Sweden has a long and proud history of academic excellence, with outstanding universities dating back to the 15th century. Sweden is the home of the Nobel Prize, the world's most prestigious academic distinction.
At 4.9 % of the annual gross domestic product (GDP), Sweden’s public spending on education is the OECD’s highest. Sweden is also one of the world’s leading research nations, relative its size. The total investment in research and development on a per-capita basis is the highest in the world after Israel.
Inventions
Sweden is the home country of many inventions considering its small population. Dynamite is a Swedish invention invented by Alfred Nobel and was the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder. Nobel obtained patents for his invention in 1867. The ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the moving parts of the bearing. In 1907 Sven Winquist invented the self-aligning ball bearing and in the same year that the self-aligning ball bearing became a commercial reality.
The safety match was invented in 1844 by the Gustaf Erik Pasch and was improved by Johan Edvard Lundström. Johan Edvard and his younger brother started a large scale match industry around 1847, but the improved safety match was not introduced until around 1850-55.
In 1858 their company produced around 12 million match boxes.
The pacemaker is a medical device which uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart. The first clinical implantation into a human of a fully implantable pacemaker was in 1958 using a pacemaker designed by Rune Elmqvist and surgeon Åke Senning.
In recent years computer users have discovered the Swedish innovations Skype and Spotify. The two software applications allow users to make free calls over the internet and listen to streamed music online, funded by advertising.
Companies
Sweden is ranked as having the best creativity in Europe for business and is predicted to become a talent magnet for the world’s most dedicated workers. There are quite a few well-known companies that have their roots in Sweden. Below you find a list of some famous companies.
- Alfa Laval
- Akzo Nobel (Swedish-Dutch)
- ASSA ABLOY
- AstraZeneca (Swedish-British)
- Atlas Copco
- Ericsson
- Electrolux
- Hennes & Mauritz (H&M)
- Husqvarna
- IKEA (now seated in The Netherlands)
- Koenigsegg
- Pharmacia & Upjohn (merged into Pharmacia Inc.)
- Pharmacia Inc. (acquired by Pfizer)
- Saab
- Scania AB
- Starbreeze Studios
- Tetra Pak
- Tieto (Swedish-Finnish)
- Volvo