Demographics of Sweden - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The demographics of Sweden is about the demographic

Demographics

Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...

features of the population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

of Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, including population growth, population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

, ethnicity

Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. In addition to the ethnic Swedish majority, Sweden has historically had smaller minorities of Sami people

Sami people

The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...

in the northernmost parts of the country while Finns (at 5% of the total population) are most prominent in the Mälardalen and in the north of Sweden.

The demographic profile of Sweden has changed significantly as a result of immigration since the 1970s.

Population statistics

Population: 9,316,256
Annual population growth rate: 0.158%
Net migration rate: 1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population ( est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.94 children born/woman (2010 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 2.75 deaths/1,000 live births ( est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 80.86 years
- Male: 78.59 years
- Female: 83.26 years ( est.)

Within Sweden's current borders, the historic population has been estimated to the following values:

At the end of year	\| Population	\| Annual growth
At the end of year	\| Population	Total	Per thousand
1570	900,000	-	-
1650	1,225,000	4,063	3.86
1700	1,485,000	5,200	3.86
1720	1,350,000	- 6,750	- 4.75
1755	1,878,000	15,086	9.48
1815	2,465,000	9,783	4.54
1865	4,099,000	32,680	10.22
1900	5,140,000	29,743	6.48
1990	8,562,000
2005	9,002,000
2010	9,348,000	91,552	9.7

Sweden household census 1990

Total number of households: 3 830 037
Inv on average per household: 2.1
Number of children 0–18 years on average per household: 1.72

For the population from household incounting date was the total population of Sweden estimated to be 8.526 million , of them 8.043 million people came from all 3.830 million household's.

Ethnicity	number	%
Swede	6,836,615	85,0
Finns	402,153	5.0 %
Assyrians	79,215	0.88
Norwegian		0.5
Danes		0.5
Croats		0.5
Albanians		0.5
Serbs		0.5
Bosnian		0.5
Lebanese		0.5
Turks		0.5
Iraqis		0.5
Iranians		0.5
Roma	39,974	0.497
Lappish	19,303	0.24
Estonians		0.1
Chilean		0.1
Greeks		0.1
Somalis		0.1
Others	279,336	3.473
Undeclared		0.0
Total	8,043,077	100.0

Sweden census 2005

Note that the census does not collect data about ethnicity. It only collected data about which country a person was born in. Therefore the census does now show the number of citizens of Swedish ethnicity living in Sweden - probably a much lower rate than 85%.
The 2005 Swedish census showed an increase of 475,322 compared to the 1990 census, an average increase of 31,680 annually. During the 1990s, birth rate increased by more than 100,000 children per year while death rates fell and immigration surged. In the early 2000s, birth rate declined as immigration increased further, with the context of unrest in the Middle East, upholding steady population growth.

Ethnicity	number	%
Swede	7,651,507	85.0
Finns	449,188	4.99
Assyrians	100,000-120,000	1.30
Norwegian		0.5
Danes		0.5
Croats		0.5
Albanians		0.5
Serbs		0.5
Bosnian		0.5
Lebanese		0.5
Turks		0.5
Iraqis		0.5
Iranians		0.5
Roma	36,007	0.4
Lappish	6,800	0.1
Estonians		0.1
Chilean		0.1
Greeks		0.1
Somalis		0,1
Others	270,053	3.0
Undeclared		0,0
Total	9,001,774	100.0

Ethnicity

Beside the Swedes, the Sweden-Finns are the largest ethnic minority comprising approximately 50,000 along the Swedish-Finnish border, and 450,000 first and second generation immigrated ethnic Finns. Also in the farthest North a small population of Samis

Sami people

live.

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

For the latest statistics, see this country's entry in the CIA World Factbook

Age structure

0–14 years: 15.7% (male 733,597; female 692,194)
15–64 years: 65.5% (male 3,003,358; female 2,927,038)
65 years and over: 18.8% (male 753,293; female 950,171) ( est.)

