Languages of Åland
| Languages of Åland | |
|---|---|
| Official language(s) | Swedish |
| Minority language(s) | Finnish |
| Main foreign language(s) | English |
Åland, an autonomous region of Finland, has the largest Swedish-speaking majority in Finland, with about 90% of the province, or about 25,000 people, speaking Swedish as their first language (specifically the Åland Swedish dialect). Swedish is also the sole official language of the province.[1] Finnish, of course, also has a presence, although it is small; only 5% of Ålanders are Finnish-speaking.
The eight most spoken languages in 2009 (with a total population of 27,734):[2]
- Swedish: 25,028 (90%)
- Finnish: 1,388 (5%)
- Latvian: 159 (0.57%)
- Romanian: 127 (0.46%)
- Estonian: 126 (0.45%)
- Russian: 101 (0.36%)
- English: 99 (0.36%)
- Thai: 95 (0.34%)
While the number of Swedish-speakers grew from 24,169 in 2000 to 25,028 in 2009, their percentage has dropped from 93.7% in 2000 to 90.2% in 2009. For Finnish, the percentage and number of speakers increased slightly (from 1,238 to 1,388; from 4.8% to 5.0%). The percentage of speakers of other languages grew from 1.5% in 2000 to 4.8% in 2009.[2]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Självstyrelselag för Åland 16.8.1991/1144 - 36 §. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
- ^ a b Population by language 31.12.2000-2009, from Statistics and Research Åland
