The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are often called Swedish-speaking Finns, Finland-Swedes, Finland Swedes, Finnish Swedes, Swedish Finns, Swedes of Finland see below) (Swedish: finlandssvenskar; Finnish: suomenruotsalaiset) constitutes 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. Another view is that they constitute a subgroup of the Swedish people. 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.
According to Statistics Finland, Swedish is the mother tongue of about 275,000 people in mainland Finland and of about 25,000 people in Åland, a self-governing archipelago of islands off the coast of Finland where Swedish speakers constitute a majority. Swedish-speakers comprise 5.5% of the total Finnish population or about 5.1% 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. According to a statistical analysis made by Fjalar Finnäs, the population of the minority group is today stable and may even be increasing slightly in total numbers since more parents from bilingual families tend to register their children as Swedish speakers.
Read more about Swedish-speaking Population Of Finland: Terminology, Historical Relationship of The Swedish- and Finnish-speaking Populations, Genetics, Identity, Historical Predominance of The Swedish Language Among The Gentry, Bilingualism, Demographics, Swedish-speaking Immigrants, Diaspora, Other Terms, Notable Swedish-speakers From Finland
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“This was the Eastham famous of late years for its camp- meetings, held in a grove near by, to which thousands flock from all parts of the Bay. We conjectured that the reason for the perhaps unusual, if not unhealthful development of the religious sentiment here, was the fact that a large portion of the population are women whose husbands and sons are either abroad on the sea, or else drowned, and there is nobody but they and the ministers left behind.”
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