Net migration rate

1.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population ( est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.061 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female ( est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 2.75 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 80.86 years
male: 78.59 years
female: 83.26 years ( est.)

Total fertility rate

1.94 children born/woman ( est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% ( est.)

Vital statistics since 1900

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)
1900	5 117	138 139	86 146	51 993	27.0	16.8	10.2
1901	5 156	139 370	82 772	56 598	27.0	16.1	11.0
1902	5 187	137 364	79 722	57 642	26.5	15.4	11.1
1903	5 210	133 896	78 610	55 286	25.7	15.1	10.6
1904	5 241	134 952	80 152	54 800	25.7	15.3	10.5
1905	5 278	135 409	82 443	52 966	25.7	15.6	10.0
1906	5 316	136 620	76 366	60 254	25.7	14.4	11.3
1907	5 357	136 793	78 149	58 644	25.5	14.6	10.9
1908	5 404	138 874	80 568	58 306	25.7	14.9	10.8
1909	5 453	139 505	74 538	64 967	25.6	13.7	11.9
1910	5 499	135 625	77 212	58 413	24.7	14.0	10.6
1911	5 542	132 977	76 462	56 515	24.0	13.8	10.2
1912	5 583	132 868	79 241	53 627	23.8	14.2	9.6
1913	5 621	130 200	76 724	53 476	23.2	13.6	9.5
1914	5 659	129 458	78 311	51 147	22.9	13.8	9.0
1915	5 696	122 997	83 587	39 410	21.6	14.7	6.9
1916	5 735	121 679	77 771	43 908	21.2	13.6	7.7
1917	5 779	120 855	77 385	43 470	20.9	13.4	7.5
1918	5 807	117 955	104 594	13 361	20.3	18.0	2.3
1919	5 830	115 193	84 289	30 904	19.8	14.5	5.3
1920	5 876	138 753	78 128	60 625	23.6	13.3	10.3
1921	5 929	127 723	73 536	54 187	21.5	12.4	9.1
1922	5 971	116 946	76 343	40 603	19.6	12.8	6.8
1923	5 997	113 435	68 424	45 011	18.9	11.4	7.5
1924	6 021	109 055	72 001	37 054	18.1	12.0	6.2
1925	6 045	106 292	70 918	35 374	17.6	11.7	5.9
1926	6 064	102 007	71 344	30 663	16.8	11.8	5.1
1927	6 081	97 994	77 219	20 775	16.1	12.7	3.4
1928	6 097	97 868	73 267	24 601	16.1	12.0	4.0
1929	6 113	92 861	74 538	18 323	15.2	12.2	3.0
1930	6 131	94 220	71 790	22 430	15.4	11.7	3.7
1931	6 152	91 074	77 121	13 953	14.8	12.5	2.3
1932	6 176	89 779	71 459	18 320	14.5	11.6	3.0
1933	6 201	85 020	69 607	15 413	13.7	11.2	2.5
1934	6 222	85 092	69 921	15 171	13.7	11.2	2.4
1935	6 242	85 906	72 813	13 093	13.8	11.7	2.1
1936	6 259	88 938	74 836	14 102	14.2	12.0	2.3
1937	6 276	90 373	75 392	14 981	14.4	12.0	2.4
1938	6 297	93 946	72 693	21 253	14.9	11.5	3.4
1939	6 326	97 380	72 876	24 504	15.4	11.5	3.9
1940	6 356	95 778	72 748	23 030	15.1	11.4	3.6
1941	6 389	99 727	71 910	27 817	15.6	11.3	4.4
1942	6 432	113 961	63 741	50 220	17.7	9.9	7.8
1943	6 491	125 392	66 105	59 287	19.3	10.2	9.1
1944	6 560	134 991	72 284	62 707	20.6	11.0	9.6
1945	6 636	135 373	71 901	63 472	20.4	10.8	9.6
1946	6 719	132 597	70 635	61 962	19.7	10.5	9.2
1947	6 803	128 779	73 579	55 200	18.9	10.8	8.1
1948	6 883	126 683	67 693	58 990	18.4	9.8	8.6
