Sweden

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Sweden (Swedish: Sverige - officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge tunnel across the Öresund Strait. At 450,295 square kilometers (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the largest country in Northern Europe, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total population of 10.4 million; and a low population density of 25 inhabitants per square kilometer (65/sq mi). 87% of Swedes live in urban areas, which cover 1.5% of the entire land area. The highest concentration is in the central and southern half of the country.

Sweden is part of the geographical area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in general mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. In spite of the high latitude, Sweden often has warm continental summers, being located in between the North Atlantic, the Baltic Sea, and vast Russia. The general climate and environment vary significantly from the south and north due to the vast latitudinal difference, and much of Sweden has reliably cold and snowy winters. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested and includes a portion of the Scandinavian Mountains.

Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats (Swedish: Götar) and Swedes (Svear) and constituting the sea peoples known as the Norsemen. An independent Swedish state emerged during the early 12th century. After the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century killed about a third of the Scandinavian population, the dominance of the Hanseatic League in Northern Europe threatened Scandinavia economically and politically. This led to the forming of the Scandinavian Kalmar Union in 1397, which Sweden left in 1523. When Sweden became involved in the Thirty Years' War on the Protestant side, an expansion of its territories began, and eventually, the Swedish Empire was formed. This became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, ending with the annexation of present-day Finland by Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814 when Norway was militarily forced into a personal union, which peacefully dissolved in 1905. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining an official policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. In 2014, Sweden celebrated 200 years of peace, breaking even Switzerland's record for peace. Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars and the Cold War, albeit Sweden has since 2009 openly moved towards cooperation with NATO.

Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with legislative power vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. It is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. It has the world's eleventh-highest per capita income and ranks very highly in quality of life, health, education, protection of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, income equality, gender equality, prosperity, and human development. Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 but has rejected NATO membership, as well as Eurozone membership following a referendum. It is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Spanking in Sweden

Spanking was common in Sweden until the 20th century. Traditional was birching, but also a variety of other implements were used in Sweden, e.g. canes and belts.

Sweden was the first country worldwide that made the spanking of children illegal, not only in schools but also for parents. This law was passed in 1979 and persists to the present day.

Swedish spanking art

Swedish spanking artists include Mr. KD and C. of Sweden

See also

List of Spanking Implements
Flat spanking implements bath brush (wooden or plastic) belt bimmy cooking spatula (wooden or plastic) dough scraper (rubber or silicone) flyswatter hairbrush (wooden or plastic) leather paddle Newspaper paddle (wooden paddle) ping-pong paddle ruler (wooden or plastic) slapper/flapper slipper / Plimsoll strap / Strop tawse wooden spoon Stick-like spanking implements blackboard pointer cane (rattan, bamboo etc.) crop ferula stick switch yardstick Other spanking implements baccalà (clipfish) birch carpet beater Quirt rope's end scourge stinging nettles Whipping implements include bullwhip cat o' nine tails chicotte (an African whip) flail flogger horsehair whip human hair whip klopfpeitsche loopy johnny martinet quirt rebenque (South American gaucho whip) rubber hose single-tail whip sjambok (South African whip)
Some spanking implements produce more "sting" while others produce more "thud". See "sting and thud" for more on this distinction.

More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Sweden ]

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