Scandinavian-Americans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
11,890,524 3.8% of U.S. population (2012) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Minnesota
|
1,603,124 |
 California
|
1,224,541 |
 Washington
|
739,043 |
 Wisconsin
|
728,248 |
 Illinois
|
575,991 |
 Michigan
|
403,888 |
 Florida
|
355,458 |
 Oregon
|
339,031 |
 Iowa
|
338,161 |
 Utah
|
333,405 |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| 61% Protestant; 22% Roman Catholic, 14% other (no religion, Mormonism, etc.) |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Scandinavians, Scandinavian Canadians, German Americans, Austrian Americans, Dutch Americans | |
Scandinavian Americans or Nordic Americans are Americans of Scandinavian (in the broad sense), or part-Scandinavian ancestry, defined in this article to include Danish Americans (estimate: 1,453,897), Faroese Americans (no estimates), Finnish Americans (estimate: 677,272), Greenlandic Americans (estimate: 352), Icelandic Americans (estimate: 51,234), Norwegian Americans (estimate: 4,602,337), Sami Americans (estimate: 30,000), Swedish Americans (estimate: 4,293,208). Also included are persons who reported 'Northern European' ancestry (estimate: 230,027) or 'Scandinavian' ancestry (estimate: 582,549). According to 2010 census data, there are approximately 11,890,524 people of Scandinavian ancestry in the United States.
Finns are not linguistically Scandinavian, with the exception of Swedish-speaking Finns. Americans of Sami descent can be classed as either Norwegian, Finnish or Swedish, however, the Sami are not linguistically Scandinavian either. Despite originating outside of Europe, Greenlandic Americans can be classed as Scandinavian American due to close historical ties with Scandinavia, and because Greenland is one of the three constituent countries of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The broad definition of Scandinavia includes Norway, Sweden, Denmark (without Greenland and the Faroese Islands), the semi-independent Finnish territory of Åland and the Swedish-speaking people of Finland (mostly concentrated in Western Finland). The joint ruling of Denmark and Norway from the mid-14th century until 1814, and then the joint rule of Sweden and Norway until 1905, have contributed towards a coherent culture and language. The Scandinavian languages are all descended from old Norse, and unlike Faroese and Icelandic, which have kept more of the old Norse grammar and spelling, the Scandinavian languages have undergone more or less the same simplifications and are mutually intelligible and readable, although the degree of ease with which people understand each other varies depending on country (and region) of origin.
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Wikipedia