Shortly before his trip to Europe at the beginning of April 2024, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken published a map that put Sweden where Switzerland should be.
The error was quickly noticed and the relevant post deleted from social media — but not before users noticed how the US has ‘rewritten’ Europe’s geography.
Are you sure? pic.twitter.com/0639rzvE3e
— Sébastien Natroll (@Natroll__) April 2, 2024
That was not the first time the United States got the geography wrong, though.
When Sweden announced in 2022 its intentions to join NATO, US President Joe Biden made headlines after he accidentally referred to the country as Switzerland. To be fair to Biden, he had only seconds prior said the correct country, and he also corrected himself with typical folksy good humour in the very next sentence. "Switzerland? My goodness, I’m getting really anxious here about expanding NATO."
And a few years ago, The New York Stock Exchange a few years' back unfurled a Swiss flag when the Swedish music streaming service Spotify listed there.
And you can see the similarities. The countries do at least share their first syllable (almost). Both have flags with crosses on them. Both are peopled by reserved, orderly folk, with a culture formed in geographically isolated communities drenched in austere protestant Christianity.
But there ARE differences.
Kings
Sweden's current king is Carl XVI Gustaf who has been on the throne since 1973. Switzerland is a federal republic and doesn't have a monarch, though Roger Federer could perhaps lay claim to the unofficial title.
Beaches
Switzerland is landlocked, so if you feel like a trip to the beach you're going to have to travel elsewhere (or use small lakeside strands). Sweden. on the other hand. has around 3,218 kilometres of coastline, so swimming spots aren't hard to come by – if you can handle the cold.
'Four-thousander' mountains
"Four-thousander" mountains are, as the name suggests, those with a summit at least 4,000 metres above sea level, and Switzerland is home to no less than 234 of the giants – perhaps not a surprise considering the nation's fame for skiing.
Sweden, on the other hand, can't lay claim to a single one: its tallest mountain Kebnekaise is a mere 2,096.8 metres above sea level.
World Cup honours
Sweden has taken a football medal (ie: finished within the top three) at the World Cup on three occasions, coming third in 1950 and 1994, and runner-up in 1958. Switzerland has never gone that far, with their biggest achievement the quarter-finals in 1954 (when they hosted the event) and 1966.
Record goalscorer
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of Sweden's best-known football exports, and holds the record for scoring the highest number of goals in the yellow shirt (62).
Alexander Frei's 42 goals make him Switzerland’s all-time top scorer, and the current crop looks unlikely to catch him.
Olympic football medals
Though the two countries have populations of not much more than 10 million people, both have won Olympic medals in football. Sweden took Gold in 1948, while Switzerland took Silver in 1924, at a time before the first World Cup when the Olympic tournament was considered the most important in the game.
National languages
Diverse Switzerland has four national languages – French, German Italian and Rhaeto-Romansch – but it's perhaps more surprising to learn that Sweden has six. Swedish is the majority tongue but there are also five official minority languages in the Nordic nation: Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami, Yiddish and Romani.
Fallout shelters
Both small countries are prepared for the worst, but if you think Sweden's 65,000 bunkers is impressive, consider Switzerland’s 300,000 private bunkers plus an additional 5,100 for the public.
Contributions to the world of alcohol
Sweden's most famous drink is brännvin, but that can't hold a candle to the mystique of absinthe. The green fairy was invented in 18th century Switzerland, and is associated with great artists and thinkers, unlike Sweden's throat-burning spirit.
Chocolate
Switzerland has Toblerone, Sweden has Marabou, although these days they are both owned by Mondelez International. When it comes to artisan chocolate however, Switzerland still holds the edge over Sweden.
Tennis singles Grand Slam wins
The achievements of the two nations in the world of sport go well beyond football, and both share a common love of tennis in particular. Swedish players have won a singles Grand Slam on 26 occasions, with the most successful of them all a certain Björn Borg with 11.
Switzerland is even better though, with 28 singles Grand Slam titles. By far the most impressive of the winners has been (now retired) Roger Federer, who has 20.
Large Hadron Colliders
Switzerland has one, Sweden has none. Sorry, Sweden.
IKEA versus Swiss Army knife
In October 2023, the Swedish tourist board launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign in a bid to end the confusion of people mixing up the Scandinavian country with the Alpine nation.
The Swiss ambassador to the United States responded with a tongue-in-cheek take of his own.
Hopefully now, things will be clearer.
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