Swedes

The Swedes, are a people of Germanic origin, having their primarily geographical location on the eastern side of the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Identification, or the identity, as Swedes are today resting on a variety of factors, where Swedish language, Swedish heritage, and Swedish citizenship are the overriding classifiers.

Depending on the context, Swedes can for instance refer to:

1. citizens of Sweden
2. Ethnic Swedes
3. inhabitants of the autonomous Åland Islands (under sovereignty of Finland), some of whom may designate themselves as Finland-Swedes
4. members of the Finland-Swedish minority in mainland Finland, some of whom may designate themselves as ethnic Swedes
5. members of the Estonia-Swedish minority
6. an ancient Germanic tribe, often named Svear in academic works, at the roots of the Swedish statehood, and contemporary with the Geats and the Goths in Scandinavia. Some people disagree with this definition.

Table of contents

1 Ethnic Swedes 2 Swedish speakers outside Sweden 3 New-Swedes

Ethnic Swedes

The group of ethnic Swedes, represents the majority of the population in Sweden. One way to define those who are ethnically Swedish, would be to say that those who consider themselves to be of Swedish heritage and belonging to the Swedish language culture, are Ethnic Swedes. This does not necessarily imply Swedish citizenship, but the concept seems difficult to combine with a simultaneous affiliation to other contrasting ethnic groups. Colloquially, members of the group would typically refer to their ethnic identity, not as Swedes but rather to their sub-national ethnic identity, such as Scanian or Dalecarlian etc., which orignates from the historical Provinces of Sweden.

The notion of ethnic Swedes is controversial, especially the Swedish and Finnish views contradict each other in some parts, and the usage in English does not necessarily reflect the usage in Sweden/Finland or in Swedish/Finnish. The connotation of Swede, when used without qualifications, as it's used by some Swedes, is for a person who is a citizen of Sweden, and living in Sweden, and born by Swedish parents. Not all Swedes use this definition. Immigrants may by some persons be considered as Swedes if their Swedish is flawlessly without foreign accent or if they are prominent industrialists or sportsmen and they appear assimilated in the Swedish culture.

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

• To distinguish "Swedish citizens" who are naturalized immigrants, but not indistinguishably assimilated, from the other Swedes.
• To distinguish, typically in school settings, pupils of immigrant heritage from them without.

In addition to this is ethnic Swedes in a Swedish mindset sometimes used to include, besides the ethnic Swedes living in Sweden, the Swedish speaking minority living in Finland (Finland-Swedes, including the inhabitants of Åland, about 300,000, comprising about 6% of the population), the Swedish speaking minority living in Estonia (Estonia-Swedes) and the Swedish speaking minority living in Gammalsvenskby (Old Swedish Village) in Ukraine. Some of the Estonia-Swedes and Ukraine-Swedes don't speak Swedish any more, but are yet considered being ethnic Swedes (cf Ethnic German). In this 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").

• In an English language context, the concept of Ethnic Swedes may be used for:
  • People of Swedish heritage, typically immigrants to the Americas
  • Minorities outside of Sweden with Swedish mother tongue, who however might not designate themselves as "ethnically Swedish"
    • the inhabitants of the culturally and linguistically Swedish Åland Islands
    • the Swedes living in the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa (Estonia-Swedes)
    • the Swedes living in Gammalsvenskby (Old Swedish Village) in Ukraine.
    • The 265,000 Finland-Swedes in Mainland Finland.

Swedish speakers outside Sweden

The Finland-Swedes form an important minority group in Finland, about 265,000, comprising 5.10% of the population of Mainland Finland or 5.55%[1] if the 26,000 inhabitants of Åland are included (there are also about 60,000 Finland-Swedes that have moved to Sweden). In the coastal areas where they historically have comprised the majority of the population they have lived longer than the Finnish speakers, making them the aboriginals of these areas.

A Swedish minority has also existed in Estonia (Estonia-Swedes) at least since the Viking Age. There were about 12,000 in 1563. Estonia was under Swedish rule 1558–1721, after which the territory was ceded to Russia after the treaty of Nystad. In 1781 1,300 Estonia-Swedes, living at Dagö, were forcibly moved to Ukraine by Catherine II of Russia, where they formed Gammalsvenskby (Old Swedish Village). At the census in Estonia 1934 there were 7,641 Estonia-Swedes (Swedish speaking, 0.7 % of the population in Estonia), making Swedes the third largest national minority, after Russians and Germans. During World War II most Estonia-Swedes fled to Sweden. Today there are maybe a few hundred Estonia-Swedes living in Estonia and a few hundred in Ukraine.

New-Swedes

New-Swedes, or Nysvenskar in Swedish, is a term used in Swedish society and currently fashionable in public debate, to denote 20th century immigrants and their offspring, particularly those of southern-European and non-European descent. Critics of this usage do however object to it as an exaggerated political correctness or alternatively as disguised racism, pointing out that this usage ignores roughly a third of the immigrants that originates in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Poland and Germany.

In a school-yard context, in our day's Sweden, Swedes do typically refer to ethnic Swedes contrasting to those pupils who identify themselves as immigrants – or of immigrant heritage. Many second and third generation immigrants have experienced how being born in Sweden is not sufficient to escape discrimination. A family name or physical looks that hints at low-status immigrant ancestry can be a critical disadvantage. Also Finland-Swedish immigrants to Sweden have experienced how they first and foremost are perceived as immigrants from Finland and not as Swedes by both authorities, neighbours and colleagues.

See also: Lands of Sweden