Languages · Finno-Ugric languages

Finnish

Spoken in : Sweden

01. Data about the language

At a glance

Education
4,561 pupils take Finnish mother-tongue tuition (2023–24)1
Identifiers
ISO 639-3 fin · Glottolog finn1318

Language group

Finno-Ugric / Finnish

Area

Constituting around 4 % of the total Swedish population Finnish speakers are found all over the country. However, a slight concentration in larger cities and urban areas in general is noticeable.

Finish has been spoken in Sweden for centuries : both countries were a single state for 650 years (1155-1809). During that period there were constant migrations from one side to the other of the territory. When Finland split from Sweden and was annexed by the Russian Empire, mobility continued on both sides. One difference is that, the Fine were settled in the northern parts of the country since the XIth century and they are still considered as the actual Finish speaking community of Sweden.

Updated, sourced data, checked on 14 October 2026 · scope : Suède · Get updates for this language

Status

In Sweden, Finnish, Meänkieli and Sami are covered by Part III of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, each with an "administrative area"; since their introduction in 2010, these areas have grown through voluntary affiliation and included 85 municipalities and 15 regions in 20261. In these areas, individuals may use their minority language with the authorities concerned and are entitled to preschool and elderly care wholly or largely in that language1.

Public services

In these areas, individuals may use their minority language with the authorities concerned and are entitled to preschool and elderly care wholly or largely in that language1.

Education

In 2023–24, 4,561 compulsory-school pupils took mother-tongue tuition in Finnish, out of 8,278 entitled (55%); 62 students graduated from upper secondary in 2022–23 with a grade in Finnish as mother tongue1. Since 2019 preschool children have the right to develop their mother tongue, and municipalities in the administrative areas must offer, on request, a preschool place wholly or largely in Finnish1.

Media

In 2025 the Swedish public broadcasters (Sveriges Radio, SVT and UR) broadcast or provided 7,938 hours of programmes in Finnish, 4,796 of them first broadcasts; TV Finland, which relayed Finland's public broadcaster Yle, did not apply for a licence for 2026–2033 and is no longer on the terrestrial network1.

Sources

  1. Sweden's 9th Report to the Council of Europe under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Government Offices of Sweden (Regeringskansliet), Ministry of Culture, 2026.

02. Poem

Original Translation
Nocturne
Nocturne
Ruislinnun laulu korvissani, tähkäpäiden päällä täysi kuu; kesä-yön on onni omanani, kaskisavuun laaksot verhouu. En ma iloitse, en sure, huokaa; mutta metsän tummuus mulle tuokaa, puunto pilven, johon päivä hukkuu, siinto vaaran tuulisen, mi nukkuu, tuoksut vanamon ja varjot veen; niistä sydämeni laulun teen.
The corncrake's song in my ears, the full moon above the ears of rye; the joy of the summer night is mine, the valleys veil themselves in the smoke of burning clearings. I do not rejoice, nor grieve, nor sigh; but bring me the darkness of the forest, the blue of the cloud in which the day drowns, the distant blue of the windy hill that falls asleep, the scent of the twinflowers and the shadows of the water; from these I will make the song of my heart.
Miksi metsän tummuus sävelehen? Kosk' on mustaa murhe ylpeäin. Miksi juovat päivän laskenehen? Koska monta nuorta unta näin. Miksi etäisien vuorten siinto? Koska sinne on silmäin kiinto. Miksi vanamoiden valjut lemut? Koska päättyneet on päivän kemut. Miksi varjot virran veen? Kosk' on mieli mulla siimekseen.
Why the forest's darkness in my melody? Because the sorrow of the proud is black. Why the streaks of the day gone down? Because I have dreamt many young dreams. Why the blue of the distant mountains? Because there my eyes are fixed. Why the pale scent of the twinflowers? Because the feast of the day is over. Why the shadows of the river water? Because my heart longs for the shade.
Sulle laulan neiti, kesäheinä, sydämeni suuri hiljaisuus, uskontoni, soipa säveleinä, tammenlehvä-seppel vehryt, uus. En ma enää aja virvatulta, onpa kädessäni onnen kulta; pienentyy mun ympär' elon piiri; aika seisoo, nukkuu tuuliviiri; edessäni hämäräinen tie tuntemattomahan tupaan vie.
To you I sing, maiden, summer grass, great silence of my heart, my faith, ringing out in melodies, a crown of oak leaves, green and new. I no longer chase the will-o'-the-wisp, for in my hand I hold the gold of happiness; the circle of my life grows smaller around me; time stands still, the weathervane sleeps; before me a twilit road leads to an unknown dwelling.
Eino Leino (1878-1926)
Original text: Finnish Wikisource (public domain)
Translation: Lingualia (2026)

03. Linguistic description

Finnish, a Finno-Ugric language, has ten or more cases, no grammatical gender and no articles, and uses postpositions rather than prepositions1. Negation is expressed by an auxiliary verb1. The word tee goes back to Fujian Chinese te, the form that Dutch traders spread across Europe1,2.

Sources

The 2003 CD had no description of this language: this text was written for the site from the sources below.

  1. WALS Online – Finnish, World Atlas of Language Structures, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 2013 (v2026).
  2. Ö. Dahl, « Tea », chapitre 138 du WALS, World Atlas of Language Structures, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 2013.

04. Cartoon

Turvallisuus2 - TiTin tassu murtuu
Cartoon · 5 min 10 s · channel: Ti-Ti Nalle · YouTube

Video hosted on YouTube and published by the channel shown; its author may remove it at any time.