WESTERN EUROPE SWEDEN

Sweden has a proud, centuries-old tradition of Scandinavian folk dances and songs that accompany them. It also has a proud, decades-old knack for creating iconic international pop stars. (Yes, we mean ABBA.) Swedish folk music has a lot in common with the folk of its northern neighbors--fiddles, accordions, clarinets and a whole lot of dancing. The main Swedish traditional dance is the Polska, a partner dance popular all over Scandinavia that has its origins in the Polish royal court. The most distinct ancient Swedish folk instrument, often used to accompany a polska, is the Nycelharpa, a "keyed fiddle" that musicians play with a bow. 

As for Swedish pop, ABBA, which formed in Stockholm in the early '70s by two married couples who used the first letters of their names to compose the name of their group, rocketed to international stardom after their song "Waterloo" won the 1974 Eurovision contest. ABBA's two marriages broke up in 1979 and 1981 and, much to humanity's chagrin, the band broke up too.