Sweden Finns Day 2023: Date, History, Facts about Finnish

On February 24, Sweden Finns Day, we give Finnish-speaking Swedes a voice. This special day celebrates their language, culture, and status as a respected and beloved community in Sweden. There is a long history of emigration between the two nations, particularly in the northern border regions. During World War II, however, 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated to Sweden, resulting in a more significant emigration. While approximately 15,000 are believed to have remained, the number of adults who returned is unknown. Approximately 500,000 Finnish-speaking Swedes reside in the country today.

The background of Sweden Finns Day

Minorities who find themselves in spaces outside of their cultural or linguistic comfort zones, such as speaking a language other than their mother tongue, have historically been lost in the larger community. In some cases, they lose track of their heritage entirely. This is why special occasions such as Sweden Finns Day are so important.

The Swedish Academy declared the date to be February 24 in 2010. A year later, it was first observed in honour of Carl Axel Gottlund, a collector of folk poetry and defender of the status of the Finnish language. Finns living in Sweden celebrate Sweden Finns Day to raise awareness of Finnish-speaking communities in the country. Locals refer to it as “Sverigefinnarnas” Day, as roughly 500,000 Swedes speak Finnish as their native tongue.

Finnish communities in Sweden date back to 1533, when the Finnish Church in Stockholm was founded during the Reformation. However, earlier instances of migration or movement to other Swedish cities have also been documented. Recent research from a Finnish language channel, Sveriges Radio Finska, indicates that approximately 4.5% of Sweden’s population in 2019 speaks or understands Finnish or Meankieli, distinct Finnish dialects or a Finnic language spoken in Sweden’s far north. Sweden Finns Day draws attention to these Finnish-speaking communities, gives them a voice, respects their beautiful language, and enables them to take pride in it.

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5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT FINNISH

The longest compound word is lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas, which contains 61 letters and means “aeroplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic noncommissioned officer student.”

Finnish, unlike French and Spanish, lacks grammatical gender, making it a language without gender.

Because there is a one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds, each diacritic is significant and the words are pronounced exactly as they are written.

For instance, a refrigerator is referred to as a ‘ice cupboard’ (‘jaakaappi’) and a computer is referred to as a ‘knowledge machine’ (‘tietokone’).

The word is used globally and is spelled identically in most languages.