Finland Swedish

The Finland-Swedes (Swedish: finlandssvenskar) are an ethnic minority in Finland, consisting of 292,400 people (1999), or 5.7% of the country's population. They live mainly along the Western and Southwestern coast of Finland.

Their native language is Swedish, which is also recognized as an official language of Finland besides Finnish. Pronunciation and some vocabulary differ from the Swedish spoken in mainland Sweden (rikssvenska). Most are bilingual, with the other language being Finnish.

Sometimes Finland-Swedes are confused with inhabitants of Sweden, but they are in fact Finnish and not Swedish. Further, many ethnic Finns speak Swedish as a second language (often with a distinct accent similar to that of the Finland-Swedes). These are not considered Finland-Swedish.

In addition, the inhabitants of the islands of Åland, between Sweden and Finland, occupy a distinct position. They have historically been a part of Sweden proper but were included in Finland after Sweden lost it to Russia in 1809. The inhabitants of Åland speak a variant of Swedish that is closer to that of mainland Sweden than that of the Finland-Swedes.

Famous Finland-Swedes include

• Linus Torvalds, author of the Linux kernel,
• Jean Sibelius, composer,
• Tove Jansson, author,
• Johan Ludvig Runeberg, author,
• Zacharias Topelius, author,
• Elias Lönnrot, author,
• Georg Henrik von Wright, philosopher,
• Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, statesman and
• Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, statesman.

See also: Swedish (disambiguation), Swedes