Sweden Finns
Encyclopedia
Sweden Finns are a Finnish
speaking minority in Sweden
. The Finnish-speaking Swedes are not to be confused with the Swedish speaking Finland-Swedes in Finland
(and Sweden). In 2008 there were over 675 000 people in Sweden who were either born in Finland or have at least one parent or grandparent who was born in Finland. http://192.121.194.78/Diverse/AppData/Isidor/files/185/6340.xls.
In the 1940s, 70,000 young Finnish children were evacuated
from Finland to Sweden during the Winter War
and the Continuation War
. 15,000 are believed to have stayed and an unknown number to have returned as adults.
In the 1950s and 1960s the migration from Finland to Sweden was considerable, chiefly due to economic differences between the countries, as a result of Sweden not being involved in World War II
. The emigration
caused some alarm in Finland with most of the emigrants in their most productive age — although many of them returned to Finland in the following decades. Many of the Finns who have moved to Sweden have been Finland-Swedes
(i.e. from the Swedish-speaking areas of Finland): In the 1950s they made up around 50 % of the Finns moving to Sweden, and from the 1960s and onward around 20-30 %. (Thus, the fact that a person in Sweden has a Finnish background does not automatically mean he or she has a Finnish-speaking background.)
The city of Eskilstuna
, Södermanland
, is one of the most heavily populated Sweden Finnish cities of Sweden, due to migration from Finland, during the 1950s until the 1970s, due to Eskilstuna's large number of industries. In Eskilstuna, the Finnish speaking minority have both a private school (the only one in the city of Eskilstuna, there is no public school or teachers in Finnish at the public schools. Only the lower level is in Finnish, upper level is in Swedish) and only one magazine in Finnish. Some of the municipal administration is also available in Finnish.
In the Finnish mindset, the term "Sweden Finns" (ruotsinsuomalaiset) is first and foremost directed at these immigrants and their offspring, who at the end of the 20th century numbered at almost 200,000 first-generation immigrants, and about 250,000 second-generation immigrants. Of these some 250,000 are estimated to use Finnish in their daily lives, and 100,000 remain citizens of Finland. This usage isn't quite embraced in Sweden. According to the latest research by Radio of Sweden (Sveriges Radio), there are almost 470,000 people who speak or understand Finnish or Meänkieli
, which is about 5.2% of the population of Sweden.
In the Swedish mindset, the term "Sweden Finns" historically denominated primarily the (previously) un-assimilated indigenous minority of ethnic Finns who ended up on the "right" side of the border when Sweden was partitioned in 1809, after the Finnish War
, and the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland
was created. These Finnish-speaking Swedes are chiefly categorized as either Tornedalians
originating at the Finnish–Swedish border in the far north, or skogsfinnar
("forest Finns") along the Norwegian–Swedish border in Central Sweden.
when the Finnish Church in Stockholm was founded in 1533, although earlier migration, and migration to other cities in present-day Sweden, remain undisputed. (Strictly speaking this was not a case of emigration/immigration
but of "internal migration" within pre-1808
Sweden, a.k.a. Sweden-Finland
.)
In the 16th and the 17th century large groups of Savonians
moved from Finland to Dalecarlia, Bergslagen
and other provinces where their slash and burn
cultivation was suitable. This was part of an effort of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa
, and his successors, to expand agriculture to these uninhabited parts of the country which were later on known as "Finn woods" (Finnskogar).
Cultural imperialism
in combination with a fear of Russia led to efforts by Sweden's government aiming at assimilation and Swedification of the Finnish speaking population. Similar attempts were already initiated in the late 17th century, but peaked in 1850–1950. Finnish speakers remain only along the border with Finland in the far North, and as domestic migrants due to unemployment in the North. Depending on definition they are reported to number to 30,000–90,000 — that is up to 1% of Sweden's population, but the proportion of active Finnish-speakers among them has declined drastically in the last generations, and Finnish is hardly spoken among the youngsters today. Since the 1970s largely unsuccessful efforts have been made to reverse some of the effects of Swedification, notably education and public broadcasts in Finnish, to raise the status of Finnish. As a result a written standard
of the local dialect
Meänkieli
has been established and taught, which has given reason to critical remarks from Finland, along the line that standard Finnish would be of more use for the students.
