Welcome to Sweden
The “transparent” country
What does the average person associate with Sweden? Thrillers (Henning Mankell), films (Ingmar Bergman), children’s books (Astrid Lindgren), equality, a royal family, ikea, Volvo, H&M, Abba, a social state, nature, high tech – the key words which define the highly diverse image of this north European country come to mind immediately. Although Sweden only has nine million inhabitants and does not belong to the most politically powerful states, it is one of the few countries with which people from all continents associate at least one cliché. Yet only few really know Sweden despite the fact that private details on all citizens and government workers are available on the internet.
