Sweden
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.6 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city. Since the early 19th century Sweden has generally been at peace and has largely avoided war.
Today, Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with aparliamentary democracy form of government and a highly developed economy. Sweden has the world's eighth-highest per capita income. In 2013, it ranked second in the world on the Democracy Index, seventh (tied with Ireland) on the 2013 United Nations' Human Development Index (third on the inequality-adjusted HDI), second on the 2013 OECD Better Life Index and fourth on the 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index.
In 2012, the World Economic Forum ranked Sweden as the fourth-most competitive country in the world.According to the United Nations, it has the third-lowestinfant mortality rate in the world. In 2010, Sweden also had one of the lowest Gini coefficients of all developed countries (0.25), making Sweden one of the world's most equal countries in terms of income. Sweden's wealth, however, is distributed much less equally than its income, with a wealth Gini coefficient of 0.85, which is higher than the European average of 0.8.
In 2013, The Economist declared that the Nordic countries"are probably the best-governed in the world," with Sweden in first place, and Sweden placed second on the Reputation Institute's 2013 rankings for the world's most reputable countries, in which over 27,000 Group of Eight (G8) citizens were surveyed.