The Finnish immigrants who moved to Sweden in the 1950s and 1960s were sometimes despised as being a very "low-class" people, as portrayed in the Swedish book and movie Svinalängorna. In 2009, Maria Wetterstrand
, Swedish politician and then leader of the Green Party
, wrote a Swedish article in Dagens Nyheter
about this, and demanded that Sweden ought to give Finland an official apology. Matti Vanhanen
, then Prime Minister of Finland
, responded in 2011 that an apology was not needed.
and North Middle Sweden
, having distances of 4.66 and 4.67. The most similar Swedes after those were the ones from Stockholm
(4.81). Upper Norrland
was the second most distanced (and thus one of the most dissimilar), at 5.61, which was quite surprising due to the fact that this region likely is where Swedes and Finns
have been in greatest contact with each other.
The greatest FST distance between the Swedes and the Sweden Finns was 5.63, and that accounted for the Swedes who came from the southernmost regions
. The greatest FST distance within the Swedish group as a whole, for comparison, was between Southern Sweden and Upper Norrland (3.19), despite Upper Norrland being one of the most distanced Swedish groups from the Sweden Finns as well.
.
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...
speaking minority in 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....
. The Finnish-speaking Swedes are not to be confused with the Swedish speaking Finland-Swedes in 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...
(and Sweden). In 2008 there were over 675 000 people in Sweden who were either born in Finland or have at least one parent or grandparent who was born in Finland. http://192.121.194.78/Diverse/AppData/Isidor/files/185/6340.xls.
In the 1940s, 70,000 young Finnish children were evacuated
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...
from Finland to Sweden during the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
and the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
. 15,000 are believed to have stayed and an unknown number to have returned as adults.
In the 1950s and 1960s the migration from Finland to Sweden was considerable, chiefly due to economic differences between the countries, as a result of Sweden not being involved in 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...
. The 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...
caused some alarm in Finland with most of the emigrants in their most productive age — although many of them returned to Finland in the following decades. Many of the Finns who have moved to Sweden have been Finland-Swedes
Finland-Swedes
Swedish-speaking Finns constitute a linguistic minority in Finland. They maintain a strong identity and are alternatively seen either as a distinct subgroup of the Finnish people or as a separate ethnic group or even as a distinct nationality...
(i.e. from the Swedish-speaking areas of Finland): In the 1950s they made up around 50 % of the Finns moving to Sweden, and from the 1960s and onward around 20-30 %. (Thus, the fact that a person in Sweden has a Finnish background does not automatically mean he or she has a Finnish-speaking background.)
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....
, Södermanland
Södermanland
', sometimes referred to under its Latin form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a historical province or landskap on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanland and Uppland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea.In Swedish, the province name is...
, is one of the most heavily populated Sweden Finnish cities of Sweden, due to migration from Finland, during the 1950s until the 1970s, due to Eskilstuna's large number of industries. In Eskilstuna, the Finnish speaking minority have both a private school (the only one in the city of Eskilstuna, there is no public school or teachers in Finnish at the public schools. Only the lower level is in Finnish, upper level is in Swedish) and only one magazine in Finnish. Some of the municipal administration is also available in Finnish.
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....
, which is about 5.2% of the population of Sweden.
In the Swedish mindset, the term "Sweden Finns" historically denominated primarily the (previously) un-assimilated indigenous minority of ethnic Finns who ended up on the "right" side of the border when Sweden was partitioned in 1809, after the Finnish War
Finnish War
The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
, and the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
was created. These Finnish-speaking Swedes are chiefly categorized as either Tornedalians
Tornedalians
The Tornedalians are descendants of Finns who in some point in history settled to the areas of today's Northern Sweden near the Torne Valley district and west from there.-History:...
originating at the Finnish–Swedish border in the far north, or skogsfinnar
Finnskogen
Finnskogen is an area of Norway situated in the county of Hedmark, named so because of immigration of Finnish people in the 17th century, the so-called Skogfinner/"Forest Finns"....
