ethnic group

Social group or category of the population that, in a larger society, is set apart and bound together by common ties of language, nationality, or culture. Ethnic diversity, the legacy of political conquests and migrations, is one aspect of the social complexity found in most contemporary societies. The nation-state has traditionally been uneasy with ethnic diversity, and nation-states have often attempted to eliminate or expel ethnic groups. Most nations today practice some form of pluralism, which usually rests on a combination of toleration, interdependence, and separatism. The concept of ethnicity is more important today than ever, as a result of the spread of doctrines of freedom, self-determination, and democracy. Seealso culture contact; ethnic cleansing; ethnocentrism; race; racism.

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Swedish people (Swedish: svenskar) are a Nordic ethnic group indigenous to Sweden, defined by a common Swedish culture, speaking the Swedish language and/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 in the country of Sweden, situated 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 Swedes in mainland Finland - speaking Swedish dialect commonly referred as Finland Swedish (östsvenska mål) and the almost exclusively Swedish population of the Åland Islands speaking in a manner closer to the adjacent dialects in Sweden than to adjacent dialects of Finland Swedish. Smaller groups of historical descendants of 18th-20th century Swedish emigrants who still retain varying aspects of Swedish identity to this day can be found in the Americas (especially Minnesota and Wisconsin, see Swedish Americans) and in Ukraine.

Before 1809, the kingdom of Sweden had also included Finland, Northern Estonia, a small section of Northern Germany and Poland, as well as some areas of Norway and Denmark (see History of Sweden). Since there was no separate Finnish nationality at those times, it is not unusual that sources predating 1809 refer both to Swedes and Finns as "Swedes". This is particularly the case with New Sweden, where some of the "Swedish" settlers were actually of Finnish origin.

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 and Daner), since the latter term does not include the Geats and the Gotlanders and whose descendants became a part of the 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 (conclusions also valid for Norwegians). For the global genetic make-up of the Swedish people and other peoples (see also and ). Another detailed nuclear genetic study has also implied that Swedes may have a recent common origin with Finns.

English texts

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

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

Ethnic Swedes and Swedish speakers outside of Sweden

In Finland

The Swedes or Finland-Swedes form an ethnic minority group in Finland of about 265,000, comprising 5.10% of the population of mainland Finland, or 5.50 % if the 26,000 inhabitants of Åland are included (there are also about 60,000 Swedish-speaking Finns currently resident in Sweden). There are also 9,000 Swedish citizens living in Finland.

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 New Russia (today 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 be considered ethnic Swedes. 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 Varangians, Vikings mostly from Sweden, were instrumental in the formation of the first Russian state. Swedish soldiers taken prisoner during the Great Northern War were sent in considerable numbers to Siberia. They numbered perhaps 25 % of the population of Tobolsk, the capital of Siberia, and some settled permanently.

There are numerous ethnic Swedes in places like the US and Canada (Swedish Americans, Swedish Canadians), descendants of 19th and 20th century immigrants, including some who still speak Swedish. There are also Swedes located in St Petersburg Russia.

See also

• Culture of Sweden
• List of Swedes
• Estonian Swedes
• Finland Swedes
• Swedish Canadian
• Swedish American
• Swedish Australian
• British Swedish
• Swedish settlement in Argentina
• List of ethnic groups
• European ethnic groups

References

External links

• A Typical Swede (humorous article, with some gross stereotypes and inaccuracies, but also some truths)
• The Global Etiquette Guide: Sweden
• VisitSweden - Sweden's official website for tourism and travel information