Swedes

This article deals with the Swedish people as an ethnic group. For information about residents or nationals of Sweden, see Demographics of Sweden. For information on other uses please see the disambiguation articles Swedish and Swede (disambiguation)

Swedes
(Svenskar)

Gustav Vasa • Carl Linnaeus • J. J. Berzelius • Alfred Nobel Selma Lagerlöf • Ann-Margret • Björn Ulvaeus • Markus Näslund
Regions with significant populations
Sweden:      9,200,000 (est.) Other significant population centers:
United States	4,500,000
Canada	500,000
Finland (Swedish-speaking Finns)	300,000
Brazil	250,000
Argentina	175,000
Australia	100,000
United Kingdom	Est 100,000
Norway	100,000
Germany	50,000
Spain	20,000 (2006)
Ireland	20,000 (2006)
Estonia	400,000
Languages
Swedish Related languages include Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Faroese, and to a lesser extent, all Germanic languages
Religion
First known Ásatrú, Traditionally Lutheran. Many Swedes have agnostic or atheist beliefs.
Related ethnic groups
Danes, Norwegians, Icelanders, Faroese and to a lesser extent, all Germanic ethnic groups

Swedish people, Swedes or Ethnic Swedes (Swedish: svenskar) are members of an ethnic group who regard themselves as Swedes or are identified as Swedish. This may be due to inclusion in Swedish culture, speaking the Swedish language, or being of Swedish descent.

Geography

The largest area inhabited by Swedes, as well as the earliest known original area inhabited by their linguistic ancestors, is on the eastern side of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the islands adjacent to it, situated west of the Baltic Sea in northern Europe. The Swedish-speaking people living in near-coastal areas on the north-eastern and eastern side of the Baltic Sea also have a long history of continuous settlement, which in some of these areas possibly started about a millennium ago. These people include the Swedish-speaking Finns - who consist of the Swedish-speaking minority in mainland Finland speaking Finland Swedish and the almost exclusively Swedish-speaking population of the Åland Islands speaking in a manner closer to the adjacent dialects in Sweden than to adjacent dialects of Finland Swedish - and the small Swedish-speaking minority in Estonia. Smaller groups of historical descendants of 18th-19th century Swedish emigrants who still retain some forms of Swedish identity to this day can be found in the Americas and in Ukraine.

Origin

The ancient Germanic tribe of the Suiones, sometimes called Svear in academic works, were at the roots of Swedish statehood and contemporary with the Geats and the Daner in Scandinavia. Notably, in modern Scandinavian languages, with the exception of Icelandic, there is a distinction between svenskar and svear (as between danskar (Danes) and Daner), since the latter term does not include the Geats and the Gotlanders and other populations whose descendants acquired a Swedish ethnicity.

According to recent genetic analysis, both mtDNA and Y chromosome polymorphisms showed a noticeable genetic affinity between Swedes and central Europeans, especially Germans. (these conclusions are also valid for Norwegians) For the global genetic make-up of the Swedish people and other peoples, see also: [3] and [4]

Definition

by Swedes

In Sweden the connotation of Swede when used without qualifications often means a person who is:

• a citizen of Sweden;
• born and living in Sweden; and
• whose parents are both Swedish.

Not all Swedes agree with such usage. Some claim immigrants and their offspring are Swedes, based primarily on their proficiency in the Swedish language and embracing Swedish culture.

In Sweden who is and who is not a swede is a very touchy subject. A widespread rule is that if you're a Swedish citizen, you are Swedish. Not agreeing with this rule is often seen as very politically incorrect and also racist.

In a Swedish mindset, the concept of ethnic Swedes is used chiefly in the following contexts:

• To distinguish Swedes from Swedish citizens who are naturalized immigrants but not ethnic Swedish. (See: New Swedes)
• To distinguish, typically in school settings, pupils of immigrant heritage from those without

In addition, ethnic Swedes is sometimes used to include Swedish speakers outside Sweden.

English texts

In English texts, the concept of ethnic Swedes may or may not be used for the following:

• People of Swedish heritage, typically immigrants to the Americas (usually called 'Swedish Americans' sv svenskättlingar)
• Swedish speakers outside Sweden

Swedish speakers outside Sweden

Swedish speakers outside Sweden are minorities outside of Sweden with Swedish as their mother tongue who, however, might not always describe themselves as 'ethnically Swedish'.

in Finland

The Swedish-speaking Finns form a minority group in Finland of about 265,000, comprising 5.10% of the population of mainland Finland, or 5.50 %[5] if the 26,000 inhabitants of Åland are included (there are also about 60,000 Swedish-speaking Finns currently resident in Sweden).

in Estonia and Ukraine

The presence of Swedish speaking permanent residents in what is now Estonia (Estonia-Swedes) was first documented in the 14th century, and possibly dates back to the Viking Age. There were an estimated 12,000 Swedes resident in Estonia in 1563 . Estonia was under Swedish rule 1558–1710, after which the territory was ceded to Russia in the 1721 Treaty of Nystad. In 1781, 1,300 Estonia-Swedes of the island of Hiiumaa (Dagö) were forced to move to Ukraine by Catherine II of Russia, where they formed Gammalsvenskby (Old Swedish Village). According to the 1934 census there were 7,641 Estonia-Swedes (Swedish speaking, 0.7% of the population in Estonia), making Swedes the third largest national minority in Estonia, after Russians and Germans. During World War II almost the entire community of Estonia-Swedes fled to Sweden. Today there are, at most, a few hundred Estonia-Swedes living in Estonia and a few hundred in Ukraine, with the estimates varying widely depending on who identifies, or can be identified, as a Swede. Many of them are living in northwestern mainland Estonia and on adjacent islands and on the island of Ruhnu (Runö) in the Gulf of Riga.

The majority of the 'Estonia-Swedes' who reside in Estonia and most 'Ukraine-Swedes' do not speak Swedish any more, but may yet be considered ethnic Swedes (cf ethnic German). In a nationalist context, the ethnic Swedes living outside Sweden are sometimes called 'East-Swedes' (in Swedish: östsvenskar), to distinguish them from the ethnic Swedes living in Sweden proper, called rikssvenskar or västsvenskar ('Western-Swedes'), reflecting irredentist sentiments.

Other

The descendants of Swedes who immigrated to places like the US and Canada (Swedish Americans), some of whom still speak Swedish.

There are also Swedes located in St Petersburg Russia.

See also

• List of Swedes
• Swedish Canadian
• Swedish American
• New Swedes
• British Swedish
• List of ethnic groups

External links

• In Search of Swedish Nature
• A Typical Swede (humorous article, with some gross stereotypes and inaccuracies, but also some truths)
• The Swedes Revealed
• The Global Etiquette Guide: Sweden