Swedish people

:"Swede" redirects here. This article is about the Swedish people as an ethnic group. For information about residents or nationals of Sweden, see demographics of Sweden. For swede, the vegetable, see rutabaga.

Related Topics:
Ethnic group - Sweden - Demographics of Sweden - Rutabaga

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The Swedish people or Swedes are an ethnic group which comprises the native speakers of the Germanic Swedish language and, arguably, those of their descendants who have retained some other elements of strong ethnic Swedish (self-) identity besides the language. The largest area inhabited by the Swedish people currently, as well as the earliest known original area inhabited by their linguistic ancestors, is on the eastern side of the Scandinavian Peninsula and 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, including the Finland-Swedish minority in mainland Finland and the small Swedish minority in Estonia, also have a long history of continuous settlement which in some of these areas possibly started over a millennium ago. Smaller groups of historical descendants of 18th-19th century Swedish emigrants who still retain some forms of Swedish identity to this day can be found in the Americas and Ukraine.

Related Topics:
Ethnic group - Germanic - Swedish language - Ethnic - Self- - Identity - Scandinavian Peninsula - Baltic Sea - Northern Europe - Finland-Swedish - Mainland Finland - Estonia - Millennium - 18th - 19th century - Americas - Ukraine

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The Suiones, as an ancient Germanic tribe, sometimes named Svear in academic works, were at the roots of the Swedish statehood, and contemporary with the Geats and the Goths in Scandinavia. Notably, in modern Scandinavian languages, with the exception of Icelandic, there is a distinction between svenskar and svear (as between danskar (Danes) and Daner), since the latter term does not include the Geats and the Gotlanders and other populations whose descendants are part of the present population of Sweden.

Related Topics:
Suiones - Germanic tribe - Svear - Geats - Goths - Scandinavia - Scandinavian languages - Icelandic - Danes - Daner - Gotland

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