SWE'DEN ( Sw. ,c:rcrige) . The eastern and larger part of the Scandinavian peninsula. It is separated from Denmark on the southwest by the Cattegat and on She west, north, and east is bounded by Norway, Finland, and the Baltic Sea. It extends from latitude 55° 20' N. to 00°, and front longitude 11° E. to 24°. Area, 172,1476 square miles. In several physical aspects it differs much from Norway. It contains more level land and is more fertile and therefore adapt ed to support a larger population. Its coasts are not so deeply indented; its climate is continental instead of oceanic; and its harbors may be blocked with ice for five months, while those of Norway are nn frozen. Sweden comprises three main divisions. The northern half, which is very scantily inhabited, is called Norrland. The southern half comprises Svealand (Svearil
ToroGRAmy. The area of all the islands that are a part of Sweden is about 3000 square miles. A group of islands without mountains or vegeta tion skirt the Cattegat north of Goteborg; and north of Kalmar, on the Baltic side, are many islets, chiefly low rocks in shallow water, the continuation seaward of the Swedish plain. Two large islands in the Baltic lie off the smaler)] or peninsular part of Sweden. The smaller, Oland, a narrow strip of land, SO miles long, was once a part of the chalk shore of the mainland, from which it is separated by only two miles at the narrowest part of Kalmar Sound. The other, Gotland, is farther at sea, but connected with the mainland by a submarine bank. Only a compara tively small part of Sweden is very mountainous —the portion lying along the Norwegian border. The frontier region is not all mountains, but a part of it is a high and bleak plateau. (See To pography in NoRwAY.) The greatest heights are in the northwest. Kebnekaisse being 7004 feet. In the south is a hilly district rising front a plateau that is several hundred feet above the surrounding plains of the coast, and is separated front the mountains of the north by the great depression occupied by the southern lakes. Most
of the remainder of Sweden is a plateau sloping rapidly from the mountain fringe to a plain which stretches along the east coast to the southern extremity of the country, and which in cludes the fertile lowlands of Gotland, strewn with erratic boulders. where the largest and most productive farm lands are found.
HPDROGrAt'riY. Sweden is well watered and is rich in lakes. Many rivers flow from the mountains southeast to the Gnlf of Bothnia or the Baltic, affording much water power. but little navigation. on account of their rapid fall. They pass through many lakes, particu lady in the upper part of their courses, and the lakes have the effect of equalizing the floods so that the rivers are quite regular in their discharge. The numerous falls and rapids give picturesque charm to the rivers. The Mar Elf ('large stream'), the largest river, flows south into Lake \Teller. The Giita Elf, which dis clarges the waters of Lake Vener into the Cat tega t, is more important, because its falls and rapids have been circumvented by canals, making it a part of the waterway system of South Sweden. The principal river emptying into the Baltic is the Dal Elf. Many of the Swedish lakes are large and beautiful, and are distinguished by the clearness of their water and their picturesque surroundings. The fora• great lakes of the coun try lie in the depressed area north of the plateau of Southern Sweden. Lake Vener, the largest of them, is the third largest in Europe (over 2000 square miles). Lakes Vetter (about 700 square miles)„ 1]jelinar, and Millar 670 square miles) drain into the Baltic.