According to a government agency responsible for promoting Sweden overseas, the country has several major brands to thank when it comes to being recognized on the world stage. In addition to car makers Volvo and furniture store IKEA, interest in Sweden has been boosted thanks to the notorious Pirate Bay. But the file-sharing fun doesn't end there.

As countries fight for prominence on the international stage, being recognized among trading partners and the global general public is an important part of the battle.

For example, London imagery and the royal family are powerful overseas marketing tools for the UK while superstar movie and music icons ensure that United States branding is funneled into hundreds of millions of overseas homes every single day.

In Sweden the government has its own agency tasked with understanding overseas cultures and promoting Sweden and Swedish issues globally. Founded in 1945, the Swedish Institute has approximately 140 employees.

This morning the Swedish Institute made an appearance at the Swedish consulate in Istanbul as part of a Curators of Sweden event discussing freedom of expression, the Internet and democracy. As part of a slideshow the organization highlighted a number of Swedish brands responsible for raising Sweden’s profile on the world stage.

As can be seen from the slide below (thanks Erkan Saka) some of Sweden’s most iconic companies sit front and center. Adorned in Sweden’s national colors, furniture giant IKEA makes a key appearance, closely followed by clothing outlet H&M and motoring legend Volvo. The final three need little introduction.

Interestingly, all three of the tech companies above have close connections to the file-sharing scene.

First up is Swedish-founded communications software Skype. While millions have used the tool since its launch in August 2003, most probably aren’t aware that its backend was first utilized by infamous P2P tool Kazaa. Indeed, Niklas Zennström co-founded them both.

And Spotify has close connections to file-sharing too. In addition to publicly admitting its service was “designed from the ground up” to be a product with appeal to pirates, one of its engineers is Ludvig Strigeus (Ludde), a Swedish programmer best known for developing BitTorrent client µTorrent.

And last – but certainly not least – sits the infamous The Pirate Bay. As famous for pirating music in 2015 as Swedish pop sensation ABBA were for creating it 40 years earlier, the site has certainly raised the profile of Sweden around the globe. Of course, some will argue that boost hasn’t always been for the best.

At the same time as gathering tens of thousands of headlines focusing on Sweden, the country’s connections to The Pirate Bay have also strained relations with key allies, including the United States.

However, what cannot be denied is how the site has raised global interest in Sweden and ensured that when it comes to discussion and progression in the digital age – especially concerning entertainment distribution – this small Scandinavian country (currently 90th in the world by population) remains at the cutting edge.

Soon, however, the Swedish legal system will decide whether to sever the country’s ties with the infamous file-sharing system. It’s unlikely the country’s overseas profile will diminish as a result though – that part of history has already been written and won’t be forgotten in a hurry.