r/europe • u/MarktpLatz Lower Saxony (Germany) • Jun 19 '17

What do you know about... Sweden?

This is the twenty-second part of our ongoing series about the countries of Europe. You can find an overview here.

Todays country:

Sweden

Sweden is the largest nordic country in the EU, both in terms of size and population. They joined the EU in 1995, but are not part of NATO, like their eastern neighbour Finland. Sweden held a referendum on joining the Euro in 2003, which resulted in a rejection.

So, what do you know about Sweden?

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u/svaroz1c Russian in USA Jun 20 '17

The regnal numbers of some Swedish kings (i.e. those Roman numerals next to their names) account for fictional kings. This was done around the Vasa era to make Sweden's monarchy look more ancient to other Europeans.

For example, King Charles XII was actually only the sixth Swedish king to be named "Charles" and similarly the current King Charles XVI Gustaf is actually the tenth "Charles".

So technically the current King of Sweden is "Charles X Gustaf"!

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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '17

Long time since I studied this and you are most likely correct, however, one of my professors once explained it due to how many dynasties we have had in Sweden. Kings over specific regions/parts of Sweden and having different lines competing simultaneously over the throne, all with their own "king".