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Religion in Sweden has, over the years, become increasingly diverse. Christianity was the religion of virtually all of the Swedish population from the 12th to the early 20th century, but it has rapidly declined throughout the late 20th and early 21st century. Christianity came to Sweden as early as the 9th century mainly as a result of an expansion in trade. The ancient Nordic religions were slowly replaced. Several centuries later all monarchs were Christian and Christianity became the established official religion. The church belonged to the Catholic Church until 1527 when the Swedish state church was established as a Protestant church based on Lutheran principles, following the Protestant Reformation enacted by Martin Luther which converted most of Germanic Europe. The Lutheran Church of Sweden was formed and remained the official religion of the Christian state until the turn of the 21st century. In recent years, the Swedish religious landscape has become increasingly diverse, with Christians comprising in 2020 some 61.3% (of which 55.2% belonging to the Church of Sweden) of the total population and rising numbers of people of other religions and people who don't belong to any church (34.8%). The Lutheran Church of Sweden — which was the
state religion A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular state, secular, is not n ...
until 2000 — is by far the largest Christian denomination but is facing a continuous decline in registered membership down to 53,9 % of the total population in 2021 Other minor Christian denominations include Free churches, the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches, while members of other religions are mostly Muslims,
Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, Hindus and Jews.


History


Historical Norse religion

Before the 11th century, Swedes practised Norse religion, worshipping a variety of Germanic deities. An important religious centre was the Temple at Uppsala. The shape and location of this temple is sparsely documented, but it is referenced in the Norse sagas and Saxo Grammaticus' '' Gesta Danorum'', and is also described by Adam of Bremen. It was probably destroyed by King
Ingold I Inge the Elder (Swedish: ''Inge Stenkilsson''; Old Norse: ''Ingi Steinkelsson''; died c. 1105–1110) was a king of Sweden. In English literature he has also been called ''Ingold''. While scant sources do not allow us to paint a full picture of hi ...
in 1087 during the last known battle between the pagans and the Christians. While Norse religion was officially abandoned with the Christianization of Scandinavia, belief in many spirits of
Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
such as tomtar, trolls, elves and dwarves lived on for a long time in Scandinavian folklore.


9th–12th century: Conversion to Catholicism

The oldest evidence of Christian burial sites in Sweden are dated to the 6th century, but they are very few in number. The earliest documented campaign to Christianise the Swedes was made by the monk Ansgar (801–865). Making his first visit to Birka in 828–829, he was granted permission to build a church. In 831, he returned home and became
Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen This list records the bishops of the Roman Catholic diocese of Bremen (german: link=no, Bistum Bremen), supposedly a suffragan of the Archbishopric of Cologne, then of the bishops of Bremen, who were in personal union archbishops of Hamburg (sim ...
, with responsibility for Christianity in the north. Around 850, he came back to Birka, where the original congregation had been shattered. Ansgar tried to reestablish it, but it only lasted a few years. Christianity first gained a hold in Västergötland, probably due to mercantile ties to the Christian Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England. Remnants of a 9th-century church building has recently been excavated in Varnhem. The diocese of Skara, which is the oldest diocese in Sweden, emerged under the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen, in the late 10th century. According to Adam of Bremen, the Christian king
Olof Skötkonung Olof Skötkonung, (Old Norse: ''Óláfr skautkonungr'') sometimes stylized as ''Olaf the Swede'' (c. 980–1022), was King of Sweden, son of Eric the Victorious and, according to Icelandic sources, Sigrid the Haughty. He succeeded his father in ...
, who ruled from c. 995 to c. 1022 was forced to limit Christian activities to the western province. When
King Stenkil Stenkil (Old Norse: ''Steinkell'') was a King of Sweden who ruled c. 1060 until 1066. He succeeded Emund the Old and became the first king from the House of Stenkil. He is praised as a devout Christian, but with an accommodating stance towards th ...
ascended to the throne in 1060 Christianity was firmly established throughout most of Sweden, although the people of Uppland, and probably Sodermanland, resisted the new religion. The last king adhering to the old religion was
Blot-Sweyn Blot-Sweyn (Swedish:''Blot-Sven'') was a Swedish king c. 1080, who replaced his Christian brother-in-law Inge as King of Sweden, when Inge had refused to administer the blóts (pagan sacrifices) at the Temple at Uppsala. There is no mention of Swey ...
, who reigned 1084–1087. A handful of local saints (canonized on diocesan level before the centralized process became normative in 1170–1200), folk saints and clerics were allegedly martyred as late as the 1120s, most of them in Sodermanland and Uppland. Under the reign of Eric the Saint (1150–1160) Christianity became an ideological factor of the state, and the First Swedish Crusade took place; it was a military expedition aimed at converting the Finns to Christianity and conquering Finland as Swedish territory. (However, no archeological data or written sources seem to support the legend. The diocese and bishop of Finland are not listed among their Swedish counterparts before the 1250s). A national church of Sweden was not organized until 1164, when the first archbishop of Uppsala received his pallium from the archbishop of Lund. Pre-Reformation Swedish Catholic religious leaders — including Bridget of Sweden, founder of the continuously functioning Catholic Vadstena Abbey — continue to be held in high regard by the population as a whole. Her nunnery at Vadstena is one of Sweden's pre-eminent tourist attractions.


