When was Sweden recognized as a country?

Answer 1

It is not known when and how the kingdom of Sweden was born. Because Sweden dates back to prehistoric times it is also a matter of definition. If one considers Sweden as an evolution of the early kingdoms of Swedes (the people) then the first mention of such a kingdom was by the roman historian Taticus in 98 AD.

However, the kingdom of swedes were much smaller than today's sweden, which also incorporated what was then the kingdom of geats, so another definition of the birth of Sweden is when the lands of the geats were incorporated into the kingdom of swedes, which according to the legends of the Icelandic sagas and the Beowulf epic happened some time during the 6th century AD, although they are not entirely consistent with each other.

Another traditional definition is when the kingdom of swedes were united under a single king, which according to the Icelandic sagas happened sometime during the 7th century AD. Before that the kingdom consisted of a number of lesser kings which recognized the king of the swedes as the supreme king.

Little is known however about these kings and kingdoms since sources from before the 11th century are scant and unreliable, the earliest Swedish king anything definite is known about is Eric the Victorious, who ruled at the end of the 10th century. The downside of using this as a definition is that it only defines the latest possible date at which Sweden was born, since it discounts the times before this.

After this time Sweden existed in various forms and in unions with other countries which adds a number of other possible definitions of the birth of the current Sweden.