Sweden (2001) | Reunion (2006) | |
Administrative divisions | 21 counties (lan, singular and plural); Blekinge, Dalarnas, Gavleborgs, Gotlands, Hallands, Jamtlands, Jonkopings, Kalmar, Kronobergs, Norrbottens, Orebro, Ostergotlands, Skane, Sodermanlands, Stockholms, Uppsala, Varmlands, Vasterbottens, Vasternorrlands, Vastmanlands, Vastra Gotalands | none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
18.19% (male 828,308; female 786,353) 15-64 years: 64.53% (male 2,911,949; female 2,814,730) 65 years and over: 17.28% (male 649,296; female 884,417) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.8% (male 120,147/female 114,589)
15-64 years: 64% (male 248,895/female 255,156) 65 years and over: 6.2% (male 19,847/female 28,950) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | grains, sugar beets, potatoes; meat, milk | sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn |
Airports | 255 (2000 est.) | 2 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
147 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 11 1,524 to 2,437 m: 80 914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.) |
total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
108 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 103 (2000 est.) |
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Area | total:
449,964 sq km land: 410,934 sq km water: 39,030 sq km |
total: 2,517 sq km
land: 2,507 sq km water: 10 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than California | slightly smaller than Rhode Island |
Background | A military power during the 17th century, Sweden has not participated in any war in almost two centuries. An armed neutrality was preserved in both World Wars. Sweden's long-successful economic formula of a capitalist system interlarded with substantial welfare elements has recently been undermined by high unemployment, rising maintenance costs, and a declining position in world markets. Indecision over the country's role in the political and economic integration of Europe caused Sweden not to join the EU until 1995, and to forgo the introduction of the euro in 1999. | The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration, supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians, gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route. |
Birth rate | 9.91 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 18.9 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$133 billion expenditures: $125.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $554.7 million
expenditures: $554.7 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (1998) |
Capital | Stockholm | name: Saint-Denis
geographic coordinates: 20 52 S, 55 28 E time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north | tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry (May to November), hot and rainy (November to April) |
Coastline | 3,218 km | 207 km |
Constitution | 1 January 1975 | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | conventional long form:
Kingdom of Sweden conventional short form: Sweden local long form: Konungariket Sverige local short form: Sverige |
conventional long form: Department of Reunion
conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island |
Currency | Swedish krona (SEK) | - |
Death rate | 10.61 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.49 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $66.5 billion (1994) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Lyndon Lowell OLSON, Jr. embassy: Dag Hammarskjolds VAG 31, SE-11589 Stockholm mailing address: American Embassy Stockholm, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5750 (pouch) telephone: [46] (8) 783 53 00 FAX: [46] (8) 661 19 64 |
none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Jan ELIASSON chancery: 1501 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20005-1702 telephone: [1] (202) 467-2600 FAX: [1] (202) 467-2699 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles and New York |
none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - donor | ODA, $1.7 billion (1997) | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France (2001 est.) |
Economy - overview | Aided by peace and neutrality for the whole twentieth century, Sweden has achieved an enviable standard of living under a mixed system of high-tech capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. It has a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external communications, and a skilled labor force. Timber, hydropower, and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy heavily oriented toward foreign trade. Privately owned firms account for about 90% of industrial output, of which the engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. Agriculture accounts for only 2% of GDP and 2% of the jobs. In recent years, however, this extraordinarily favorable picture has been somewhat clouded by budgetary difficulties, high unemployment, and a gradual loss of competitiveness in international markets. Sweden has harmonized its economic policies with those of the EU, which it joined at the start of 1995. GDP growth is forecast for 4% in 2001. | The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrated the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France. |
Electricity - consumption | 128.819 billion kWh (1999) | 1.107 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 15.9 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 8.35 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 146.633 billion kWh (1999) | 1.19 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
5.53% hydro: 47.24% nuclear: 45.42% other: 1.81% (1999) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Baltic Sea 0 m highest point: Kebnekaise 2,111 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m |
Environment - current issues | acid rain damaging soils and lakes; pollution of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
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Ethnic groups | indigenous population: Swedes and Finnish and Sami minorities; foreign-born or first-generation immigrants: Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks | French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian |
Exchange rates | Swedish kronor per US dollar - 9.4669 (January 2001), 9.1622 (2000), 8.2624 (1999), 7.9499 (1998), 7.6349 (1997), 6.7060 (1996) | euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
King CARL XVI GUSTAF (since 19 September 1973); Heir Apparent Princess VICTORIA Ingrid Alice Desiree, daughter of the monarch (born 14 July 1977) head of government: Prime Minister Goran PERSSON (since 21 March 1996) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; prime minister elected by the Parliament; election last held NA September 1998 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: Goran PERSSON reelected prime minister with 131 out of 349 votes |
chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Pierre-Henry MACCIONI (since 28 August 2006)
head of government: President of the General Council Nassimah DINDAR (since NA March 2004) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
Exports | $95.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | machinery 35%, motor vehicles, paper products, pulp and wood, iron and steel products, chemicals | sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3% |
Exports - partners | EU 55% (Germany 11%, UK 10%, Denmark 6%, Finland 5%, France 5%), US 9%, Norway 8% (1999) | France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | blue with a yellow cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag) | unofficial, local flag designed to emphasize solidarity among the people of Reunion; the field is divided vertically with three narrow stripes of blue, white, and red along the hoist edge representing the French national flag; the remainder of the field is divided diagonally into four triangles colored (clockwise from the hoist side) blue, golden yellow, red, and green; in the center, the apexes of the triangles are surmounted by a white disk; the only official flag is the national flag of France |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $197 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
2.2% industry: 27.9% services: 69.9% (1999) |
agriculture: 8%
industry: 19% services: 73% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $22,200 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.3% (2000 est.) | 2.5% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 62 00 N, 15 00 E | 21 06 S, 55 36 E |
Geography - note | strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas | this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | - |
Highways | total:
210,760 km paved: 162,707 km (including 1,428 km of expressways) unpaved: 48,053 km (1999) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
3.7% highest 10%: 20.1% (1992) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $80 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel; foodstuffs, clothing | manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products |
Imports - partners | EU 67% (Germany 18%, UK 10%, Denmark 7%, France 6%), Norway 8%, US 6% (1999) | France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2004) |
Independence | 6 June 1523 (Gustav VASA elected king) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Industries | iron and steel, precision equipment (bearings, radio and telephone parts, armaments), wood pulp and paper products, processed foods, motor vehicles | sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction |
Infant mortality rate | 3.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 7.63 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.37 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.85 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.2% (2000 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 6, G- 9, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNMOP, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (observer), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC | InOC, UPU, WFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 29 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 1,150 sq km (1993 est.) | 120 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Hogsta Domstolen (judges are appointed by the prime minister and the cabinet) | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 4.4 million (2000 est.) | 299,000 (2002) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 2%, industry 24%, services 74% (2000 est.) | agriculture: 13%
industry: 12% services: 75% (2000) |
Land boundaries | total:
2,205 km border countries: Finland 586 km, Norway 1,619 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land:
7% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 68% other: 24% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 13.94%
permanent crops: 1.59% other: 84.47% (2005) |
Languages | Swedish
note: small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities |
French (official), Creole widely used |
Legal system | civil law system influenced by customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | French law |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament or Riksdag (349 seats; members are elected by popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 September 1998 (next to be held NA September 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - Social Democrats 36.5%, Moderates 22.7%, Left Party 12%, Christian Democrats 11.8%, Center Party 5.1%, Liberal Party 4.7%, Greens 4.5%; seats by party - Social Democrats 131, Moderates 82, Left Party 43, Christian Democrats 42, Center Party 18, Liberal Party 17, Greens 16 |
unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA); Regional Council - last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held in 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - PCR 44.9%, UMP 32.8%, PS-Greens 22.3%; seats by party - PCR 27, UMP 11, PS-Greens 7 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held in 2001 (next to be held in 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRC 1, UDF 1, UMP 1; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held in 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 3, PS 1, independent 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
79.71 years male: 77.07 years female: 82.5 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 74.18 years
male: 70.78 years female: 77.75 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% (1979 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 88.9% male: 87% female: 90.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Kattegat, and Skagerrak, between Finland and Norway | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar |
Map references | Europe | World |
Maritime claims | continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: agreed boundaries or midlines territorial sea: 12 NM (adjustments made to return a portion of straits to high seas) |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total:
167 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,205,370 GRT/1,663,091 DWT ships by type: bulk 5, cargo 28, chemical tanker 31, combination ore/oil 4, liquefied gas 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 29, railcar carrier 1, roll on/roll off 40, short-sea passenger 4, specialized tanker 6, vehicle carrier 17 (2000 est.) |
registered in other countries: 1 (Bahamas 1) (2006) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | Swedish Army, Royal Swedish Navy, Swedish Air Force | no regular indigenous military forces; French forces (includes Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie) (2005) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $5 billion (FY98) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.1% (FY98) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,062,566 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,803,995 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - military age | 19 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
51,506 (2001 est.) |
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National holiday | Flag Day, 6 June | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun:
Swede(s) adjective: Swedish |
noun: Reunionese (singular and plural)
adjective: Reunionese |
Natural hazards | ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic | periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano |
Natural resources | zinc, iron ore, lead, copper, silver, timber, uranium, hydropower | fish, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Pipelines | natural gas 84 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Center Party [Lennart DALEUS]; Christian Democratic Party [Alf SVENSSON]; Communist Workers' Party [Rolf HAGEL]; Green Party [no formal leader but party spokesperson is Briger SCHLAUG]; Left Party or VP (formerly Communist) [Gudrun SCHYMAN]; Liberal People's Party [Lars LEIJONBORG]; Moderate Party (conservative) [Bo LUNDGREN]; New Democracy Party [Vivianne FRANZEN]; Social Democratic Party [Goran PERSSON] | Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Elie HOARAU]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Michel VERGOZ]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 8,875,053 (July 2001 est.) | 787,584 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.02% (2001 est.) | 1.34% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Gavle, Goteborg, Halmstad, Helsingborg, Hudiksvall, Kalmar, Karlshamn, Malmo, Solvesborg, Stockholm, Sundsvall | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 265, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001) |
Radios | 8.25 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
12,821 km (includes 3,594 km of privately owned railways) standard gauge: 12,821 km 1.435-m gauge (7,918 km electrified and 1,152 km double track) (1998) |
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Religions | Lutheran 87%, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist | Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
excellent domestic and international facilities; automatic system domestic: coaxial and multiconductor cables carry most of the voice traffic; parallel microwave radio relay systems carry some additional telephone channels international: 5 submarine coaxial cables; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Sweden shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway) |
general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis
domestic: modern open-wire and microwave radio relay network international: country code - 262; radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
Telephones - main lines in use | 6.017 million (December 1998) | 300,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 3.835 million (October 1998) | 579,200 (2004) |
Television broadcast stations | 169 (plus 1,299 repeaters) (1995) | 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west | mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast |
Total fertility rate | 1.53 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.45 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 6% (2000 est.) | 31% (2002) |
Waterways | 2,052 km
note: navigable for small steamers and barges |
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