16th century: Protestant Reformation; conversion to Lutheranism

Shortly after Gustav Vasa was elected king in 1523, he asked the Pope to confirm Johannes Magnus as Archbishop of Sweden, replacing Gustav Trolle, who had supported the Danish king Christian II and was convicted for treason. When the Pope refused, Gustav Vasa — he himself a proponent of a "Renaissance Biblical Humanism" — started to promote the Swedish Lutheran reformers Olaus, Laurentius Petri, and Laurentius Andreae. Gustav Trolle was eventually forced into exile, and soon all ecclesiastical property was transferred to the Crown. In 1531, Laurentius Petri was appointed by the Crown to become the first Lutheran primate of Sweden, and was ordained by five Catholic bishops without papal assent. The ties with Rome were irreversibly cut in 1536, when Canon Law was abolished. Originally, no changes were made to official church doctrine, and the episcopal organization was retained. Gradually, in spite of popular protests against the introduction of "Luthery", teachings were aligned with continental Lutheranism. Calvinism was, otherwise, refuted as heresy at the synod of Stockholm in 1565. In order to appease
the Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic see, apostolic episcopal see of the ...
, king
John III of Sweden John III ( sv , Johan III, fi, Juhana III; 20 December 1537 – 17 November 1592) was King of Sweden from 1569 until his death. He was the son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife Margaret Leijonhufvud. He was also, quite autonomous ...
, one of Gustav Vasa's sons, took measures to bring the Church of Sweden to a theological position influenced by
George Cassander George Cassander (or Cassant) (1513 – 3 February 1566) was a Flemish Catholic theologian and humanist. Life Born at Pittem near Bruges, he went at an early age to Leuven, where he was graduated in 1533. In 1541 he was appointed professor of bel ...
, but, in the heat of controversy, such a compromise position did not achieve its intent of reunion. However, after his death, his brother, Duke Charles, summoned the Uppsala Synod in 1593, which declared
the Holy Scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
the sole guideline for faith, with four documents accepted as faithful and authoritative explanations of it: the Apostles' Creed, the
Nicene Creed The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
, the
Athanasian Creed The Athanasian Creed, also called the Pseudo-Athanasian Creed and sometimes known as ''Quicunque Vult'' (or ''Quicumque Vult''), which is both its Latin name and its opening words, meaning "Whosoever wishes", is a Christian statement of belief ...
, and the unaltered
Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...
of 1530. The Uppsala Synod also reinstated The Swedish Church Ordinance of 1572, which remained in use until 1686. The move put Charles at odds with the heir to the throne, his nephew Sigismund, who was raised in the Catholic faith. Although Sigismund promised to uphold Lutheranism, Duke Charles's aspirations to power led to the War against Sigismund, a power struggle that was effectively decided at the
Battle of Stångebro The Battle of Stångebro, or the Battle of Linköping, took place at Linköping, Sweden, on 25 September 1598 (O.S.) and effectively ended the personal union between Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, that had existed since 1592. ...
in 1598, in favour of Charles and Protestantism. During the era following the Protestant Reformation, usually known as the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy, small groups of non-Lutherans, especially Calvinist
Dutchmen The Dutch (Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Arub ...
, the Moravian Church and Walloon immigrants from the Southern Netherlands, played a significant role in trade and industry, and were quietly tolerated as long as they kept a low profile.


