Abdulmujib Yakubu

How Sweden is Becoming Super Rich Ever heard of a country that benefited from the two world wars? Sweden. This European country has not been at war in over two centuries. Sweden has always been neutral, which directly translates to being wealthy. Just like the rest of the other Nordic countries. And about the economy? It's becoming even larger. This is Sweden, a country that was never interested in going into wars or bothered by the World Wars, and had a strong advantage in post war. Here's a quick backstory; Sweden transformed from a poor peasant society into a wealthy state. And, this was mostly thanks to deliberation on the part of the Swedes and collaborations on the part of the Swedish government, but this didn't take effect almost immediately. Sweden had been known for war in the 17th century. They had a large territory as well as a large army, that had helped to conquer more territories in war. The Swedish king, Karl XII wanted more, so he sent his army to battle in Russia's territory near the town of Poltava in present-day Ukraine. In his bid to add to his power and that of Sweden in Europe, the exact opposite happened. Russia had defeated Sweden in 1709, and Sweden had lost the notable power they once held in Europe. Sweden continued to engage in wars, but since 1815, the Nordic country has been war-free. In the 19th century, Sweden was dead broke, and at the time, there was scarcity of food because around the middle of the 19th century, farmers had bad harvests in a row. This forced about fifth of the population of Sweden, numbering about a million people, to leave Sweden to the United States. The people left had no money to emigrate, so they chose to change the ways of Sweden. Starting from the Church of Sweden, it controlled too much power and was old-fashioned as most of its ideas and values was what governed Sweden at the time. The king as well, they felt that he had too much power, and most power in Sweden at the time was held by men. Industrial workers on the other hand were paid meagre wages, and they had to come together to protest the unfair treatment. They were eventually answered, and trade and exchange between Sweden and other countries boomed during that time, and Swedes could now travel between borders without a passport. In the first half of the 20th century, two World Wars happened. The first one in 1914, and while Sweden hadn't been involved in the war compared to their European neighbors, there was food shortage in Sweden. The Swedes were unhappy with the situation and rioting was the norm. When things seemed like it would escalate, politicians had to eventually listen to the people's demands. The war ended in 1918, and in 1919, the Swedish government decided that a working day could not be more than eight hours long, and that same year, women were given the right to vote in elections. In the 1920s, things were going well in Sweden, along with many countries across the world. More housing was built, and education was taken seriously, though issues with racial biology and illegal sterilization of people had come up. In the late 1920s, the stock market crashed in New York, U. S., and this forced companies around the world to go bankrupt, which also meant unemployment for its workers. This had been the case for Sweden as well until they voted in a reliable and working government, who brought about many chanhes to the people of Sweden. One of such was unemployment insurance, which meant that workers could continue receiving money from the state after they lose their jobs. It went uphill from there even after the second World War in 1939. After the war ended in 1945, since Sweden had been neutral, they had nothing to rebuild, and went about with producing their products and services to countries who had been destabilized by the second World War. Swedish companies made large profits due to this, and policies were added to give more rights to women and Swedes in general. Soon enough, Sweden went from a peasant society to a welfare state. Now we know, Sweden has always been quite rich. What about becoming even richer? Fast forward to 2023, Sweden had a greater edge in boosting its economy even further. How? On the 12th of January, 2023, the deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, Ebba Busch had some good news for the world, and the EU, especially. Sweden's public mining company, LKAB, had found rocks. Not just any rocks, but important rocks. They had revealed that one of their mines in the North of Sweden had found something, other than iron ores. Kiruna in Sweden is the biggest and most advanced iron ore mine on the planet. It produces about 80% of all the iron ore mined in the European Union. But, something interesting was found. Kiruna not only contained irons, but rare earth metals, which is basically the future. They are the backbone of technology, military, transition into clean energy, you name it. This discovery would mean a complete change for Sweden and the EU, because from before, the EU hardly ever mined any iron ore on the continent, and depended on these materials from other countries. Now that Sweden had found millions of tonnes of rare earth metals in the Per Geijer deposit. This would mean that EU's previous relationship with other world powers, especially China for these rare earth metals would completely change, thanks to Sweden. As the name implies, rare earth metals are extremely rare, and are made of 17 elements consisting of scandium, yttrium, and 15 lanthanides. You can check that out in the periodic table to get a clearer view. For example, the devices we use in our everyday lives are made up of rare earth metals. Certain parts of the phone that keeps it functional is made with magnets from the rare earth metal, neodymium. Electric cars also require neodymium magnets to convert electricity into motion. Wind turbines on the other hand, requires magnets made from neodymium to convert motion into electricity, as well as dysprosium and europium. Headphones as well reaquire neodymium to produce the sounds you hear. Rare earth metals like gadolinium, lanthanum, yttrium, and erbium are also used in different aspects of creating a functional device. In general, rare earth metals are critical in modern life and modern technology, however, they are not exactly abundant in clear view, and mining them commercially could be difficult. So, it means we have to mine a lot of ore to only extract little rare earth metals. Some countries around the world do have some rare earth metals in their country's possession, but it is either there is an abundance of a few or particular rare earth metal and near or complete absence of others. You basically can't have it all when it comes to rare earth metals, except for China though. Europe imports 98% of all of its rare earth metals from China, including europium, the rare earth metal used to make anti-counterfeit watermarks on the Euro bills. This must have been a lot of expense and dependency on China, but now that Per Geijer is here to cut back on this, the effects would be greatly seen in Sweden and all of Europe. China supplies about 90% of global supply of rare earth metals, which makes it seem like it almost has no competition. And, remember how rare earth metals can be used in the military? It means China stands a chance to squash any contending global power due to its advantage of rare earth metals. Its monopoly of export of rare earth metals means it gives China an edge and can grant them great political power. Since China controls most of the export of rare earth metals, it means it can also greatly influence in the rare earth market by causing massive price swings. So, rare earth metals in itself could be a means of power for top global economies, and China knows it. Sweden's incoming active involvement in the rare earth market is great news for the country and the EU as well. Great news for Sweden because this means that the whole of EU can now import rare earth metals from familiar faces than distant China, and EU can now sit at the top with other global powers when it comes to rare earth metals. Do you think Sweden's new discovery will affect China? Comment your thoughts below, and like the video and subscribe to the channel if you enjoyed.