("forest Finns") along the Norwegian–Swedish border in Central Sweden.
History
Communities of Finns in Sweden can be traced back to the ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
when the Finnish Church in Stockholm was founded in 1533, although earlier migration, and migration to other cities in present-day Sweden, remain undisputed. (Strictly speaking this was not a case of emigration/immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
but of "internal migration" within pre-1808
Lands of Sweden
The lands of Sweden are three traditional parts, essentially three collectives of provinces, in Sweden. These "lands" have no administrative function, and there is no official designation for this subdivision level...
Sweden, a.k.a. Sweden-Finland
Sweden-Finland
Sweden–Finland is an outdated Finnish historiographical term referring to the Swedish Kingdom from the Kalmar Union to the Napoleonic wars, or the period from the 14th to the 18th century. In 1809 the realm was split and the eastern half came to constitute the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, in...
.)
In the 16th and the 17th century large groups of Savonians
Savonian people
Savonians are Finnish people descending from the inhabitants of historical province of Savonia. Savonians differ from other Finnish tribes by their dialect and cultural tradition. Originally they are descendants of the historical Finnish Karelians and the Tavastians...
moved from Finland to Dalecarlia, Bergslagen
Bergslagen
Bergslagen is a historically, culturally, and linguistically distinct mining district located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden. In Bergslagen mining and metallurgic industry have been important since the Middle Ages...
and other provinces where their slash and burn
Slash and burn
Slash-and-burn is an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields. It is subsistence agriculture that typically uses little technology or other tools. It is typically part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock...
cultivation was suitable. This was part of an effort of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa
Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
, and his successors, to expand agriculture to these uninhabited parts of the country which were later on known as "Finn woods" (Finnskogar).
Cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism is the domination of one culture over another. Cultural imperialism can take the form of a general attitude or an active, formal and deliberate policy, including military action. Economic or technological factors may also play a role...
in combination with a fear of Russia led to efforts by Sweden's government aiming at assimilation and Swedification of the Finnish speaking population. Similar attempts were already initiated in the late 17th century, but peaked in 1850–1950. Finnish speakers remain only along the border with Finland in the far North, and as domestic migrants due to unemployment in the North. Depending on definition they are reported to number to 30,000–90,000 — that is up to 1% of Sweden's population, but the proportion of active Finnish-speakers among them has declined drastically in the last generations, and Finnish is hardly spoken among the youngsters today. Since the 1970s largely unsuccessful efforts have been made to reverse some of the effects of Swedification, notably education and public broadcasts in Finnish, to raise the status of Finnish. As a result a written standard
Standard language
A standard language is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works...
of the local dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
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....
has been established and taught, which has given reason to critical remarks from Finland, along the line that standard Finnish would be of more use for the students.
The Finnish immigrants who moved to Sweden in the 1950s and 1960s were sometimes despised as being a very "low-class" people, as portrayed in the Swedish book and movie Svinalängorna. In 2009, Maria Wetterstrand
Maria Wetterstrand
Ingrid Maria Wetterstrand is a Swedish politician. Between 2002-2011 she was one of the spokespersons of the Green Party alongside with Peter Eriksson...
, Swedish politician and then leader of the Green Party
Green Party (Sweden)
-External links:**...
, wrote a Swedish article in Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
about this, and demanded that Sweden ought to give Finland an official apology. Matti Vanhanen
Matti Vanhanen
Matti Taneli Vanhanen is a Finnish politician. He is a former Prime Minister of Finland and a former Chairman of the Centre Party. In the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council. In his earlier career he was a journalist...
, then Prime Minister of Finland
Prime Minister of Finland
The Prime Minister is the Head of Government of Finland. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, who is the Head of State. The current Prime Minister is Jyrki Katainen of the National Coalition Party.-Overview:...
