Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
While Denmark and Norway look westward to Britain and the Atlantic,
Sweden has always faced east, across the Baltic Sea. As Vikings, Norwegians
went west to Iceland, Greenland, and America; Danes headed south to Eng-
land, France, and the Mediterranean; and the Swedes went east into Russia.
(The word “Russia” has Viking roots.) In the early Middle Ages, Swedes
founded the Russian cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Kiev, and even served
as royal guards in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). During the later
Middle Ages, German settlers and traders strongly influenced Sweden's cul-
ture and language. By the 17th century, Sweden was a major European power,
with one of the largest naval fleets in Europe and an empire extending around
the Baltic, including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and parts of Poland, Russia,
and Germany. But by the early 19th century, Sweden's war-weary empire had
shrunk. The country's current borders date from 1809.
