Thank you, but you’re less civilized? I think not!
- Well, that was said a bit tongue-in-cheek, but in general people in the western part of Sweden have less of higher education than ‘average’ inhabitants of Stockholm. Especially Gothenburg/Göteborg (second largest city in Sweden), the place where I live, is associated with a typical working class mentality.
Cities like Stockholm and to some extent neighboring Uppsala (4th largest city in Sweden and home to the most reputable university in Scandinavia, together with The University of Copenhagen, and also to our arch bishop) is traditionally thought of as rather snobbish and inhabited by politicians, academics, bureaucrats, celebrities, successful businessmen, aristocrats etc.
However, I’d say the differences between Gothenburg and Stockholm were greater in the past. For instance, a lot of ordinary workers in Gothenburg of today have university education and one of the largest universities in Europe is located in my city (but it has produced only one Nobel laureate; Arvid Carlsson, Nobel Prize laureate in Medicine, 2000).
Again, welcome back to Scandinavia/Europe!