Clustered
around the head of the 68-mile-long Oslofjord, Oslo is probably the most
spacious city in the world. Its 175-square-mile metropolitan area
consists of over 75 percent forests and five percent water. Its fine
deep harbor, Pipervika, stretches into the heart of the city and from it
leave ferries to Denmark and Germany.
Every year about 95,000 people die in Sweden and,
according to the law, everyone must be buried. There must be room
for everyone in the cemeteries, therefore the future needs of space
have to be predicted. Because of this funerals must be part of the
planning process.
In Sweden there are three major religions besides the Swedish
Protestant Church–Judaism, Islam and the Catholicism. Each has its
own funereal customs and traditions.
Swedish funeral services have a unique way to deal with the
different wishes concerning the funeral customs and places of burial
of people of different religions. Swedish law prescribes that the
parish church and the select vestry have the responsibility to
provide special burial grounds for those who don’t belong to the
Swedish Church. In Stockholm both Catholics and Jews have their own
cemeteries. Muslims, however, are buried in special areas within the
cemeteries of the Swedish Church. Because Sweden is a secularized
country where religion is a private matter, non-protestant groups
benefit. The Swedish Church has agreed to give everyone the type of
funeral and special burial ground they require. This is especially
carried out in Stockholm according to the law where every religious
group that has asked for a special burial compound within a Swedish
Church cemetery has received it.
Every year about 95 000 people die in
Sweden and, according to the law, everyone must be buried. There must be
room for everyone in the cemeteries, therefore the future needs of space
have to be predicted. Because of this funerals must be part of the
planning process.
In
the early Middle Ages, driven by famine at home and the promise of
wealth to be had in other lands, the Vikings set out from Scandinavia to
conquer parts of England, Ireland, France, Russia, and even Turkey.
Bolstered by their successes, the Vikings pushed westward, eventually
crossing the North Atlantic and founding settlements in Iceland,
Greenland, and Newfoundland in Canada. Read
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