Sweden is located on the east side of the Scandinavian Peninsula in northern Europe. It has nine million inhabitants of which almost two million live in and around the capital, Stockholm. The official language is Swedish. Sweden has been a constitutional monarchy since 1809, and has had a parliamentary system of government since 1719. Despite its natural riches, Sweden is a country built on people. Today, knowledge is Sweden’s prime asset, with education kept in the public domain and developed to a standard that ranks consistently among the highest in OECD statistics.
The Swedish higher education system includes traditional university studies and professional training. There are a total of 61 universities, university colleges and Since taking part in the Bologna Process, a Europe-wide cooperation to harmonise all higher education, there have been major changes in the Swedish university system. A three-level degree structure was introduced in 2007: