As many of you know, I’m from California. Well, not really from California but spent a good part of my life and college years there. It still counts.
And every time I visit California, I notice all these differences between there and Sweden. Duh, I know they are two different regions. There isn’t much to compare when you have the North Pole versus silicon babes and chips.
But, did you know that Sweden is roughly the same geographic size as California? And did you know that Stockholm has a similar sized population as San Francisco?
Yea, I bet you didn’t know that!
the stockholm archipelago
wine country – napa county
I thought then how fun would it be to make a comparison list of California versus Sweden. Crime, teenage pregnancy, unemployment rate, geography, the number of Swedes hiding in Noe Valley, etc.
Perhaps that will help all you’all people sitting on the fence whether to move to Sweden from California or vice versa.
Fun facts and statistics:
| Sweden | California | |
|---|---|---|
| Official Name | Konungariket Sverige | State of California |
| Land Area (km^2) | 449,964 | 423,970 |
| Population | 9,514,406 | 37,691,912 |
| GDP* (in billions $) | 538 | 1,900 |
| Unemployment Rate % | 8.8 | 10.2 |
| Teenage Pregnancy (per 1000) | 7 | 32 |
| Teen Abortion (per 1000) | 20.9 | 26 |
| Official Animal | Elk | California Grizzly Bear |
| Official Bird | Blackbird | California Quail |
| Number of Lakes | 100,000 | 3,000 |
| Number of Islands | 24,000 | 600 |
| State Colors | Blue and yellow | Blue and gold |
References:
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends.pdf
http://www.fhi.se/Statistik-uppfoljning/FolkhalsoAtlas–ett-interaktivt-visualiseringsverktyg/Tonarsaborter/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/02/teen-pregnancy-record-low-rate-california-.html
http://www.library.ca.gov/history/symbols.html
And just a caveat, moving to San Francisco is like moving to Göteborg, it’s rainy, foggy, and rainy most of the year with a chance of crazy people. On the upside, SF is warmer, sunnier and has less hipsters.
If you think about more facts and bits to compare, write in a comment and I will add them to the table.