SverigeStart
Know Sweden
Moving to Sweden or just arrived? SverigeStart explains Swedish bureaucracy, work, taxes, housing, healthcare and daily life in plain language — with an AI assistant that explains important documents and gives clear, source-based answers.
Updated: 2026-07-31
SverigeStart brings information from many official Swedish sources together in one place, and we work to keep it up to date. Even so, rules, rates and amounts can change at any time, and we cannot guarantee that a page here always matches the authority's latest wording. Always confirm with the responsible authority before you act. We give general information, not professional advice on legal, tax, immigration or medical matters, and we take no responsibility for differences between this page and the official source, or for decisions taken on the basis of it.
The country in 60 seconds
A quick orientation before the practical guides — who Sweden actually is as a country, since a lot of newcomers arrive without ever having studied this.
- About 10.6 million people across a country stretching roughly 1,570 km north to south. Capital: Stockholm (~1 million in the city, ~2.4 million metro); other major cities: Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala.
- Constitutional monarchy (King Carl XVI Gustaf; Crown Princess Victoria is the heir), parliament is the Riksdag. Sweden is an EU member (unlike Norway) but keeps its own currency, the krona (SEK), and joined NATO in 2024.
- One official language, Swedish, plus recognised minority languages (Finnish, Meänkieli, Sámi, Romani, Yiddish) in certain regions.
Places everyone talks about
A few places come up constantly in everyday Swedish conversation and media — knowing roughly what and where they are helps you follow along.
- Stockholm: Gamla Stan (old town), Djurgården's museums (Vasamuseet, Skansen), the archipelago just a ferry ride away.
- Gothenburg: Sweden's second city, a major port with a laid-back reputation and its own dialect.
- Malmö: closest big city to Copenhagen (connected by the Öresund Bridge), young and diverse.
- Swedish Lapland: Kiruna, the Icehotel, northern lights (Sep–Mar) and the midnight sun in summer. Gotland: the medieval walled town of Visby, a huge summer draw.
Names you'll hear
A handful of Swedish names and brands come up so often in daily life and conversation that they're worth recognising, even as a total newcomer.
- Global brands born here: IKEA, H&M, Spotify, Volvo, Ericsson.
- Culture: ABBA, author Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking), crime writer Stieg Larsson, Nobel Prize founder Alfred Nobel (the prizes are still awarded in Stockholm each December, except the Peace Prize in Oslo).
- Sport: footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović, tennis legend Björn Borg.