Swedish-Americans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
4,347,703 1.4% of the US population (2009) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Most Prevalent in the Midwestern United States Plurality in Minnesota, Wisconsin, The Dakotas, Iowa, Michigan, New York, the Pacific Northwest, New England, and New Jersey |
|
| Languages | |
| American English, Swedish | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Lutheranism, Church of Sweden, Protestantism, Catholicism, Mormonism. | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Swedes, Swedish Britons, Swedish Canadians, Swedish Australians, Scandinavian Americans, Finnish Americans, Danish Americans, Norwegian Americans, Icelandic Americans |
Swedish Americans (Swedish: Svenskamerikaner) are an American ethnic group of people who have ancestral roots from Sweden. They primarily include the 1.2 million Swedish immigrants during 1885–1915 and their descendants. They formed tight-knit communities, primarily in the American Midwest, and intermarried with other Swedish-Americans. Most were Lutheran Christians who were affiliated with predecessor bodies of what are now the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) or Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod or North American Lutheran Church (NALC); some were Methodists.
Today, Swedish Americans are found throughout the United States, with Minnesota, California and Illinois being the top three states with the highest number of Swedish Americans. Historically, newly arrived Swedish immigrants settled in the Midwest, namely Minnesota, the Dakotas and Wisconsin, just as other Scandinavian Americans. Populations also grew in the Pacific Northwest in the states of Oregon and Washington at the turn of the twentieth century.
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 Netherland 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.
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