Sweden vs United Kingdom

Sweden is 1.8 times larger than United Kingdom — 450,295 against 243,610 km². United Kingdom is 6.6 times more populous than Sweden — 69,487,000 against 10,596,620 people.

Side by side

Population density

United Kingdom is 12 times more densely populated than Sweden — 285 against 24 people per km². Density is where area and population interact, and it often reverses the impression the headline figures give — a large country with a small population can feel emptier than a small crowded one by an enormous margin.

Practical differences

• They drive on opposite sides — Sweden on the right, United Kingdom on the left.
• Different currencies: the Swedish krona and the British pound.

Sweden

Sweden has roughly 267,000 islands, more than any other country, though only a small fraction are inhabited. Around seventy percent of it is forest, and a seventh lies above the Arctic Circle. Its right of public access lets anyone walk and camp on most uncultivated land.

United Kingdom

Made up of Great Britain, the north-east of Ireland and around 6,000 smaller islands. No point in the UK is more than about 113 km from the sea. Ben Nevis, the highest point, is 1,345 m, which is modest — but the country has around 31,000 km of coastline once every inlet is counted.

Neutral facts only. Nothing here addresses politics, government, economics or which country is preferable in any respect — population is the one figure that dates, and it carries its year.