1949	6 956	121 272	69 537	51 735	17.4	10.0	7.4
1950	7 014	115 414	70 296	45 118	16.5	10.0	6.4
1951	7 073	110 168	69 799	40 369	15.6	9.9	5.7
1952	7 125	110 192	68 270	41 922	15.5	9.6	5.9
1953	7 171	110 144	69 553	40 591	15.4	9.7	5.7
1954	7 213	105 096	69 030	36 066	14.6	9.6	5.0
1955	7 262	107 305	68 634	38 671	14.8	9.5	5.3
1956	7 315	107 960	70 205	37 755	14.8	9.6	5.2
1957	7 364	107 168	73 132	34 036	14.6	9.9	4.6
1958	7 409	105 502	71 065	34 437	14.2	9.6	4.6
1959	7 446	104 743	70 889	33 854	14.1	9.5	4.5
1960	7 480	102 219	75 093	27 126	13.7	10.0	3.6
1961	7 520	104 501	73 555	30 946	13.9	9.8	4.1
1962	7 562	107 284	76 791	30 493	14.2	10.2	4.0
1963	7 604	112 903	76 460	36 443	14.8	10.1	4.8
1964	7 661	122 664	76 661	46 003	16.0	10.0	6.0
1965	7 734	122 806	78 194	44 612	15.9	10.1	5.8
1966	7 808	123 354	78 440	44 914	15.8	10.0	5.8
1967	7 868	121 360	79 783	41 577	15.4	10.1	5.3
1968	7 914	113 087	82 476	30 611	14.3	10.4	3.9
1969	7 968	107 622	83 352	24 270	13.5	10.5	3.0
1970	8 043	110 150	80 026	30 124	13.7	9.9	3.7
1971	8 098	114 484	82 717	31 767	14.1	10.2	3.9
1972	8 122	112 273	84 051	28 222	13.8	10.3	3.5
1973	8 137	109 663	85 640	24 023	13.5	10.5	3.0
1974	8 161	109 874	86 316	23 558	13.5	10.6	2.9
1975	8 193	103 632	88 208	15 424	12.6	10.8	1.9
1976	8 222	98 345	90 677	7 668	12.0	11.0	0.9
1977	8 252	96 057	88 202	7 855	11.6	10.7	1.0
1978	8 276	93 248	89 681	3 567	11.3	10.8	0.4
1979	8 294	96 255	91 074	5 181	11.6	11.0	0.6
1980	8 310	97 064	91 800	5 264	11.7	11.0	0.6
1981	8 320	94 065	92 034	2 031	11.3	11.1	0.2
1982	8 325	92 748	90 671	2 077	11.1	10.9	0.2
1983	8 329	91 780	90 791	989	11.0	10.9	0.1
1984	8 337	93 889	90 483	3 406	11.3	10.9	0.4
1985	8 350	98 463	94 032	4 431	11.8	11.3	0.5
1986	8 370	101 950	93 295	8 655	12.2	11.1	1.0
1987	8 398	104 699	93 307	11 392	12.5	11.1	1.4
1988	8 437	112 080	96 743	15 337	13.3	11.5	1.8
1989	8 493	116 023	92 110	23 913	13.7	10.8	2.8
1990	8 559	123 938	95 161	28 777	14.5	11.1	3.4
1991	8 617	123 737	95 202	28 535	14.4	11.0	3.3
1992	8 668	122 848	94 710	28 138	14.2	10.9	3.2
1993	8 719	117 998	97 008	20 990	13.5	11.1	2.4
1994	8 781	112 257	91 844	20 413	12.8	10.5	2.3
1995	8 831	103 326	96 910	6 416	11.7	11.0	0.7
1996	8 843	95 297	94 133	1 164	10.8	10.6	0.1
1997	8 846	89 171	92 674	-3 503	10.1	10.5	-0.4
1998	8 851	88 384	92 891	-4 507	10.0	10.5	-0.5
1999	8 858	88 173	94 726	-6 553	10.0	10.7	-0.7
2000	8 872	90 441	93 285	-2 844	10.2	10.5	-0.3
2001	8 896	91 466	93 752	-2 286	10.3	10.5	-0.3
2002	8 925	95 815	95 009	806	10.7	10.6	0.1
2003	8 958	99 157	92 961	6 196	11.1	10.4	0.7
2004	8 994	100 928	90 532	10 396	11.2	10.1	1.2
2005	9 030	101 346	91 710	9 636	11.2	10.2	1.1
2006	9 081	105 913	91 177	14 736	11.7	10.0	1.6
2007	9 148	107 421	91 729	15 692	11.7	10.0	1.7
2008	9 220	109 301	91 449	17 852	11.9	9.9	1.9
2009	9 299	111 801	90 080	21 721	12.0	9.7	2.3
2010	9 379	115 641	90 487	25 154	12.3	9.6	2.7

