What it's like to live in Sweden

The short version

• Light: in Stockholm the sun is up for just over 6 hours around 21 December and about 18.5 hours around 21 June.
• Housing: the Stockholm queue averages about 9 years for a first-hand contract. Sublets (andrahand) have no queue but cost more and are often short.
• Work: by law most employees get at least 25 paid holiday days a year, and many Swedes take a long break in the summer.
• Nature: allemansrätten lets you walk, pick berries and camp for a night on most land, as long as you do not disturb people or damage anything.
• Paperwork: a personnummer is the key to almost everything, from a bank account to the housing queue.

What newcomers notice

Swedes are often reserved with strangers and warm once they know you. The usual first step is an invitation to fika. Being on time matters, rules in apartment buildings are taken seriously, and a lot of everyday life is arranged by booking: the laundry room, the sauna, the courtyard.

English works well in the big cities, but Swedish opens up work and friendships. Municipalities offer free Swedish lessons for immigrants (SFI) to people who qualify.

Guides

Each guide answers one question in two sentences first, then adds the details.

• How the bostadskö works: How the housing queue works, and first-hand versus sublet.
• What is fika?: The coffee break that is really a social ritual.
• The tvättstuga and the arga lappar: The shared laundry room and its famous angry notes.
• The dark winter and the light summer: Sunrise and sunset in Stockholm, and how Swedes cope.
• Swedish holidays through the year: Lucia, Midsommar, Kräftskiva, Fettisdagen and the rest.

Questions and answers