LET IT SHINE The early summer sun greets a visiting family in Stockholm Their first stop is Skansen an outdoor museum Visitors go back in time as they wander through traditional Swedish settlements A zoo and aquarium offer glimpses of Swedish wildlife 4
STOCKHOLM OTHER TOP SITES DROTTNINGHOLM PALACE ICEHOTEL JUKKASJÄRVI VIKING CITY OF BIRKA VISBY ISLAND OF GOTLAND Next they visit the Vasa Museum A real 17th-century warship looms tall for everyone to view up close from the museum’s six floors There are artifacts and even skeletons from the wreck to marvel at After dinner in a café the family enjoys a sunny boat ride along Stockholm’s canals before bed This is Sweden 5
LOCATION Sweden covers 173,860 square miles 450,295 square kilometers of a region called Scandinavia It is one of the northernmost countries in Europe Its northern region called Lapland lies partly in the Arctic Circle Sweden and its western neighbor Norway are on a peninsula that juts southwest from Finland Along Sweden’s eastern shore is the Gulf of Bothnia which opens into the Baltic Sea Stockholm Sweden’s capital lies along the sea’s coast Denmark is off Sweden’s southwestern shore separated by narrow ocean straits One is called the Kattegat or Cat’s Throat It connects the Baltic Sea to the North Sea 6 NORWEGIAN SEA NORTH SEA
HERE COMES THE SUN Because it is so far north Stockholm has 18 hours of light in the summer but only about 6 hours in the winter Lapland winters may not have any light at all ARCTIC CIRCLE SWEDEN NORWAY GULF OF BOTHNIA FINLAND UPPSALA STOCKHOLM GOTHENBURG KATTEGAT DENMARK MALMÖ BALTIC SEA 7