Demographics

According to Eurostat

Eurostat

Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...

, in 2010, there were 1.33 million foreign-born residents in Sweden, corresponding to 14.3% of the total population. Of these, 859 000 (9.2%) were born outside the EU

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

and 477 000 (5.1%) were born in another EU Member State. The largest groups were:

Finland Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

(172,218)
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Former Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...

(152,268)
Iraq Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

(117,919)
Iran Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

(59,922)
Poland Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

(49,518)
Germany Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

(47,803)
Denmark Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

(46,002)
Norway Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

(43,819)
Turkey Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

(40,766)
Somalia Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

(31,734)

The number of Assyrians

Assyrian people

The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

in Sweden is about 100,000 – 120,000. Christian Assyrians are in fact the majority of people from Iraq in Sweden.

The fastest growing groups of foreign-born residents in Sweden between 2000 and 2010 were the following nationalities:

Burundi Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

(+3031%)
Palestinian territories Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

(+2542%)
Mongolia Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

(+2028%)
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

(+1439%)
Cameroon Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

(+1165%)
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...

(+1115%)
Myanmar Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

(+1022%)
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

(+1015%)
Lithuania Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

(+758%)
Central African Republic Central African Republic
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...

(+627%)

It should be noted that the predominant reason for the large percentage growth is that most of these nationalities were virtually non-existent in Sweden in the year 2000. For example, despite a growth of 627% the number of Swedish residents born in the Central African Republic only numbered 80 individuals.

History

World War II
Immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

increased markedly with World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Historically, the most numerous of foreign born nationalities are ethnic Germans from Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

and other Scandinavians

Scandinavians

Scandinavians are a group of Germanic peoples, inhabiting Scandinavia and to a lesser extent countries associated with Scandinavia, and speaking Scandinavian languages. The group includes Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, and additionally the descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as the Icelandic...

from Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

and Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. In short order, 70,000 war children

Finnish war children

During World War II some 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated from Finland, chiefly to Sweden and Denmark, but also to Norway. Most were evacuated during the Continuation War to ease the situation for their parents who set out to rebuild their homes in the re-conquered Karelia returning from...

were evacuated from Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, of which 15,000 remained in Sweden. Also, many of Denmark's nearly 7,000 Jews who were evacuated to Sweden decided to remain there.

A sizable community from the Baltic States

Baltic states

The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

(Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

, Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

and Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

) arrived during the Second World War.

1945 to 1967
During the 1950s and 1960s, the recruitment of immigrant labor was an important factor of immigration. The Nordic countries signed a trade agreement

Nordic Council

The Nordic Council is a geo-political, inter-parliamentary forum for co-operation between the Nordic countries. It was established following World War II and its first concrete result was the introduction in 1952 of a common labour market and free movement across borders without passports for the...

in 1952, establishing a common labour market and free movement across borders. This migration within the Nordic countries, especially from Findland to Scandinavia, was essential to create the tax-base required for the expansion of the strong public sector now charactreristic of Scandinavia.
This continued until 1967, when the labour market became saturated, and Sweden introduced new immigration controls.

