SWEDEN In Sweden, as in Norway, agriculture is the most important pursuit of the people, probably rather more than half of the working population being engaged in it. The districts in which it is carried on are all situated within the region which has been covered by debris left by the retreating ice-sheet or washed down by glacial streams. In the north of this region, where climatic conditions are unfavourable, less than 10 per cent. of the land is cultivated, but south of the 60th parallel the percentage of cultivated land increases in many places to between 20 and 50 per cent., while in the south of Scania it is over 80 per cent. Of the whole country about one-twelfth is under crops, oats, rye, barley, and fodder plants being the most important. The production of cereals does not meet the home demand and importation is necessary.
The large natural meadows, covering over 3 per cent. of the total area of the country, and the extensive forest pastures have encouraged the development of dairy farming. There are over 2,500,000 cattle in the country and large quantities of butter are exported, chiefly to Great Britain.
The forests which occur in all parts of Sweden, except on the plateau, cover half its area, and provide 45 per cent. of its exports ; but timber and wood-pulp are chiefly obtained from what is known as the Forest region, that is, the eastern slope of the Scandinavian plateau between the primary rocks of the plateau proper and the glacial periphery. Here, climate and soil render the land unsuitable for agriculture, the snows of winter facilitate the removal of the timber from the forests, and the spring freshets float it down to the coast, along which stands a line of small towns, all engaged in the preparation and export of forest produce. As in Norway, water-power is extensively used to drive machinery in saw mills and pulp factories. Great Britain is Sweden's chief customer both for timber and pulp, but other European countries take a large share.
The most important factor in the mineral wealth of Sweden is iron ore, which occurs in the central parts of the country and in the Norrland. In the first of these regions, the chief producing districts are within an area which stretches from the southernmost parts of the Gulf of Bothnia to a point north of Lake Venern in the west. In this area are the Dannemora, the Grangesberg, and the Norberg ore fields, the first being famous for the purity of its iron. The most important fields in the Norrland are those of
Gellivara and Kirunavara, both of which lie within the Arctic circle. These mines, which have only been opened up within recent years, now produce between 55 and 60 per cent. of the Swedish output. They are connected by rail with Lulea near the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, and with the Norwegian ice-free port of Narvik, which ships more than half of the total output. The production of iron ore in Sweden in 1909-10-11 averaged 4,250,000 metric tons, or per cent. of the world's production. The greater part of it is exported to Germany—chiefly to the Rhine manufacturing district—but a considerable amount is also sent to England and some goes to the United States.
The manufacture of iron has long been carried on in the southern region where the population is large, the ore good, and wood for fuel and the manufacture of charcoal, abundant. The product is of excellent quality, but, with the use of coal for smelting iron, Sweden has had to take a relatively lower position among the iron producing countries, though it is possible that the development of electrical processes may enable her to regain something of her former importance.
Among other manufactures not already mentioned are woollen goods at Norrkoping, where water-power is obtained from the River Motala; cotton goods at Gothenburg and Norrkoping ; matches at Jonkoping, where there is also waterpower; paper in the vicinity of Lake Venern ; and explosives near Stockholm. The chief im ports include coal from the United Kingdom—large quantities are imported from Scotland—iron and machinery from the United Kingdom and Germany, textiles from the same countries, wheat from various sources, and coffee from Brazil. In the five years 1906-10 the value of the imports averaged £35,000,000, and that of the exports £28,000,000.
The development of railways in Scandinavia has naturally been impeded by the topography of the country. Stockholm and Christiania are connected, and there are also lines from the former city to Gothenburg and Malmo, two of the chief ports of Sweden. Another line runs north from Stockholm to Lulea, with a branch to Trondhjem, which is also connected with Christiania by a railway that follows the valley of the Glommen. From Lulea there is communication with Narvik in Norway.