Swedish-speaking population of Finland
Linguistic minority in Finland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names[Note 1]—see below; Swedish: finlandssvenskar; Finnish: suomenruotsalaiset) is a linguistic minority in Finland. They maintain a strong identity and are seen either as a separate cultural or linguistic group[6][Note 2][Note 3][Note 4] or, while not regularly,[11] as a distinct nationality.[Note 5] They speak Finland Swedish, which encompasses both a standard language and distinct dialects that are mutually intelligible with the dialects spoken in Sweden and, to a lesser extent, other Scandinavian languages.
| |
---|---|
Total population | |
380,000[citation needed] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Finland | 287,933 (2021)[1] |
Sweden | 60,000–107,000[2] |
Languages | |
Finland Swedish, Finnish | |
Religion | |
Lutheranism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Swedes, Estonian Swedes |
According to Statistics Finland, Swedish is the mother tongue of about 260,000 people in mainland Finland and of about 26,000 people in Åland, a self-governing archipelago off the west coast of Finland, where Swedish speakers constitute a majority. Swedish-speakers comprise 5.2% of the total Finnish population[13] or about 4.9% without Åland. The proportion has been steadily diminishing since the early 19th century, when Swedish was the mother tongue of approximately 15% of the population and considered a prestige language.
According to a 2007 statistical analysis made by Fjalar Finnäs, the population of the minority group is stable,[14][15] and may even be increasing slightly in total numbers since more parents from bilingual families tend to register their children as Swedish speakers.[16] It is estimated that 70% of bilingual families—that is, ones with one parent Finnish-speaking and the other Swedish-speaking—register their children as Swedish-speaking.[17]