Sweden has established a virtual embassy in the Second Life online world.

The officially sanctioned embassy is designed to increase the country's profile among younger users in the web community.

A digitally created building will be based on Sweden's actual embassy in Washington and run by Swedish Institute staff.

"We are constantly trying to reach new groups of people with information about Sweden," Olle Wästberg, director of the Swedish Institute, told Associated Press.

"This is a very simple and cheap way to reach a large group of younger, educated people who are flooded with information."

Embassy staff will be on call to discuss tourist information, visa conditions, cultural issues and the country's history.