, responded in 2011 that an apology was not needed.
Genetics
In 2011, a detailed genetic study was made in order to, among other reasons, see how similar the Sweden Finns were to the native Swedes. Each samples in the study were looked at individually, to make sure that the Swedes had full grandparental ancestry from their represented Swedish regions respectively, and the Sweden-born Finns having all of their ancestry from Finland. The Swedes who showed the closest FST distance (meaning greatest genetic similarity) to the Sweden Finns were those from East Middle SwedenEast Middle Sweden
East Middle Sweden is a National Area of Sweden. The National Areas are a part of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics of Sweden.-Geography:...
and North Middle Sweden
North Middle Sweden
North Middle Sweden is a National Area of Sweden. The National Areas are a part of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics of Sweden.-Geography:...
, having distances of 4.66 and 4.67. The most similar Swedes after those were the ones from 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...
(4.81). Upper Norrland
Upper Norrland
Upper Norrland is a National Area of Sweden. The National Areas are a part of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics of Sweden.-Geography:...
was the second most distanced (and thus one of the most dissimilar), at 5.61, which was quite surprising due to the fact that this region likely is where Swedes and Finns
Tornedalians
The Tornedalians are descendants of Finns who in some point in history settled to the areas of today's Northern Sweden near the Torne Valley district and west from there.-History:...
have been in greatest contact with each other.
The greatest FST distance between the Swedes and the Sweden Finns was 5.63, and that accounted for the Swedes who came from the southernmost regions
Skåneland
Skåneland or Skånelandene are terms used in historical contexts in Scandinavia to describe the area on the southern and south-western part of the Scandinavian peninsula, which under the Treaty of Roskilde was transferred from Denmark to Sweden. It corresponds to the provinces of Blekinge,...
. The greatest FST distance within the Swedish group as a whole, for comparison, was between Southern Sweden and Upper Norrland (3.19), despite Upper Norrland being one of the most distanced Swedish groups from the Sweden Finns as well.
Today
Today, Finns are the largest immigrant group in Sweden, and Finnish is an official minority language of SwedenMinority languages of Sweden
In 1999, the Minority Language Committee of Sweden formally declared five minority languages of Sweden: Finnish, Sami language, Romani, Yiddish, and Meänkieli ....
.
See also
- Languages of SwedenLanguages of SwedenSwedish is the official language of Sweden and is spoken by the vast majority of the nine million inhabitants of the country. It is a North Germanic language and quite similar to its sister North Germanic Languages, Danish and Norwegian.- History :...
- Sweden-Finnish Language Council
- SamiSami peopleThe 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...
- Kola NorwegiansKola NorwegiansThe Kola Norwegians were Norwegian settlers along the coastline of the Kola Peninsula in Russia.-History:In 1860 the Russian Tsar Alexander II granted permission for Norwegian settlements on the Kola. Around 1870, scores of families from Finnmark in northern Norway departed for the Kola coast,...
- KareliansKareliansThe Karelians are a Baltic-Finnic ethnic group living mostly in the Republic of Karelia and in other north-western parts of the Russian Federation. The historic homeland of Karelians includes also parts of present-day Eastern Finland and the formerly Finnish territory of Ladoga Karelia...
- TornedaliansTornedaliansThe Tornedalians are descendants of Finns who in some point in history settled to the areas of today's Northern Sweden near the Torne Valley district and west from there.-History:...
- IngriansIngriansThe term Ingrians may refer to one of the following.*Inhabitants of Ingria in general.*Izhorians, Finnic indigenous people of Ingria.*Ingrian Finns, the descendants of Lutheran emigrants from present-day Finland in the 17th century....
- Forest FinnsForest FinnsForest Finns are people of Finnish descent in the forest areas of Eastern Norway and Central Sweden...
- Finland-SwedesFinland-SwedesSwedish-speaking Finns constitute a linguistic minority in Finland. They maintain a strong identity and are alternatively seen either as a distinct subgroup of the Finnish people or as a separate ethnic group or even as a distinct nationality...
- Kvens