On a smaller scale, Sweden took in political refugees from Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

after their countries were invaded by the Soviet Union in 1956 and 1968 respectively. Some tens of thousands of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

draft dodgers from the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

in the 1960s and 1970s also found refuge in Sweden.

Contemporary immigration

Since the early 1970s, immigration to Sweden has been mostly due to refugee migration and family reunification from countries in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

and Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

.

The first group of Assyrians/Syriacs moved to Sweden

Sweden

from Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

in 1967. Many of them live in Södertälje

Södertälje

Södertälje is a city and the seat of Södertälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 86,069 inhabitants in 2010.The industrial city, about south of Stockholm, is the home to truck maker Scania AB and a top 10 pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca....

(Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

), also known as Mesopotälje (after Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...

).
There are also around 40,000 Roma in Sweden.

Immigration of Iraqis

Iraqis in Sweden

Iraqis in Sweden numbered at 118,000 people as of 2009, or 1.3% of the total population of Sweden.They are one of the largest ethnic minority groups living in Sweden, second to the Sweden Finns ....

has increased dramatically during the Iraq War, during 2003 to 2007. A total of 8,951 Iraqis came to Sweden in 2006, accounting for 45% of the entire Iraqi migration to Europe. By 2007, the community of Iraqis in Sweden numbered above 70,000. In 2008, Sweden introduced tighter rules on asylum seekers.

Emigration

In the 19th century, Sweden's yearly population growth rate peaked at 1.2% (i.e. it doubled in less than 60 years), compared to 1% today (migration excluded). This considerable population growth rate led, before the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

, to a pauperization of the rural population, for each generation inherited smaller and smaller shares. Due to years of crop failure in the 1840s and 1860s, the U.S. Homestead Act

Homestead Act

A homestead act is one of three United States federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River....

of 1862, and to a lesser extent religious persecution, emigration

Emigration

Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...

started and grew. Between 1850 and 1930 1,050,000 Swedes emigrated (re-migration excluded), chiefly to Canada, U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and to Denmark

Denmark

. If they had not left, Sweden's population would have been about 2,000,000 higher today, assuming famine and civil war would not have resulted from their staying. (After 1929 the net-migration has been directed towards Sweden.)

The re-migration of Swedish nationals from the U.S. was culturally more important than the absolute figures reveal. The re-migrants often re-settled in their native parish, where their relative wealth and foreign experience ensured a prestigious position

Prestige (sociology)

Prestige is a word commonly used to describe reputation or esteem, though it has three somewhat related meanings that, to some degree, may be contradictory. Which meaning applies depends on the historical context and the person using the word....

in the community. U.S. views, values and not the least world-view followed the re-migrants, ensuring a popular perception of closeness to U.S., contrary to the situation in for instance neighbouring Denmark or Finland

Finland

(and contrary to the Swedish elite's closeness to Germany and Continental Europe).

Language

The Swedish language

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

is by far the dominating language in Sweden, and is used by the government administration.

The indigenous Uralic languages

Uralic languages

The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...

were repressed well into the 1960s. Since 1999 Sweden has five officially recognized minority language

Minority language

A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities.-International politics:...

s: Sami, Meänkieli

Meänkieli

Meänkieli is the name used in Sweden for Finnish dialects spoken in the northernmost parts of the country, around the valley of the Torne River....

, Standard-Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

, Romani chib and Yiddish

Yiddish language

Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...

.

The Sami language, spoken by about 7,000 people in Sweden, may be used in government agencies

Government agencies in Sweden

The Government agencies in Sweden are state controlled organizations who act independently to carry out the policies of the Swedish Government. The Government Ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to control agencies by policy decisions but not by direct...

