Abstract
Sweden was covered by a thick ice cap until 14,000 years ago, when the ice began to retreat. The first human traces, in southern Sweden, date from 10,000 BC. Between 8000 and 6000 BC the country was populated by hunters and fishermen, using simple stone tools. Artefacts found in graves show that the Bronze Age was marked by a relatively advanced culture. From 500 BC to AD 800 agriculture became the basis for society and the economy. The Viking Age (800–1050) took expansion eastwards. Swedish Vikings reached into today’s Russia, where they set up trading stations and principalities, such as Novgorod and Rurik. The Vikings also travelled to the Black and Caspian Seas and developed trading links with the Byzantine Empire and the Arabs.
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Further Reading
Statistics Sweden. Statistik Årsbok/Statistical Yearbook of Sweden.— Historisk statistik för Sverige (Historical Statistics of Sweden). 1955 ff.—Allmän månadsstatistik (Monthly Digest of Swedish Statistics).—Statistiska meddelanden (Statistical Reports). From 1963
Henrekson, M., An Economic Analysis of Swedish Government Expenditure. 1992
Nordstrom, Byron J., The History of Sweden. 2002
Petersson, O., Swedish Government and Politics. 1994
Schön, Lennart, An Economic History of Sweden. 2012
Sejersted, Francis, The Age of Social Democracy: Norway and Sweden in the Twentieth Century. 2011
Sveriges statskalender. Annual, from 1813
National library: Kungliga Biblioteket, PO Box 5039, SE–102 41 Stockholm.
National Statistical Office: Statistics Sweden, PO Box 24300, SE–104 51 Stockholm.
Website: http://www.scb.se
Swedish Institute Website: http://www.si.se
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© 2014 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Turner, B. (2014). Sweden. In: Turner, B. (eds) The Statesman’s Yearbook. The Statesman’s Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-67278-3_330
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-67278-3_330
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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