000 employees.

ABBA A well known pop-group from Sweden is Abba. They were active between 1972 and 1982. They topped the charts worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The name "ABBA" is an acronym formed from the first letters of each of the group members’ given names (Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid). The most well known Abba songs are probably “Mamma Mia” and “Dancing Queen”.

Famous Athletes Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a well known football player from Sweden. Today he plays for the Swedish national team and the Italian club Internatzionale. Inter has taken three straight Scudetto victories. Zlatan scored the two goals in the final and decisive match against Parma. Carolina Klüft is a Swedish athlete. She has for a long time been the most successful participant in the heptathlon. She is the current Olympic, World and European champion. Today she only participates in long jump and triple jump.

Holiday cottages Many Swedes have a holiday cottage of their own. Either close to the sea or in the countryside often close to a lake. Some people also have a holiday cottage in the mountains. There are about 675 000 holiday cottages in Sweden overall.