In 1999, the Minority Language Committee of Sweden formally declared five official minority languages: Finnish,

Sámi languages The Sámi languages ( ), also rendered in English language, English as Sami and Saami, are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Indigenous Sámi peoples in Northern Europe (in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and extreme northwest ...

, Romani,

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

, and Meänkieli (Tornedal Finnish). The

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the G ...

dominates commercial and cultural life in Sweden but did not officially become the country's main language until 2009, when a new language law entered into effect. The need for this legal status had been the subject of protracted debate and proposed legislation was narrowly defeated in 2005. The minority languages have been legally recognized to protect the cultural and historical heritage of their respective speech communities. These communities are given certain rights on that basis, such as school education in their language, and its use in dealing with governmental agencies.

Criteria for inclusion

These are the criteria established by the Minority Language Committee, influenced by the directives from the

European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. However, t ...

in 1997. To be accorded official minority status, a language must have been spoken in Sweden for a significant amount of time. A precise figure has not been revealed, but qualified estimations consider 100 years to be reasonable, based on the included and excluded languages. A significant immigration to Sweden did not start until after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and many languages currently spoken by a large number of people in Sweden are excluded, among them Arabic and Persian. It is also required that the language be spoken by a significant number of people and be centred in a specific geographical region. This criterion was waived for Romani and Yiddish. Furthermore, it is a condition that the granting of official minority language status should be of cultural benefit to the group speaking it. It is allegedly for this reason that Swedish Sign Language was not included – even though it is a unique language with a history dating back to the 18th century, it was considered to have a sufficiently stable basis already in Swedish culture. Common culture is yet another criterion for inclusion.

Affected languages

Finnish

Finnish has been spoken in Sweden ever since the (then provincial) borders were drawn in the 13th century. Sweden has always had a significant migration to and from Finland. As the two languages belong to different

language families A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term ''family'' is a metaphor borrowed from biology, with the tree model used in historical linguistics ana ...

it is easy to distinguish them, unlike the neighbouring languages Norwegian and Danish. The number of Finnish speakers in Sweden today has been estimated to over 460,000. Even though many current Swedes are of full or mixed Finnish descent, Swedish is the main language in practice for many bilinguals. Finnish and Meänkieli can be used in the northernmost municipalities of Gällivare, Haparanda,

Kiruna (; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...

, Pajala and

Övertorneå Övertorneå (; ) is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Övertorneå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 1,917 inhabitants in 2010. It is located at the shore of the Torne (Finnish and Swedish river), Torne River, oppos ...

and its immediate neighbourhood. On 11 December 2007, Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE reported, that in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, Sweden, speaking Finnish was forbidden from municipal employees, and that this was the case also with small talk during breaks. According to an agreement between the city council and the municipal trade union the official working language is Swedish and two employees were not allowed to speak Finnish with one another in the common work premises or in break rooms. The Equality Ombudsman considered that a ban was permissible in that particular case. The following municipalities are included in the administrative area for Finnish: * Älvkarleby Municipality * Borås Municipality * Borlänge Municipality * Botkyrka Municipality * Degerfors Municipality *

Enköping Municipality Enköping Municipality () is a municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Enköping. The present municipality consists of nearly forty original local government units. They were grouped into greater ...

Eskilstuna Municipality Eskilstuna Municipality () is a municipality in Södermanland County in southeast Sweden, between Lake Mälaren and Lake Hjälmaren. The seat of the municipality is in the city of Eskilstuna. The present municipality was formed in 1971 by the m ...

* Fagersta Municipality * Finspång Municipality * Gällivare Municipality * Gävle Municipality * Gislaved Municipality *

Gothenburg Municipality Gothenburg Municipality ( or ) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Gothenburg. When the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863 the City of Gothenburg, founde ...

* Håbo Municipality * Hällefors Municipality * Hallstahammar Municipality *

Haninge Municipality Haninge Municipality () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Handen, a part of the Stockholm urban area. Haninge Municipality was formed in 1971 when ''Västerhaninge'' and ''Österhaninge'' wer ...

