Swedish Heritage

THE SWEDISH HERITAGE.

By Peter Liliequist.

Swedes are a nation and ethnic group of Germanic origin, mostly inhabiting Sweden and other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries in the world. Countries with swedish speaking groups today are: Sweden: 7.712.376(2010), Finland: ca 280.000.
Swedish citizens/Swedish speakers in other countries are: Spain 65.000, USA 56.324, Norway 28.730, Brazil 23.048(est.), United Kingdom 22.525, Denmark 21.000, France 16.000, Germany 9.500, Finland 9.000, Australia 8.170, Canada 7.000, Italy 6.000(est.), Argentina 800, Mexico 425, Estonia 300, Other regions 72.000.
Persons with swedish ancestry: USA 4.325.000, Canada 334.765, Argentina 175.000(est.), Brazil 32.975, Australia 30.375, New Zealand 1.257.
Swedish Americans are Americans of Swedish descent, especially the descendants of about 1.2 million immigrants from Sweden came during 1885-1915, when at least a third of the poor swedish population emigrated to America. Most were Lutherans who affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America(ELCA), or Methodists. The first Swedish Americans were the settlers of New Sweden. A colony established by Queen Christina of Sweden in 1638, it centered around the Delaware Valley including parts of the present-day states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. New Sweden was incorporated into New Netherlands in 1655 and ceased to be an official territory of the Realm of Sweden. However, many Swedish and Finnish colonists remained and were allowed some political and cultural autonomy. Present day reminders of the history of New Sweden are reflected in the presence of the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia, Fort Christina State Park in Wilmington, Delaware, Governor Printz Park and The Printzhof in Essington, Pennsylvania. My American relatives came to America in 1846 and later. They first settled in Iowa and later moved on west to end up in the state of Washington. A few small towns in the U.S. have retained a few visible Swedish characteristics. Some examples include Silverhill, Alabama; Cambridge, Minnesota; Lindstrom, Minnesota; Karlstad, Minnesota; Lindsborg, Kansas; Gothenburg, Nebraska; Oakland, Nebraska; Andover, Illinois; Kingsburg, California; Bishop Hill, Illinois; and Bemus Point, New York. Around 3.9% of the U.S. population is said to have Scandinavian ancestry (which also includes Norwegian Americans, Danish Americans, Finnish Americans, and Icelandic Americans). At present, according to the 2005 American Community Survey, only 56,324 Americans continue to speak the Swedish language at home, which is down from 67,655 in 2000. Most of them being recent immigrants. Swedish American communities typically switched to English by 1920. Swedish is rarely taught in high schools or colleges, and Swedish language newspapers or magazines are rare.
Top ten Swedish-Americans population(in numbers) by state in the USA: Minnesota 586.507, California 559.587, Illinois 303.044, Washington 213.134, Michigan 161.301, Florida 155.010, Wisconsin 149.977, New York 133.788, Texas 127.871 and Massachusetts 119.267.
Top ten Swedish-Americans population(percentage) by state in the USA: Minnesota 9.9%, North Dakota 5.0%, Nebraska 4.9%, Utah 4.3%, South Dakota 3.9%, Washington 3.6%, Idaho 3.5%, Wyoming 3.5%, Montana 3.4% and Iowa 3.3%. Some important numbers in your genealogy research work.
Some museums and organisations to help you out are:
1. The American Swedish Historical Museum is the oldest Swedish-American museum in the United States. It is located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in the South Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on part of a historic 17th-century land grant originally provided by Queen Christina of Sweden to settlers of New Sweden.
2. Swedish American Museum is located in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. The Swedish American Museum in Chicago was founded by Kurt Mathisson in 1976. It moved to its current location on 5211 North Clark Street in 1987. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden was present at the museum's founding and at its move to its new home. The museum is housed in a 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m2) building and has a collection of approximately 12,000 items of objects.
3. The Swedish American Historical Society in Lindsborg, Kansas. Visit them. 4. The American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit them. 5. Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, Washington.
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Uppdated by Peter Liliequist. Copyright (c) 1970 - 2018 By Peter Liliequist, Sweden Roots Hunter & Peter´s Web World.