Germany has been called the "Land of Poets and Thinkers." Germans are famous in all forms of art, but particularly classical music. Germany's famous composers include Bach, Brahms, Schumann, Wagner, and Beethoven.

History of Sweden - Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sweden

In 1389, the crowns of Denmark, Norway and Sweden were united under the rule of the Danish Queen Margareta. In 1397, the Kalmar Union was formed, with the three Scandinavian countries under a single monarch. However, the union (1397–1523) was scarred by internal conflicts that culminated in the ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ in 1520, when 80 Swedish nobles were executed at the instigation of the Danish union king, Kristian II. The act provoked a rebellion, which in 1521 led to the deposition of Kristian II and the seizure of power by a Swedish nobleman, Gustav Vasa, who was elected king of Sweden in 1523.

The foundations of the Swedish state were laid during the reign of Gustav Vasa (1523–60). The church was nationalised, its estates confiscated by the crown, and the Protestant Reformation was introduced. Power was concentrated in the hands of the king and hereditary monarchy came into force in 1544.

History Facts:The country that we now know as Austria was occupied by Celtic tribes for most of its history. It was conquered by Ancient Rome and then when the Roman Empire fell, the area was again ruled by the local tribes. In 788 A.D. Charlemagne conquered the area and in 976 A.D. it became known as Austria during the rule of Leopold of Babenberg.

Austria had their own rulers as of 1276 when Rudolf I became the first of many of the house of Habsburg to rule the country of Austria. The Habsburg Empire ruled for over 750 years and expanded the borders of Austria allowing it to become a powerful European center for hundreds of years.

The capital is Vaduz, a very small town of 5000 people.
Liechtenstein is a parliamentary democracy and it is 160 km^2.
The Grauszpiz is a mountain located on the border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
With an elvation of 2.599 meters above sea level, the Grauspitz is the highest mountain in Liechtenstein.

_{-Totaro Matteo 2^E}

BELGIUM 

Belgium is located in north-western Europe. It is surrounded by the Netherlands, the North Sea, Germany, Luxembourg, and France. There is a coastline with beaches on the western side of Belgium. The rest of Belgium is completely landlocked. 

 

HISTORY 

Belgium is a small country that is rich in history, art, architecture, and chocolate. 

Famous Belgian architects: Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde. 

 

 

Sweden is a country in Northern Europe on the Scandinavian Peninsula. It borders Norway to the west; Finland to the northeast; and the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia to the south and east. 

Sweden has a long coastline on the eastern side and the Scandinavian mountain chain (Skanderna) on the western border, a range that separates Sweden from Norway. It has maritime borders with Denmark, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and it is also linked to Denmark (southwest) by the Öresund BridgeSweden is the 55th largest country in the world.^[1] It is the fifth largest in Europe and the largest in Northern Europe. 

Much of Sweden is heavily forested, with 69% of the country being forest and woodland, while farmland constitutes only 8% of land use. Sweden consists of 40 km² of water area, constituting around 95 lakes. The lakes are sometimes used for water power plants, especially the large northern rivers and lakes. 

Most of northern and western central Sweden consists of vast tracts of hilly and mountainous land called the Norrland terrain. From the south the transition to the Norrland terrain is not only seen in the relief but also in the wide and contiguous boreal forests that extend north of it with till and peat being the overwhelmingly most common soil types. 

Sweden's natural resources include copper, gold, hydropower, iron ore, lead, silver, timber, uranium, and zinc.

Acid rain has become an issue because it is damaging soils and lakes and polluting the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The HBV hydrology transport model has been used to analyze nutrient discharge to the Baltic from tributary watersheds.

Sweden has 25 provinces or landskap ("landscapes"), based on culture, geography and history: Bohuslän, Blekinge, Dalarna, Dalsland, Gotland, Gästrikland, Halland, Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Lapland, Medelpad, Norrbotten, Närke, Skåne, Småland, Södermanland, Uppland, Värmland, Västmanland, Västerbotten, Västergötland, Ångermanland, Öland and Östergötland. 

While these provinces serve no political or administrative purpose, they play an important role for people's self-identification. The provinces are usually grouped together in three large lands (landsdelar): the northern Norrland, the central Svealand and southern Götaland.

Most of Sweden has a temperate climate, despite its northern latitude, with largely four distinct seasons and mild temperatures throughout the year. The winter in the far south is usually weak and is only manifested through some shorter periods with snow and sub-zero temperatures, autumn may well turn into spring there, without a distinct period of winter. The country can be divided into three types of climate: the southernmost part has an oceanic climate, the central part has a humid continental climate and the northernmost part has a subarctic climate.

 

 

International tourists rose to 2.025 million from 1.46 million in 2017, in what the government attributes to improved security in the country as the fight against terrorism continued to bear fruit.

Political stability after a shaky electioneering year in 2017 played a role in reviving business in the leisure sector, with the March 2018 handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga calming tensions that simmered after a long 2017 election year.