* Haparanda Municipality * Hofors Municipality * Huddinge Municipality * Järfälla Municipality * Kalix Municipality * Karlskoga Municipality *

Kiruna Municipality Kiruna Municipality (; ; ; ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Norrbotten County in northernmost Sweden. Its administrative centre, seat is located in Kiruna. It is the northernmost municipality in Sweden, and at is Sweden's geograph ...

* Köping Municipality *

Kramfors Municipality Kramfors Municipality () is a municipality in Västernorrland County, northern Sweden. Its seat is located in the town Kramfors. The rural municipality of ''Gudmundrå'' was in 1947 made one of the last administrative cities of Sweden and got ...

* Laxå Municipality * Lindesberg Municipality *

Ludvika Municipality Ludvika Municipality () is a Municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Dalarna County, central Sweden. It has its seat in the town of Ludvika. In 1971 the City of Ludvika (itself instituted as such in 1919) was amalgamated with the adjacent munic ...

* Luleå Municipality *

Malmö Municipality Malmö Municipality (), or City of Malmö (''Malmö stad''), is a Swedish municipality in Skåne County, the southernmost of the counties of Sweden (and conterminous with the historical province (''landskap'') of Scania). The central city is ...

* Mariestad Municipality * Motala Municipality * Norrköping Municipality *

Norrtälje Municipality Norrtälje Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the stad (Sweden), city of Norrtälje. It is the largest and northernmost municipality of Stockholm County a ...

* Nykvarn Municipality * Örebro Municipality *

Örnsköldsvik Municipality Örnsköldsvik Municipality (; ) is one of Sweden's 290 Municipalities of Sweden, municipalities, in Västernorrland County in northern Sweden. Its seat is in the town Örnsköldsvik. The present municipality was created in 1971 by the amalgamati ...

Österåker Municipality Österåker Municipality (, ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Åkersberga, with a population of 26,727 (2005). From 1974 to 1982 Österåker was part of Vaxholm Municipality. It ...

Östhammar Municipality Östhammar Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city status in Sweden, city of Östhammar. The present municipality was created during the local governmen ...

Övertorneå Municipality Övertorneå Municipality (, ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden, bordering Finland. Its administrative centre, seat is located in Övertorneå. Until the Finnish War (1808–1809) Övertorneå an ...

Oxelösund Municipality Oxelösund Municipality () is a municipality in Södermanland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Oxelösund. In 1950 the ''Nikolai Rural municipality'' was dissolved. One part formed the then ''City of Oxelösund'', o ...

* Pajala Municipality * Sandviken Municipality * Sigtuna Municipality * Skellefteå Municipality * Skinnskatteberg Municipality * Skövde Municipality *

Smedjebacken Municipality Smedjebacken Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Smedjebacken. The present municipality was formed in two steps during the last nationwide local gover ...

* Söderhamn Municipality *

Södertälje Municipality Södertälje Municipality () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Södertälje. It borders to Lake Mälaren in the north and the Baltic Sea in the south, and within the Stockholm County ...

Solna Municipality Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockh ...

Stockholm Municipality Stockholm Municipality () or the City of Stockholm () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It has the largest population of the 290 municipalities of the country, but one of the smallest areas, making it the second most ...

* Sundbyberg Municipality * Sundsvall Municipality * Surahammar Municipality * Tierp Municipality * Trelleborg Municipality * Trollhättan Municipality *

Trosa Municipality Trosa Municipality () is a municipality in Södermanland County in southeast Sweden. The municipality consists of the localities of Vagnhärad, Västerljung, Stensund, Sund and the town of Trosa. The seat of the municipality is located in ...

* Uddevalla Municipality *

Umeå Municipality Umeå Municipality (, ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its administrative centre, seat is Umeå, which is also the county seat of Västerbotten County. Administration The municipality is a ...

