Hey, you can add us Finns too;) According to my personal experience: Swedes tend to look us down their noses, they are proud and seem to think that they are better people [bättre folk]. Especially when comparing themselves to Finns and to some extent, Norwegians.But hey, they have a reason: few hundred thousand Finns have wrought havoc in their country for long time... and Norwegians were part of their empire until early 20th century [1905??] I am rather open minded person and I know people from all over the world, but still... I have never encountered a Swede with whom I would have gotten along really well. Finnish Swedes are another case, they are different...

You are tempting me!!! The primary characteristic is sanctimony. It is a country that is streaching the definition of democracy. They have a code of conduct (dubious in itself) that makes the taliban dress-code for women look frivilous. Example: They preach world peace and resistance to dictatorship; but sell weapons to every thug on the planet. Their moral is a marketing tool. They blame the Danes for talking unpolitely about islamic fundamentalists; and keep their own enormeous problems under wrap. We have our share of nasties; but the murder rate in Sweden is 2.5 times the Danish. Let put it like this: The Swedes have an advantage the other Nordic countries do not have: Good neighbours! Yesterday they claimed George Bush has swedish ancestry. The forefather should have emigrated around 1640 from Värmland - but was probably Finnish. HE GOT OUT IN TIME! The ethnic cleansing in the 18th century in Scania makes Slobodan Milosovic seem like your friedly kindergarden teacher.

The swedes were (I think )a major scandanavian miltary military power under Gustavus Adolphus (or is it Adolphus Gustavus). Didn't the Danes have a large empire too?

True; but that was in medieaval times. The english also aquired Home Rule - look what a mess that has brought them into. In fact the Anericas were under the Danish King Pre-Columbus, as the Diocese of Greenland was under the Arch-diocese in Lund. To cut the story about the Swedes short: When bronze was the gunmetal Sweden got rich due to the copper in the northern part of Sweden - and money is the thing wars live on. Charles XI left Sweden with full coffers, but his son made Sweden a major power (stopped by the russians as Napoleon and Hitler) - and the jerk squandered all the wealth. This led to the Swedes - in the fine tradition of that country - shot him (I'm sorry Norway; but it must have been a Swede shooting him). Since then they have traded with all parties in war and that made the Swedish welfare state.

Sorry for ever doubting you Thomas.

Rather a convinced doubter than a confirmed fanatic.

"Since then they have traded with all parties in war..." I beg to differ on that one. They sell weapons to you during peacetime but when you actually need to use them they invoke their pathetic neutrality clause and refuse to sell ammunition or spare parts. During the Vietnam War (undeclared), the Australians found the Swedish-supplied Carl Gustav 84mm AT RCL handy for use against Viet Cong bunkers, etc. However, once we ran out of ammo the Swedes refused to sell us any more. We had to use the 66mm LAW which, being smaller, was less effective. In effect, the Swedes were helping the enemy! Lesson for the day - if you think you might actually need to use it, don't buy Swedish. Cheers.

From a Brit perspective, Swedish men are Blond wear glasses and sit in blocks of ice all day for health benifits, before going back home to a empty wooden house on a mountainside with one thin wooden flatpack bed and a plastic sculpture. Swedish women are all 18 yr old Blond and are totally Hawt ChiX!! Whooooo!!!!!

"Swedish women are all 18 yr old Blond and are totally Hawt ChiX!! Whooooo!!!!!" That could make up for a lot of their national deficiencies, but I'm sure Thomas will tell us that they're all lesbians anyway.

I stand corrected! I was to positive!