17th–18th century: Conversion of the Sami and freedom for Christian minorities

The Sami, who originally had their own shamanistic religion, were converted to Lutheranism by Swedish missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries. Citizens of foreign nations, mainly Russians, were granted freedom to practice Eastern Orthodox Christianity since the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617. Anglican and Calvinist foreigners were granted freedom to practice their religions in Stockholm (1741) and Gothenburg (1747). Similar liberties were granted Catholics in 1781, and an apostolic vicar was sent to Sweden in 1783.


18th–19th century: Crackdown on Pietism and enforcement of Lutheranism

In order to curb Pietism, several royal decrees and parliament acts were issued in the 18th century; they forbade Swedish citizens to engage in practices other than mandatory Lutheran Sunday Mass and daily family devotions. Without the presence of a Lutheran clergyman, public religious gatherings were forbidden. It remained illegal until 1860 for Lutheran Swedes to convert to another confession or religion.


19th–20th century: Liberalisation of all religions

In 1860 it became legal to leave the Church of Sweden for the purpose of becoming a member of another officially recognised religious denomination. From 1951, it became legal to leave the church, without providing any reason. From 1951 to 1977 all religious institutions could only be established with the permission of the Crown.


Demographics

The constitution of Sweden provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. The government at all levels seeks to protect this right in full and does not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors. The rights and freedoms enumerated in the constitution include the rights to practice one's religion and protection of religious freedom. The laws concerning religious freedoms are generally observed and enforced at all government levels and by the courts in a non-discriminatory fashion. Legal protections cover discrimination or persecution by private actors. In the early 2000s about 80% of Swedes belonged to the Church of Sweden. By the end of 2020, this figure had fallen to 55.2%. Other religious organizations keep count of their registered membership, and as reported in the table, as of 2020 the largest religious denominations after the Church of Sweden (55.2%) were the officially registered Muslims (2.3%), members of the Orthodox Church (1.4%),
Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
(1.2%) and members of the
Swedish Pentecostal Movement The Swedish Pentecostal Movement ( sv, Pingströrelsen i Sverige) is a Pentecostalism, Pentecostal movement in Sweden. Many, but not all, of these, are members of the The Pentecostal Alliance of Independent churches, Pentecostal Alliance of Indep ...
(1.1%). Eight recognized religious denominations, in addition to the Church of Sweden, raise revenues through member-contributions made through the national tax system. All recognized denominations are entitled to direct government financial support, contributions made through the national tax system, or a mix of both. Certain Christian holidays are national holidays. School students from minority religious backgrounds are entitled to take relevant religious holidays. No recognition or registration is required to carry out religious activity. Religious groups that want to receive government aid may apply for it. Education about all major world religions is compulsory in public schools. Parents may send their children to religious charter schools, all of which receive school vouchers, provided they adhere to government guidelines on core academic curriculum. The Office of the
Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
against Ethnic Discrimination investigates claims of discrimination "due to race, skin color, national or ethnic origin, or religion". Discrimination on religious grounds is illegal, including discrimination in the work place and in the provision of public and private services.


Surveys

In 2017, the
Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
found in their ''Global Attitutes Survey'' that 59.9% of the Swedes regarded themselves as Christians, with 48.7% belonging to the Church of Sweden, 9.5% were Unaffiliated Christians, 0.7% were Pentecostal Protestants, 0.4% were Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox and the Congregationalist were the 0.3% each. Unaffiliated people were the 35.0% divided in 18.8% Atheists, 11.9% nothing in particular and 4.3% Agnostics. Muslims were the 2.2% and members of other religions were the 2.5%. In 2016 the International Social Survey Programme found that 70.2% of the Swedish population declared to belong to a Christian denomination, with the Church of Sweden being the largest Church accounting for the 65.8% of the respondents; the Free Church was the second-largest Church accounting for the 2.8%, the Roman Catholics were the 0.7% and the Eastern Orthodox were the 0.5%; members of other Christian denominations comprised the 0.4% of the total population. A further 28.5% declared to have no religion, 1.1% to be Muslim and 0.3% declared to belong to other religions. In 2015 the Eurobarometer found that Christianity was the religion for 47.6% of the respondents, with Protestantism being the main denomination with 36.5%, followed by other Christians with 8.6%, Catholics with 1.6% and Eastern Orthodox with 0.8%. 31.0% of the sample declared to be Agnostic and 19.0% declared to be atheist.