, court

Court

A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...

s, preschools and nursing home

Nursing home

A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...

s in the municipalities

Municipalities of Sweden

The municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...

of Arjeplog

Arjeplog Municipality

Arjeplog Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Arjeplog....

, Gällivare

Gällivare Municipality

Gällivare Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Gällivare.The municipality is the third largest in Sweden, but it has not been amalgamated with other entities....

, Jokkmokk

Jokkmokk Municipality

Jokkmokk Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Jokkmokk.The name Jokkmokk is Sami for the words "river" and "bend", since the town is situated close to a bend in the nearby river....

and Kiruna

Kiruna Municipality

Kiruna Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northernmost Sweden. Its seat is located in Kiruna...

and its immediate neighbourhood.

Similarly, Finnish

Finnish language

and Meänkieli can be used in the municipalities of Gällivare

Gällivare Municipality

, Haparanda

Haparanda Municipality

Haparanda Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Haparanda .In 1967 the "City of Haparanda" was merged with the rural municipalities Karl Gustav and Nedertorneå. Since 1971 Haparanda, like all other municipalities of Sweden, is a municipality...

, Kiruna

Kiruna Municipality

Kiruna Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northernmost Sweden. Its seat is located in Kiruna...

, Pajala

Pajala Municipality

Pajala Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden, bordering Finland. Its seat is located in Pajala.In 1884 Tärendö was detached from Pajala Municipality, forming a municipality of its own. In 1914 Pajala Municipality was once again split when Junosuando broke away...

and Övertorneå

Övertorneå Municipality

Övertorneå Municipality is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden, bordering Finland. Its seat is located in Övertorneå.Until the Finnish War Övertorneå and the Finnish Ylitornio were a single municipality. Following the war, the eastern part of the municipality was ceded to...

and its immediate neighbourhood.
Finnish is also official language, along with Swedish, in the city of Eskilstuna

Eskilstuna

Eskilstuna is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 60,185 inhabitants in 2005. Eskilstuna has a large Sweden Finn population....

.
During the mid to late 20th century, immigrant communities brought other languages, among others being Danish

Danish language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...

, Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

, Serbo-Croatian

Serbo-Croatian language

Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...

, Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, Neo-Aramaic

Neo-Aramaic languages

Neo-Aramaic, or Modern Aramaic, languages are varieties of Aramaic that are spoken vernaculars in the medieval to modern era, evolving out of Middle Aramaic dialects around AD 1200 ....

Religion

Although only one fifth of Swedes in one investigation chose to describe themselves as believing in God, the majority (78%) of the population belongs to the Church of Sweden

Church of Sweden

The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...

, the Lutheran church that separated from the state in 2000. This is because until recently, those who had family members in the church automatically became members at birth. Other Christian denominations in Sweden include Roman Catholic (see Catholic Church of Sweden), Orthodox

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

, Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

, and other evangelical Christian churches (frikyrkor = "free churches"). Shamanism

Shamanism

Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...

persisted among the Sami people

Sami people

up until the 18th century, but no longer exists in its traditional form as most Sami today belong to the Lutheran

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

church. There are also a number of Muslims

Islam in Sweden

Islam in Sweden is the religion of around 450,000 to 500,000 citizens and residents, as of 2009, around 5% of the total population.-History:Islam begins to have a noticeable presence in Sweden with immigration from the Middle East beginning in the 1970s....

, Buddhists

Buddhism in Sweden

Buddhism is a relatively small religion in Sweden. Most of the practicing Buddhists have various Asian heritage. There are current plans of constructing a Buddhist Temple in Fredrika, a small town in the north part of Sweden. This Thai-style temple will be the biggest Buddhist temple in Europe...

, Bahá'í and Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

in Sweden, mainly from immigration.

External links

Population Statistics – in English
Statistics Sweden – Official Data Base

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Population statistics

Sweden household census 1990

Sweden census 2005

Ethnicity

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

Vital statistics since 1900

Demographics

History

Contemporary immigration

Emigration

Language

Religion

See also

External links