Learn Hardcore Swedish: På landsbygden finns det mer natur och mindre buller från bilarna. - In the countryside there is more nature and less noise from the cars.

Landsbygd means “countryside” as a general concept. In Swedish, when we speak about a place as a type of environment (“in the countryside”, “in the city”), we very often use the definite form:

på landsbygden – in the countryside
i staden – in the city
i skogen – in the forest

Using landsbygden makes it feel like “the countryside as a known environment”, not an abstract concept.
You can say på landbygd in highly technical/administrative language, but everyday Swedish uses på landsbygden.

What exactly does finns det mean, and how is it different from är det?

Finnas is the verb used for existence or presence, like English “there is / there are”.

Det finns mer natur = There is more nature
Det är mer natur – not idiomatic in this sense

Use det finns when you mean “there exists / there is / there are”:

Det finns många sjöar här. – There are many lakes here.

Use det är more for descriptions of states, situations, or identities:

Det är kallt. – It is cold.
Det är en stor stad. – It is a big city.

So in this sentence, finns det is the existential “there is / there are”.

Why is the word order På landsbygden finns det... and not På landsbygden det finns...?

Swedish has a V2 rule: the finite verb (here: finns) must come in second position in main clauses.

The underlying neutral sentence is:

Det finns mer natur… – There is more nature…

When we move an adverbial (På landsbygden) to the front for emphasis, the verb must still be in second place, so det is pushed after the verb:

På landsbygden (1st position)
finns (2nd position – the verb)
det (3rd position)

So På landsbygden finns det… is correct;
På landsbygden det finns… breaks the V2 rule and sounds wrong.

Why do we need det in finns det? Could we just say På landsbygden finns mer natur?

In existential sentences, Swedish usually uses det as a dummy subject, similar to English “there” in “there is / there are”:

Det finns mer natur. – There is more nature.

You can say På landsbygden finns mer natur, but that changes the focus. Then mer natur is more like the actual subject being fronted after the verb.

På landsbygden finns det mer natur… – neutral, typical existential “there is” structure.
På landsbygden finns mer natur… – sounds more like you’re contrasting nature with something else; more marked style.

For normal, neutral statements, det finns is standard.

Why is it mer natur without any article? Why not mer av naturen or mer naturen?

Natur here is a mass/uncountable noun (“nature” in general), and Swedish, like English, usually does not use an article with mass nouns when speaking in general:

mer vatten – more water
mer tid – more time
mer natur – more nature

If you say naturen, that’s “the nature” as a specific, limited thing:

Naturen i Sverige är vacker. – The nature in Sweden is beautiful.

So:

mer natur = more nature in general
mer av naturen would mean “more of the (already mentioned/specific) nature”; it’s possible but more specific and less neutral here.
mer naturen is ungrammatical.

What is the difference between mer and mera?

Mer and mera both mean “more”, and in modern Swedish they are usually interchangeable in this kind of sentence:

mer natur = mera natur – more nature
mindre buller – here there is no mera equivalent; we say mindre.

Some points:

Mer is more common and sounds more neutral and modern.
Mera can sound slightly more emphatic, old-fashioned, or dialectal, depending on context.

In your sentence, mer natur is the most natural everyday choice.

Why is it mindre buller and not something like färre buller?

Swedish, like English, distinguishes between countable and uncountable:

For uncountable nouns (mass nouns), use mer / mindre (more / less).
For countable plural nouns, use fler / färre (more / fewer).

Buller (noise) is treated as uncountable:

mer buller – more noise
mindre buller – less noise

You would use fler / färre with countable things:

fler bilar – more cars
färre bilar – fewer cars.

What exactly does buller mean? Is it the same as ljud or oljud?

Buller is specifically noise, often loud, disturbing sound, like traffic, construction, machinery.

Comparisons:

ljud – sound (neutral word: could be music, a voice, any sound)
buller – (loud) noise, often background/constant and disturbing (traffic, city noise)
oljud – literally “bad sound”, more like “racket”, “uproar”, “disturbing noise”, often sudden or annoying.

So mindre buller från bilarna is particularly about less disturbing traffic noise, not just “fewer sounds”.

Why is it från bilarna and not från bilar?

Bilarna is the definite plural: “the cars”.

Swedish often uses the definite form to talk about things in a general, typical way when it’s clear what kind of thing we mean:

Bilarna släpper ut avgaser. – Cars emit exhaust fumes.
Barnen gillar glass. – Children like ice cream.

So:

bilarna here feels like “the cars (in that environment / in the city / in traffic)” = “car traffic”.
från bilar is grammatically possible but feels more like “from (some) cars” and less like a general phenomenon.

In this kind of general comparison (countryside vs. town), från bilarna is stylistically very natural.

Does mer/mindre change for plural or gender, like adjectives do?

No. Mer and mindre are invariable; they do not change form with gender, number, or definiteness:

mer natur – more nature
mer vatten – more water
mer pengar – more money (plural)
mindre buller – less noise
mindre trafik – less traffic
mindre tid – less time

They stay the same regardless of the noun.

Could you say På landsbygden är det mer natur och mindre buller… instead of finns det?

You can say På landsbygden är det mer natur…, and people will understand you, but it sounds less idiomatic in this context.

Det finns mer natur… emphasizes existence / amount (“there is more nature”).
Det är mer natur… sounds more like you are describing a state or appearance (“it is more nature”), which is not how Swedish normally expresses this comparison of quantities.

So finns det is the natural choice here when comparing how much nature/noise there is.

Is there another common way to say this idea in Swedish?

Yes, several natural variants exist. For example:

På landet är det mer natur och mindre buller från trafiken.
– In the countryside there is more nature and less noise from the traffic.
På landsbygden är det lugnare, med mer natur och mindre trafikbuller.
– In the countryside it’s calmer, with more nature and less traffic noise.

Your original sentence is already very natural; these are just alternative phrasings with slightly different nuances.