Sweden has a rich nature due to its location with a long coastal line and the length of the country. In the south part of the country the landscape is flat and dominated by plains and agricultural lands. The forests are dominating the central parts and the more northern parts of the country. In the north the terrain become hillier, colder and the mountains are appearing in the western part towards the border with Norway.

Coastal Areas

The long coastline which is longer then the country border, gives Sweden a rich archipelago area around the coastal cities. In fact the capital Stockholm is built up on a few islands from the archipelago. Sweden also has 2 larger islands with its own culture mostly seen in the largest island, Gotland, with its medieval in heritage.

Lakes

Close to 10% of the area of Sweden contains of water. The water consists of around 97,500 lakes, and the northern river and lakes are used extensively for water power plants. The largest lake in Sweden is Vänern which covers about 7% of the total water area.

Forests and Woods

Forests and woods dominate the Swedish landscape with more then 60% of the area. This makes Sweden the second largest forest country in Europe after Finland. The south is dominated by leaf trees while the north is dominated by pine forests and birches.

Mountains

The mountain chain Skanderna lies in the west and separates Sweden from Norway. The chain is 1700km long and is not very tall, the highest peak in Sweden is Kebnekaise with its 2104 m (6,903 ft), but the mountains are very steep. From the top of Kebnekaise you can see approximately 1/11 of Sweden’s area.