Languages of Sweden

Languages of Sweden
Sign at a library in Swedish and Southern Sami
OfficialSwedish
Indigenous(Officially recognised) Sámi languages, Swedish.
Regional(Unofficial languages / Dialects) South Swedish, Götamål, Svealand Swedish, Norrland, and Gutnish, among others.
Minority(Officially recognised) Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani, Yiddish
ImmigrantArabic, Serbo-Croatian, Greek, Kurdish, Persian, Polish, Spanish, Somali[1]
ForeignEnglish (89%)
German (30%)
French (11%)
SignedSwedish Sign Language
Keyboard layout
Swedish QWERTY for Windows
Sourceebs_243_en.pdf (europa.eu)

Swedish is the official language of Sweden and is spoken by the vast majority of the 10.23 million inhabitants of the country. It is a North Germanic language and quite similar to its sister Scandinavian languages, Danish and Norwegian, with which it maintains partial mutual intelligibility and forms a dialect continuum. A number of regional Swedish dialects are spoken across the country. In total, more than 200 languages are estimated to be spoken across the country, including regional languages, indigenous Sámi languages, and immigrant languages.[2]

In 2009, the Riksdag passed a national language law recognizing Swedish as the main and common language of society, as well as the official language for "international contexts". The law also confirmed the official status of the five national minority languagesFinnish, Meänkieli, Romani, Sámi languages and Yiddish — and Swedish Sign Language.

  1. ^ "kielineuvosto, finska, jidisch, romani, teckenspråk, samiska - Institutet för språk och folkminnen". Sofi.se. 3 February 2007. Archived from the original on 3 February 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2017. "De största invandrarspråken är arabiska, turkiska, persiska, spanska, grekiska och ex-jugoslaviska språk"; "The largest immigrant languages are Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Spanish, Greek and ex-Yugoslav languages". Note that Finnish in deed is one of the most spoken immigrant languages but not classified as such by the Institutet för språk och folkminnen since it has acquired status as an official minority language.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ Landes, David (1 July 2009). "Swedish becomes official 'main language". The Local. Stockholm, Sweden. Retrieved 16 June 2020.

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