Christianity

In 2020 there were 6,364,093 formal affiliated Christians in Sweden, comprising 61.3% of the total population. A survey by the
Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
found in Spring 2016 that 66.7% out of a sample of 1,000 Swedes claimed to be Christians. As of 2016, 6,484,203 people, or 64.9% of the total population, were registered members of the various Protestant denominations in Sweden.


Church of Sweden

Representing about half of the population, the Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is the largest Christian church in Sweden, and also the largest religious body. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. As of 2021 it had 5,633,867 members, 53,9 % of the Swedish population, although surveys show different figures, ranging from 24% See als
About Ipsos Global Trends survey
for limitations of this survey
to 52.1%. to 67.3%. Until 2000 it held the position of
state religion A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular state, secular, is not n ...
, and most Swedes were baptised at birth, until 1996 all newborns with at least one parent being a member of the Church of Sweden were also registered as members of the church. Yet the membership is declining rapidly, about 1% each year, for the most recent years even 2%, falling from 95% in 1972 and 82% in 2000. The number of both new baptisms and members has declined since. Indeed, according to official statistics, as of 2021: * About 1 out of 3 (35.2%) children are christened in the Church of Sweden. * About 1 out of 4 (23.5%) weddings take place in church. * About 2 out of 3 (66.8%) Swedes have Christian burials. The Church of Sweden, by law, is organized in the following manner: *It is an Evangelical Lutheran community of faith manifested in parishes and dioceses. The church also has a national organisation. *It is an open national church which, working with a
democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
organisation and through the ministry of the church, covers the whole nation. *The primate of the Church of Sweden is the
Archbishop of Uppsala The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate (bishop), primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward un ...
.


Other Protestant Denominations

The 19th century saw the arrival of various evangelical free churches, and, towards the end of the century secularism, leading many to distance themselves from church rituals. Leaving the Church of Sweden became legal with the so-called Dissenter Law of 1860, but only under the provision of entering another denomination. The right to stand outside any religious denomination was established in the law on freedom of religion in 1951. Today, the
Swedish Free Church Council The Swedish Free Church Council ( sv, Sveriges frikyrkosamråd) is an association of free churches in Sweden. It is part of the Christian Council of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges kristna råd) . The Swedish Free Church Council was established in 1992. ...
( sv, Sveriges Frikyrkosamråd) organizes free churches in Sweden, belonging to various Protestant denominations: Calvinist, Pentecostal, and others. In total the member churches have around 250,000 members.
Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
, Methodists and the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden merged in 2011 into a new denomination: the Uniting Church in Sweden. It is the largest member church in the Swedish Free Church Council, with approximately 65,000 members. One of the Baptist denominations, the
Evangelical Free Church in Sweden The Evangelical Free Church in Sweden ( sv, Evangeliska frikyrkan is a Baptist Christian denomination in Sweden. The headquarters is in Örebro. History Evangeliska Frikyrkan was founded in 1997 as a merge of the Örebro Mission (''Örebromis ...
, has remained an independent denomination outside this merger.


Catholic Church

Most Catholics in Sweden are of Slavic (especially
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
and Croats), South American or Middle Eastern (especially Assyrian) origin. As of 2020, legally registered Catholics in Sweden were 125,287, comprising 1.2% of the total population, the same percentage was found in a Spring 2016 survey in Sweden.


Orthodox Christianity

Multiple Orthodox jurisdictions exist in Sweden, including but not limited to the Greek and Serbian Orthodox Churches. There is also a substantial presence of
Assyrians Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...
,
Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...
and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. The
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...
has several parishes in Sweden, under jurisdiction of Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Britain and Scandinavia. The Church of the Goths has a presence in
Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
though it is not currently recognized by any other Orthodox jurisdictions. As of 2020, legally registered Eastern Orthodox Christians were 149,364 and they were the second-largest Christian denomination in Sweden, comprising the 1.4% of the total population.


Restorationist


Jehovah's Witnesses

According to the ''2015 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses'', there are 22,730 active members in Sweden, and 36,270 people attended their annual
memorial of Christ's death Jehovah's Witnesses's practices are based on the Bible, biblical interpretations of Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916), founder ( 1881) of the Bible Student movement, and of successive presidents of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pen ...
. This number includes active members and guests.


