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African immigrants to Sweden

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Africans in Sweden
Total population
250,881 (2022)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala
Languages
Swedish, languages of Africa (particularly Somali, Tigrinya, Amharic), English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Telugu, Gujarati, German
Religion
Christianity, Islam,Jainism,Hinduism

African immigrants to Sweden include naturalized citizens and residents of Sweden who were born in Africa. As of 2020, there are 236,975 people in Sweden who were born in Africa.[2][3] By 2022, this number rose to 250,881 residents of Sweden who were born in Africa, or approximately 1.5-2% of the total population.[4]

History

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African immigrants have been living in Sweden since the 17th century,[5] but in very few numbers. In 1900, there were 79 Africans in Sweden, of which 5, all South Africans, were citizens.[6] One of the early documented Africans in Sweden was Gustav Badin, (1747 or 1750 to 1822), a black court-servant and diarist, originally a slave, butler of Queen of Sweden, Louisa Ulrika and later Princess Sophia Albertine of Sweden.[5] Badin was not the only African swede during the 18th century. There were black people in the royal regiments, one of them was the trumpeter Richard Abramsson who was born in the US. Most of the descendants to the African servants faced poverty in Sweden.[7]

The 1970s, 1980s and 1990s saw increasing immigration from Africa, often as a consequence of civil wars.[8] Swedish statistical data show that the African-born population has grown from 596 in 1960 to 4,149 in 1970, to 10,025 in 1980, 27,343 in 1990, 55,138 in 2000 and 103,077 in 2009.[6] Abeba Aregawi become the first Swedish-Ethiopian Woman to win Gold in 1500m Athletics World Championship in Moscow 2013 and Bronze in 2012 Olympics in London

Population size

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Swedish national statistics[9] collect data on country of birth, citizenship and parents' citizenship, but not on ethnicity or parents' country of birth.[10][11] According to Statistics Sweden, as of 2016, there are 110,758 citizens of African nations residing in Sweden.[12] Of these immigrants, the largest groups were born in Somalia (63,853), Eritrea (35,142), Ethiopia (17,944), Morocco (9,945), Egypt (6,807), Gambia (5,055), and Nigeria (5,027).[13] Of these individuals, the largest groups were those holding citizenship from Somalia (41,335), Eritrea (32,099), Ethiopia (6,225), Nigeria (3,440), Egypt (3,359), Morocco (3,099), and Gambia (1,971).[12]

Adoption

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Swedish families have been adopting children from Ethiopia since 1969. Between 1969 and 2005, 1,015 Ethiopian children found new parents in Sweden.[14] The interest in adopting children from Africa has been increasing, with increases in the numbers of children adopted from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Madagascar.[15] News anchor Katarina Sandström,[16] TV-comedian Marika Carlsson[17] and restaurateur and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson[18] are three well-known Swedes adopted from Ethiopia. Television sports journalist David Fjäll is another well-known Swedish person adopted from Africa.[19]

Notable people

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The following list includes notable people in Sweden with recent ancestry from Africa, defined as those who:

This list does not include people of African descent who immigrated from a non-African country, or those whose only African ancestry stems from such immigration. For example, Swedes of African-American descent are not listed unless they also have at least one ancestor who directly immigrated from Africa to Sweden.

Politics

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Television, film and theatre

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Musicians

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Football players

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Other sports

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Various

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References

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  1. ^ "Foreign-born by county, municipality, sex and country of birth 31 December 2022". www.scb.se. Statistics Sweden.
  2. ^ "Foreign citizens by country of citizenship, age and sex. Year 1973 - 2022". Statistikdatabasen. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  3. ^ "Population by country of birth, age and sex. Year 2000 - 2022". Statistikdatabasen. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  4. ^ "Population by country of birth, age and sex. Year 2000 - 2022". www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  5. ^ a b Diakité, Madubuko A. (2005). "African diasporas in Sweden: An unfinished history" (PDF). The Lundian. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  6. ^ a b "Tabeller över Sveriges befolkning 2009" [Tables on the population in Sweden 2009] (PDF). Tabeller Över Sveriges Befolkning = Tables on the Population in Sweden (in Swedish). Örebro: Statistiska centralbyrån: 20–27. June 2010. ISSN 1654-4358.
  7. ^ Bergman, Arvid 2018. Född slav-Död fri https://stockholmia.stockholm.se/forlag/bocker/aktuella-bocker/fodd-slav--dod-fri/ Archived 2019-05-31 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Nilsson, Åke (2004). "Invandring och utvandring för grupperav länder". Efterkrigstidens invandring och utvandring [Immigration and Emigration in the Postwar Period] (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Statistiska centralbyrån. pp. 32–48.
  9. ^ "Population by country of birth, age and sex. Year 2000 - 2022". Statistikdatabasen. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  10. ^ Simon, Patrick (2007). "'Ethnic' statistics and data protection in the Council of Europe countries: Study report" (PDF). Strasbourg: Council of Europe. p. 36.
  11. ^ Westin, Charles (June 2006). "Sweden: Restrictive immigration policy and multiculturalism". Migration Information Source. Archived from the original on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  12. ^ a b "Foreign citizens by country of citizenship, sex and year". Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Foreign-born persons by country of birth, sex and year". Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Information och intryck från några ursprungsländer" [Information and impressions from some countries of origin] (in Swedish). mia.eu. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  15. ^ "Fler villiga adoptera äldre barn" [More willing to adopt older children] (in Swedish). dn.se. 6 April 2010. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  16. ^ "När jag var riktigt liten ville jag bli präst".
  17. ^ "eventnews.se nyheter 091022 Intervju med Marika Carlsson". www.eventnews.se.
  18. ^ "Marcus Samuelsson ofAquavit : Biography and Swedish Recipes on StarChefs". www.starchefs.com.
  19. ^ Fjäll, David. "David Fjäll - programledare "Lilla Sportspegeln"" [David Fjäll - TV show host of "Little Sportspegeln"] (in Swedish). svt.se. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  20. ^ "Lady Gaga's Next Album Will Be 'Shocking,' Producer RedOne Says". MTV. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010.
  21. ^ "R. Mukiibi". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  22. ^ Sjöö, Patrick (5 February 2016). "ÖFK:s nyförvärv Ken Sema i stor intervju – hyllar föräldrarna: 'De flyttade till Sverige för att ge sina barn ett bra liv'" [ÖFK's new acquisition Ken Sema in a long interview - pays tribute to his parents: 'They moved to Sweden to give their children a good life'] (in Swedish). op.se. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  23. ^ "Monk möter Buba Badjie".[permanent dead link‍]
  24. ^ "Veterinärvård Bromma - Din djurklinik i Bromma". Bromma Djurklinik.
  25. ^ "Fri företagsamhet: Buba Badjie". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
  26. ^ "Maria Lindén | Frilansjournalist". Archived from the original on 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  27. ^ Lindén, Maria. "Djs: Elena & Maria". maria-linden.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011.
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