About Sweden

Sweden is a sparsely populated country, characterized by its long coastline, extensive forests and numerous lakes. It is one of the world’s northernmost countries. In terms of surface area, it is comparable to Spain, Thailand or the American state of California. Sweden’s borders have been unchanged since 1905 and the country has not been at war since 1814.

Sweden experiences extreme contrasts between its long summer days and equally long winter nights. In the summer, the sun stays in the sky around the clock in the parts of Sweden north of the Arctic Circle, but even as far south as Stockholm (59°N) the June nights have only a few hours of semi-darkness.

For more information about sweden visit: sweden.se

Uppsala

Uppsala is the fourth largest city in Sweden with 195 000 citizens and is located 70 kilometers north of Stockholm in the province of Uppland.

The area around Uppsala has been inhabited since the Iron Age. The Old town in Uppsala was an important economic and political centre. It is also believed that it was an important place for the Aesir faith and the famous Royal mounds from the 5th and 6th centuries are located there. According to ancient mythology and folklore the three gods Thor, Odin and Freyr are buried there. Another theory is that the Royal mounds hold the remains of the three kings of the legendary House of Ynglings. After Sweden became Christianized Uppsala became the main city of Uppland in 1274. Today both the Archbishop of Sweden and the governor of Uppland is seated in Uppsala. Two of the famous buildings in Uppsala is the cathedral and the castle.

The cathedral from 1435 is built in the Gothic style and is one of the largest in northern Europe, with towers reaching 118.70 meters.

The second University in Uppsala is the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). SLU has several campuses in different parts of Sweden and the one in Uppsala is located at Ultuna, just outside Uppsala. The University has five faculties in Uppsala: Faculty of Landscape Planning, Faculty of Horticulture and Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Agriculture Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science and Faculty of Forest Sciences.

Ultuna Student Union at SLU in Uppsala is home of IAAS Sweden and all the IAAS members are students at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

There are about 40 000 students in Uppsala in total and the student life in Uppsala is unique. There is always a lot going on for the students and the main activities take place at the student social clubs called nations. There are 13 student nations in Uppsala dating back to the 17th century. At the nation the students can study, have lunch or participate in activities e.g. dancing, acting, partying, playing music, listen to concerts or just socialize.

More information, visit:

SLU

Ultuna Student Union

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia.

Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of around 870.000 in the municipality , 1.4 million in the urban area, and over 2.1 million in the 6,519 km2 metropolitan area. The Stockholm metropolitan area is home to approximately 22% of Sweden's population.

Founded no later than c. 1250, possibly as early as 1187, Stockholm has long been one of Sweden's cultural, media, political, and economic centres. Its strategic location on 14 islands on the coast in the south-east of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, has been historically important.

Stockholm is known for its beauty, its buildings and architecture, its abundant clean and open water, and its many parks for example Kungsträdgården. It is sometimes referred to as Venice of the North.

Stockholm is the site of the national Swedish government, the Parliament of Sweden (riksdagen), the Supreme Court of Sweden (Högsta domstolen), and the official residence of the Swedish monarch as well as the prime minister. Since 1980, the monarch has resided at Drottningholm Palace in Ekerö, Municipality outside of Stockholm and uses the Stockholm Palace as his workplace and official residence. The government has its seat in Rosenbad and the parliament in the Parliament House.

For more information about Stockholm: www.stockholm.se

Swedish Basic Dictionary

Although a majority of Swedes, are able to understand and speak good English thanks to trade links, popularity of overseas travel, a strong Anglo-American influence (especially in arts and culture), and the tradition of subtitling rather than dubbing foreign television shows and films. Some of you maybe would like to learn some basic words and sentences of the Swedish language =).

Yes = ja
No=Nej
Thank you /Thank you very much= Tack / Tack så mycket
You are welcome = Varsågod
Please = Snälla
Excuse me = Ursäkta
Hello / Good day = Hej / God dag
Goodbye = Hej då
How are you? = Hur mår du?
Good = Bra
See you = Vi ses
Pleased to meet you =Trevligt att träffas
What’s your name = Vad heter du?
My name is.. = Jag heter..
Where are you from? = Varifrån kommer du?
I’ from… = Jag kommer från…
I don’t speak Swedish = Jag talar inte svenska
I like Sweden = Jag gillar Sverige
Would you like a beer? = Vill du ha en öl?

And if you really don’t know what to say, just smile and say Ja Ja Ja, works perfectly (checked)

Two Universities are located in Uppsala; Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Uppsala University is the oldest university in Sweden and was founded in 1477.

One of the most famous persons at Uppsala University was Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778). He was a famous botanist, physician and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature (a formal system of naming species). Carolus Linnaeus lived in Uppsala for many years, and both his house and garden can still be visited.