A Swedish Learner’s Guide to Swedish-Speaking Countries Around The World 

Learning Swedish and curious about the Swedish speaking countries you could visit?

Around 11 million people speak Swedish as a first language, while approximately 3 million speak it as a second language.

And it's the 90th most-spoken language in the world and the 14th most-spoken European language. Not that big, right?

In this post, you'll learn all about the Swedish speaking countries in the world and where to find them. Not only where it is an official language but also where Swedish is recognised or where some communities speak it. 

You might be surprised to discover just how global Swedish is.

Swedish Speaking Countries Where Swedish Is The Official Language

The most obvious country where Swedish is the official language is, of course, Sweden. But an interesting little tidbit is that Swedish didn't gain official language status until 2009, when the parliament implemented the Swedish Language Act.

Funnily enough, Swedish did gain official status in Finland before it was obtained in Sweden. It was gained as far back as 1863 and enjoyed the same status as Finnish.

Even though Finnish is the language that dominates both government and society, a couple of thousands of Finns along the coast are bilingual, with Swedish as their primary language. 

As mentioned above, Swedish is the official language in both Sweden and Finland. Around 10 million speak Swedish in Sweden, but how many of them are native speakers is unknown.

In contrast, about 260 000 speak Swedish as a first language in Finland, while as many as 2,4 million speak Swedish as a second language in Finland.

The majority of the bilingual Finns live around the southern and western coasts of Finland, while people in the northern or eastern part often don't speak Swedish at all.

Åland

It should also be noted that the island Åland is an exception. While it's a region of Finland, its only official language is Swedish. An estimated 88% of its habitants speak Swedish as a mother tongue.

So while Åland on paper is part of Finland, Swedish is the most commonly used language there. 

So, if you'd like to practise speaking Swedish, simply visiting Sweden, Åland, or the coastal regions of southern and western Finland would be your best bet to get your practice session!

I have a couple of friends who can attest to that as well. When they visited Finland, there were significantly more people who spoke Swedish in big coastal cities like Helsinki or Turku compared to the cities just a few miles up-country.

So if you want to practise Swedish in Finland, big coastal cities are the way to go! 

Other Swedish Speaking Countries

While Swedish doesn't have official status in any other country or is that widely used, some countries still have Swedish speakers.

There are estimated to be around 300 000 Swedish speakers around the world, except for Sweden, Finland and Åland.

That is across all countries in the world, which is albeit not a lot, but if you find Swedish-speaking communities, then those are usually filled with people who speak Swedish.

When it comes to Swedish outside of Sweden, Finland or Åland, there are generally two types of Swedish-speaking people that exist.

Those who live in another country but were born in Sweden and speak Swedish as their first language. And those who are descendants of the Swedes who emigrated from Sweden during the 19th century.

Few of the latter still speak Swedish. And those who do most likely still speak the old Swedish that perhaps their grandparents' grandparents spoke when they emigrated. 

The USA

The country with the most Swedish speakers, after Sweden and Finland, is the US. The Swedes in America are primarily descendants of the immigrants who left Sweden for the US during the 19th century.

Around 1.2 million Swedes emigrated to America during this time, and today there are three times as many living descendants left.

The Swedes who moved to America, many of which moved to the Midwest, formed close-knit communities which worked hard at preserving the Swedish traditions and language.

Unfortunately, fewer and fewer descendants can speak Swedish fluently. An estimated 76 000 people in the US can speak Swedish today.

Most of them are presumably newer immigrants and not descendants of those who emigrated during the 19th century.

However, how many descendants of the original Swedes who can still speak Swedish is unknown.

Some Swedish-speaking people live in other countries, like Spain, France, Canada, the UK, Germany and many more. But those are probably new immigrants who have lived in those countries for a shorter time.

They are probably integrated with their new countries' culture, and the probability that they have created multiple Swedish communities is low.

So if you want to practise your Swedish, you'll probably have to actively seek out someone that speaks Swedish in that country. You likely won't encounter a Swedish speaker by chance or by seeking out a specific neighbourhood or community. 

Other Nordic Countries

You probably a higher chance of running into a Swedish speaker in another Nordic country. Many Swedes live in Norway or Denmark at least once, and if they don't, they will usually visit their neighbour countries a few times.

So the chance of running into a Swede in Norway or Denmark is probably higher than in other countries.

Still, at the same time, if you want to meet a Swedish person to speak to, it's probably easier to travel to Sweden and strike up a conversation than to try one of the neighbouring countries and search for one. 

Countries Where Swedish Used To Have Some Kind Of Status

Swedish has historically been used in some Swedish-speaking communities and has also enjoyed status as a minority language.

Some Swedish-speaking communities existed along the Baltic coast, and most were located in Estonia. Swedish had the status of a minority language, and the inhabitants were represented in the parliament.

They had this status for multiple centuries but it came to a halt during the 18th century when Estonia was lost to the Russian Empire.

Many people from these communities escaped to Ukraine, where they founded Gammalsvenskby (Old Swedish Village). A few people still speak Swedish there, but as the elderly population dies, so will the language. 

The communities left in Estonia survived until the early 20th century, when Estonia was freed from Russian rule. After that, the communities expanded, and the Swedish community grew.

Some municipalities, often along the coast, had Swedish as the administrative language, and Swedish-Estonian culture became increasingly popular.

However, the Soviet army invaded Estonia again at the end of WW2, and most of the Swedish speakers fled to Sweden.

Today there are very few Swedish speakers left in Estonia, and they are scattered. Both Estonia and Ukraine are two countries that used to have strong Swedish communities, but they are slowly fading and disappearing.

It will probably make Swedish in those countries almost nonexistent, except for newly immigrated speakers. 

Swedish Speaking Countries: More Global Than You Might Realise!

Even though the Swedish language isn't that big, it still has speakers all over the world. And it's the official language in no less than two countries. It technically means you don't have to be in Sweden to talk with a Swedish speaker.

However, it's still probably easier to find a Swede in Sweden to talk to than a Swede in, for example, the US. A better alternative could be to join some Swedish-speaking groups on the internet, though!

That way you'll find not only people who speak Swedish, but also people who might be more willing than the average Swede on the street to speak Swedish with you. 

So now you know a little bit more about where in the world Swedish is spoken and how common it is! So why not seize the opportunity and learn some common Swedish phrases so you can communicate with the locals in those Swedish speaking countries! 

And if you can't travel to any of these Swedish speaking countries anytime soon, don't worry, you can learn Swedish from home by reading short stories in Swedish. After all, Swedish isn't that hard to learn!