Sweden’s Five Official Minorities
In the year 2000 Sweden officially recognized five national minorities and their languages as official minority languages.
- Jews and Yiddish
- Roma and Roman Chib
- Sami and the Sami language
- Swedish Finns and Finnish
- Tornedalers and Meänkieli (sometimes known as Torne Valley Finnish or Tornedalsfinska
Before I talk a bit more about each of the minorities let’s take a look at what being recognized as a national minority means.
For a language to qualify as a national minority language in Sweden it has to fulfill two criteria
- It must be a language, not a dialect
- It must have been spoken without interruption for at least three successive generations or 100 years.
In parts of Sweden where Sami, Finnish, and Meänkieli are still widely used, which is in the north and northeast of the country, this means that the people are allowed to use these languages when dealing with authorities and courts.
Children of the national minorities have the right to learn and use their language.
In 2010 these rights got better protection through Sweden’s National Minorities and Minority Language Act which in short aims to protect
- Minorities’ right to information
- Minorities’ culture and language
- Minorities’ right to participate and influence
There is no statistics or population count for these groups since Sweden doesn’t gather any information based on ethnicity or religion but I found some estimates;
Jewish population is around 20,000 – 25,000
Roma population is around 50,000 – 100,000
Sami population is around 20,000 – 35,000
Swedish Finns are the biggest group around 400,000 – 600,000
Tornedalers is around 50,000
Now let’s take a closer look at each of these minorities.
Jews
The Jews are spread over the country, and as in so many other places around the world, their start in Sweden wasn’t always easy.
Jews started settling in Sweden at the end of the 17th century. In those days, Sweden demanded that Jews convert to Christianity, more specifically Lutheranism. In 1774 a Jewish man named Aaron Isaac came to Sweden from Germany, and he became the first Jew to be allowed to live in Sweden without converting. Isaac went on to found the first Jewish community in Stockholm. In 1870 Jews were granted full civil rights.
Roma
The Roma is also spread all over the country.
Roma people have lived in Sweden since at least the 16th century. For centuries, the Roma have been subjected to discrimination and exclusion. In 2012 the Swedish government launched a long-term strategy that aims to achieve equal opportunities for Roma people by 2032. The strategy is based on human rights, with a particular focus on the principle of non-discrimination. Women and children are prioritized. The strategy includes several areas: education; work; housing; health, social care and security; culture and language; and organization of civil society.
Sami
The Sami minority is concentrated in the north and northeast of Sweden and it is the most widespread minority in terms of area.
The Sami are not only an official minority but also an indigenous people, who also live in Finland, Norway, and Russia. Like many other indigenous people, the Sami have long been oppressed and their culture suppressed. In the 1950s they began to influence Sweden’s policies by establishing associations to protect their rights. This developed until the Sami gained their own parliament, Sametinget, which holds special elections every four years.
The Sami parliament works for greater autonomy and deals with matters related to hunting and fishing, reindeer herding, compensation for damage caused by predators, and Sami language and culture.
Sami culture and history are very interesting, and if you are interested I can make a whole episode about the Sami people.
Swedish Finns
The Swedish Finns live predominantly in the northeast, along the border with Finland, but also in central Sweden.
Swedish Finns have Finnish roots but live in Sweden – a people with two cultures and two languages. And it’s up to individuals to define themselves as part of this minority.
The population mix has historical reasons. In the 13th century, Finland gradually came under Swedish rule. The country was only separated from Sweden in 1809, with Sweden becoming a constitutional monarchy. The waves of Finnish immigration to Sweden did not stop with the separation of the two countries, because shortly thereafter Finland was occupied by Russia. Then, World War II led to the displacement of about 70,000 Finns to Sweden. The 1950s and 1960s also saw large numbers of Finns moving to Sweden, often for work.
Tornedalers
The Tornedalers are mainly concentrated in northern Sweden. Ever since the Middle Ages, Finnish has been the dominant language in the Torne Valley, Tornedalen, the area around the Torne River in the far north of Sweden. When Sweden and Finland were separated in 1809, the border was drawn along the river. Western Torne Valley became Swedish and was populated by Tornedalers speaking Meänkieli, a language related to Finnish, Estonian, and the Sami language, among others.
For a long time, Swedish minority policy didn’t allow Tornedalers to speak their own language in school – and the same applied to the Sami and Swedish Finns. The situation improved gradually from the 1960s onwards. Since 1 April 2000, Tornedalers have had the right to use their own language in all municipalities in the Torne Valley area.
Final Words
Although Sweden’s total population is just around 10 million, and the relatively small size of these minorities both in numbers and spread around the country, they have the protection of being an officially recognized minority.
So why did the Swedish Government choose these minorities? There are some leading principles behind the choice;
Sweden considers that those groups having a historical presence in Sweden, and an influence in the development of Sweden’s culture through the years can be considered as official minority groups.
Are there any possible future minorities?
Becoming an official minority group in a country needs a lot of time. Nevertheless, many have been discussions about if refugees coming from Syria should become an official minority group in Sweden. In 2018, the second biggest ethnicity in Sweden came from Syria (1.8%).
In addition, in 2012, Arabic was the 3rd most speaking language in Sweden. However, the previously mentioned conditions to consider a group and language officials in Sweden makes this a debate but not yet a definitive decision.
In my next episode, I will talk about how Sweden is moving toward becoming a cashless society. Both the history of this development and the goals for the future. If that is something you would be interested in I would love for you to become a subscriber to the podcast.
And as an extra effort in building a community where we can come together and talk about everything and anything around Sweden I have started A Swedish Fika community on Discord. If you don’t know what Discord is and how you can become a part of the community I have all the information on my website aswedishfika.com
Until next time, as we say in Sweden
Hej Då