The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints claims 9,528 members in 40 congregations in Sweden as of 2022.


Other Abrahamic religions


Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'ís claim about 1,000 Bahá'ís and 25 local assemblies in Sweden from Umeå in the north to Malmö in the south.. The Bahá'ís only count adults 21 years or older, who have declared their faith in Bahá'u'lláh by signing a testimonial. If the Baha'i believers, like the Muslims, should count all children is the number of Bahá'ís in Sweden over 3000. In November 2009 the Swedish paper Västerbottens-Kuriren reported that 25 local non-profit Bahá'í organization had changed their organizational form to religious communions. The central Bahá'í secretariat in Stockholm stated at the time that the Baha'i Faith in Sweden had 1003 members. The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 6,200 Bahá'ís in 2005.


Islam

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
entered Sweden primarily through immigration from countries with large Muslim populations (such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Iraq, Morocco, Iran, Kosovo and Somalia ) in the late 20th century. The Baltic Tatars were the first Muslim group in modern Sweden. In 2009, the U.S. Department of State estimated that there were 450,000 to 500,000 Muslims in Sweden, around 5% of the total population.International Religious Freedom Report 2009 : Sweden
U.S. Department Of State.
Sweden's official statistics counted 241,933 formally affiliated Muslims in 2020. The US Department of State's ''Sweden 2014 International Religious Freedom Report'' set the 2014 figure at around 6% (almost 600,000) of the total Swedish population.International Religious Freedom Report 2014 : Sweden
, U.S. Department Of State.


Judaism

The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities estimates about 20,000 ethnic Jews in Sweden by
halakhic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
criteria."Antal judar"
''Judiska Centralrådet'' (in Swedish).
Of them, about 8,148 were members of a Jewish religious congregation in 2020. Stockholm has the largest community and boasts a primary school, a kindergarten, a library, a bi-monthly publication (''
Judisk Krönika ''Judisk Krönika'' ("Jewish Chronicle") is a Jewish magazine based in Stockholm, Sweden. Published on a bimonthly basis with six issues a year, the magazine's circulation was around 6,500 copies in 2000. The editor in chief since 2015 is Anneli R ...
'') and a weekly Jewish radio program. Other cities like Malmö,
Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, Borås, Helsingborg,
Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...
, and Uppsala have Jewish communities as well. Synagogues can be found in Stockholm (which has two Orthodox and one Conservative synagogue), Göteborg (one Orthodox and one Conservative synagogue), Malmö (one Orthodox synagogue), and in
Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...
(although the Norrköping community is too small to perform regular services).


Dharmic religions


Buddhism

In 2020, there were 12,328 formal affiliated
Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
in Sweden, comprising 0.1% of the total population.


Hinduism


IRF 2005
reports that there are between 7,000 and 10,000
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
s.


Germanic Heathenism

Germanic Heathenry, the contemporary continuation of ancient Germanic religion, is represented by various organizations, including the
Nordic Asa-Community The Nordic Asa-Community (Swedish: ''Nordiska Asa-samfundet''; abbreviated NAS) is a Heathen religious organisation founded in Sweden in 2014. History The Nordic Asa-Community (NAS) was founded in Sweden in 2014. It was officially recognised a ...
(''Nordiska Asa-samfundet''), the Swedish Forn Sed Assembly (''Samfundet Forn Sed Sverige'') and the
Community for Nordic Faith A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, to ...
(''Samfälligheten för Nordisk Sed''). The Nordic Asa-Community, despite being the most recently founded amongst the three (it was founded in 2014), has quickly grown to become the largest Heathen organization in Sweden.Jacob Zetterman.
Asatron frodas i en nationalistisk miljö
. ''Dagen'', 18 November 2016.


See also

* Christianization of Scandinavia * Bahá'í Faith in Sweden * Buddhism in Sweden *
Hinduism in Sweden Hinduism is a minority religion in Sweden practised by 0.6% of the population or 65.000 people out of a population of 10.5 million. Hinduism is practised mainly by persons of Indian origin and non-resident Indians together. A majority of them are ...
* Religion in Europe * Religion by country * Demographics of atheism * Irreligion in Sweden * Sámi shamanism


References


External links


Eurel: sociological and legal data on religions in Europe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Religion In Sweden