* Upplands-Bro Municipality * Upplands Väsby Municipality * Uppsala Municipality * Västerås Municipality

Meänkieli

Meänkieli (also known as Tornionlaaksonsuomi it. Tornedalian Finnishand Tornedalian) is spoken by a population in northern Sweden. Meänkieli is primarily considered a separate language in Sweden due to historical, sociological and political reasons arising from the creation of the 1809 border between Sweden and Finland. However on purely linguistic grounds, it may be viewed as a dialect of Finnish as it is highly mutually integible with the Northern Finnish dialects, although it contains much stronger influences from Swedish and has conserved some archaic features which the Northern dialects in Finland have lost. According to the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians, 70,000 individuals are able to understand Meänkieli, at least to some level. The following municipalities are included in the administrative area for Meänkieli: * Gällivare Municipality * Haparanda Municipality * Kalix Municipality *

* Luleå Municipality *

* Pajala Municipality *

Sámi languages

In Sweden,

encompasses five closely related

Uralic languages The Uralic languages ( ), sometimes called the Uralian languages ( ), are spoken predominantly in Europe and North Asia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian. Other languages with speakers ab ...

— Lule, Northern, Pite, Southern, and

Ume ''Prunus mume'', the Chinese plum or Japanese apricot, is a tree species in the family Rosaceae. Along with bamboo, the plant is intimately associated with art, literature, and everyday life in China, from where it was then introduced to Kor ...

Sámi – although they are commonly referred to as a single language, , in the country. Of those who speak a Sámi language in Sweden, the majority (61%) speak Northern Sámi, followed by Southern Sámi (22%), and Lule Sámi (17%); Pite and Ume Sámi are critically endangered languages with few speakers. As a minority language, Sámi is an official language and may be used in

government agencies A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, ...

, courts,

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

s and

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

s in the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

where it is most common. The following municipalities are included in the administrative area for Sámi languages: * Älvdalen Municipality *

Åre Municipality Åre Municipality (, ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Jämtland County in northern Sweden. Its administrative centre, seat is located in Järpen. The present municipality was formed in 1974 through the amalgamation of "old" Åre M ...

* Arjeplog Municipality * Arvidsjaur Municipality *

Åsele Municipality Åsele Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its administrative centre, seat is located in the town of Åsele. It is located in the southernmost fringe of Lapland (Sweden), Lapland. ...

* Berg Municipality * Dorotea Municipality * Gällivare Municipality * Härjedalen Municipality * Jokkmokk Municipality *

* Krokom Municipality * Luleå Municipality * Lycksele Municipality * Malå Municipality *

Östersund Municipality Östersund Municipality (; ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Jämtland County in northern Sweden. Its administrative centre, seat is located in Östersund, which is also the county seat of Jämtland County. The present municipality ...

* Piteå Municipality * Skellefteå Municipality * Sorsele Municipality *

* Storuman Municipality * Strömsund Municipality * Sundsvall Municipality *

* Vilhelmina Municipality * Vindeln Municipality

Romani

Romani chib, the language of

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

, has been spoken in Sweden since the 16th century. Today about 9,500 people speak it in Sweden. It does not have a geographical center, but is considered to be of historical importance.

Yiddish

has been a common language of

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

(Central and Eastern European) Jews since early in their history. The first Jews were permitted to reside in Sweden during the late 18th century. As of 2009, the Jewish population in Sweden was estimated at around 20,000. Out of these 2,000–6,000 claim to have at least some knowledge of Yiddish according to various reports and surveys. The number of native speakers among these has been estimated by linguist Mikael Parkvall to be 750–1,500. It is believed that virtually all native speakers of Yiddish in Sweden today are adults, and most of them elderly. The organization ''Sveriges Jiddischförbund'' (Yiddish Association of Sweden) has been the national parent organization for Yiddish speakers and has four local chapters in

Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 114,556 inhabitants in 2024. It is widely known for being a textile city, home to worldwide brands and companie ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Stockholm and

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. It has been active since 1976 and was previously known as ''Sällskapet för jiddisch och jiddischkultur i Sverige'' (The Society for Yiddish and Yiddish Culture in Sweden) which is now the name of the chapter based in Stockholm. Romani and Yiddish have minority language status throughout the country and are covered by government obligations regarding their preservation.

References and notes

* ''Sveriges officiella minoritetsspråk'', Svenska språknämnden 2003. (In Swedish) *
National minorities and minority languages
', Integrations- och jämställdhetsdepartementet, Informationsmaterial IJ 07.07e, 13 July 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Minority Languages Of Sweden Language policy in Sweden

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...