King Carl Gustaf of Sweden has led a national ceremony in Stockholm to remember the Swedish victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.
Sweden has suffered the greatest number of deaths per capita of any country outside the earthquake region.
Fifty two Swedes have been confirmed dead in the disaster, with more than 600 still missing.
The authorities have no information about another 1,000 people, who could have been in the affected region.
In a statement broadcast live on state-run television and radio, the king told survivors and relatives of those killed that he wished he could put everything right again like a fairytale king. But, he added, he was just another mourner.
"We are all just humans without clear answers," he said. "What can I say that could be helpful? It feels as though there are no more words or that they have never existed."
The survivors and relatives were joined by members of the government and royal family at the ceremony in Stockholm.
Across the country people watched it on television.
Empty desks
The BBC's Lars Bevanger says that Swedish children returning to school after the Christmas and New Year holidays, will find a number of empty desks. In some schools, teachers will be missing.
Most schools do not know who are still unaccounted for, because the authorities have decided not to publish the names of those missing.
In other Nordic countries the number of missing people dramatically decreased when such lists were made public, as it became clear some of those listed had in fact returned safely home.
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