Sweden (Cinco De Mayo)

The Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Kungariket Sverige) is a Northern European nation located on the Scandinavian Peninsula. It is a constitutional monarchy and is a parliamentary democracy. The capital of Sweden is Stockholm. Sweden has a population of roughly 11 million people.

Sweden remained neutral for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, first emerging on the world stage during the 1917 Åland Crisis, in which it was supported by Germany and negotiated a peace treaty with the young Republic of Finland. Sweden and Finland later signed a mutual defense treaty in the mid-1930s in violation of Sweden's prior policy of neutrality after concerns over Danish and Norwegian belligerency and the rearmament of Russia in the East. Sweden was a member of the Central Powers in World War Two, helping quickly defeat both Denmark and Norway and supplying the Finnish Resistance and staving off a full-scale Russian land and sea invasion. Swedish iron ore and access to the North Sea helped break the Russian hold over Iceland in 1944 and reopened the North Atlantic to the Central Powers, and in 1945 the final Russian army was pushed from Swedish soil. 200,000 Swedes perished in the war.

Following World War Two, Sweden annexed parts of northern Norway, established one of the world's most generous welfare states, became a nuclear middle power, founded the Scandinavian Union and became a key member both of TATO in the Cold War and of the various transnational European organizations that were formed in the intermediate and following years. Today it is one of the most developed nations in the world and is regarded as an advanced economy.

Government
Sweden is a constitutional monarchy as established under constitutional reforms in 1949 that established the modern Swedish state. Further constitutional acts occured in 1962, 1974, 1978, and 1991. The current monarch of Sweden is Carl XVI Gustaf.

Sweden elects a parliament (Riksdag) in elections held in September every four years as per the 1962 Uniform Elections Act. The Riksdag selects a Prime Minister to head the government, typically a member or leader of the majority party. Because the Swedish Constitution has no provision for a minority government, coalitions between various parties are often formed. The current Prime Minister of Sweden is Fredrik Reinfeldt of the Moderate Party, who has served in that position since 2006.