Swedish Iranians

{{short description|People of Iranian nationality who have settled in Sweden}} {{protection padlock|small=yes}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Swedish Iranians | native_name = {{lang|sv|svenskiranier}}<br/>{{lang|fa|ایرانیان سوئد}} | image = | population = 121,019 | popplace = [[Stockholm]], [[Gothenburg]], [[Malmö]], [[Uppsala]]. | rels = [[Shi'a Islam]], [[Irreligion]], [[Christianity]], [[Baháʼí Faith]], [[Judaism]], [[Sunni Islam]], [[Zoroastrianism]], Other | langs = [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Persian language|Persian]]<br /> ([[Armenian language|Armenian]], [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]], [[Luri language|Luri]], and other [[languages of Iran]]) | native_name_lang = | related_groups = }}

'''Swedish Iranians''' or '''Swedish Persians'''<ref name="Daha">{{cite journal|first=Maryam|last=Daha|title=Contextual Factors Contributing to Ethnic Identity Development of Second-Generation Iranian American Adolescents|journal=Journal of Adolescent Research|date=September 2011|volume=26|issue=5|pages=543–569|doi=10.1177/0743558411402335|s2cid=146592244|quote=... the majority of the participants self-identified themselves as Persian instead of Iranian, due to the stereotypes and negative portrayals of Iranians in the media and politics. Adolescents from Jewish and Baháʼí faiths asserted their religious identity more than their ethnic identity. The fact Iranians use Persian interchangeably is nothing to do with current Iranian government because the name Iran was used before this period as well. Linguistically modern Persian is a branch of Old Persian in the family of Indo-European languages and that includes all the minorities as well more inclusively.}}</ref> consist of people of [[Iran]]ian nationality who have settled in [[Sweden]], as well as Swedish residents and citizens of Iranian [[Iranian diaspora|heritage]]. As of 2019, there were 80,136 residents of Sweden born in [[Iran]], as well as 40,883 born in Sweden with at least one Iranian-born parent.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Population statistics|url=http://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/population/population-composition/population-statistics/|access-date=2020-06-21|website=Statistiska Centralbyrån|language=en}}</ref>

== Terminology == '''Swedish-Iranian''' is in some cases used interchangeably with '''Swedish-Persian''',<ref name="Daha"/><ref name="Nakamura2003">{{cite book|last=Nakamura|first=Raymond M.|title=Health in America: A Multicultural Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSvf31-rRhkC|year=2003|publisher=Kendall/Hunt Pub.|isbn=978-0-7575-0637-6|page=31|quote=Iranian/Persian Americans – The flow of Iranian citizens into the United States began in 1979, during and after the Islamic Revolution.}}</ref><ref name="Zanger2001">{{cite book|last=Zanger|first=Mark|title=The American Ethnic Cookbook for Students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JTBSpuCkl9AC&pg=PA213|access-date=December 21, 2016|year=2001|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57356-345-1|page=213}}</ref><ref>Racial and Ethnic Relations in America, Carl Leon Bankston,"Therefore, Turkish and Iranian (Persian) Americans, who are Muslims but not ethnically Arabs, are often mistakenly..", Salem Press, 2000</ref> partly due to the fact that many are members of the [[Persians|Persian]] ethnic group, which comprise about 65% of Iran's population.<ref name="Daha" /><ref name="BozorgMehr">{{cite book|last=Bozorgmehr|first=Mehdi|editor1=Mary C. Waters|editor2=Reed Ueda|editor3=Helen B. Marrow|title=The New Americans: A Guide to Immigration since 1965|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-y_q4J_eCEC|year=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-04493-7|page=469|chapter=Iran}}</ref> While the majority of Iranians come from Persian backgrounds, there is a significant number of [[Ethnic minorities in Iran|non-Persian Iranians]] such as [[Iranian Azeris|Azeris]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Svante E. Cornell|title=Azerbaijan Since Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TaZzCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |date=20 May 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-47621-4|page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Barbara A. West|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA68|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7|page=68}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=James Minahan|title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zu5GpDby9H0C&pg=PA1766|date=1 January 2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32384-3|page=1766}}</ref> [[Lurs]], and [[Iranian Kurdistan|Kurds]] within the Iranian community of Sweden.<ref name="BozorgMehr" /><ref>Elizabeth Chacko, Contemporary ethnic geographies in America // Ines M. Miyares, Christopher A. Airriess (eds.), Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, pp. 325–326</ref> "Swedish-Iranian" is thus more inclusive, since the label "Persian" excludes other non-Persian iranians that have moved to Sweden.<ref name="BozorgMehr" />

The tendency among Swedish Iranians to categorize themselves as "Persian" rather than "Iranian", is sometimes also a strategy used by some members of the group to dissociate themselves from the [[Islamic Republic of Iran|Islamic regime of Iran]], which has been in charge since the [[1979 Revolution]]. The name of the country of Iran was known in much of the world as "Persia", prior to a [[Name of Iran#Name in the Western world|name change in 1935]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Darya|first=Fereshteh Haeri|title=Second-generation Iranian-Americans: The Relationship Between Ethnic Identity, Acculturation, and Psychological Well-being|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C23&q=%22Second+-generation+Iranian-Americans%3A+The+relationship+between+ethnic+identity%2C+acculturation%2C+and+psychological+well-being%22&btnG=|access-date=21 December 2016|year=2007|isbn=978-0-542-97374-1|pages=3–4|quote=According to previous studies, the presence of heterogeneity is evident among Iranian immigrants (also known as Persians – Iran was known as Persia until 1935) who came from myriads of religious (Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Armenian, Assyrian, Baháʼí and Zoroastrian), ethnic (Turk, Kurds, Baluchs, Lurs, Turkamans, Arabs, as well as tribes such as Ghasghaie, and Bakhtiari), linguistic/dialogic background (Persian, Azari, Gialki, Mazandarani, Kurdish, Arabic, and others). Cultural, religious and political, and various other differences among Iranians reflect their diverse social and interpersonal interactions. Some studies suggest that, despite the existence of subgroup within Iranian immigrants (e.g. various ethno-religious groups), their nationality as Iranians has been an important point of reference and identifiable source of their identification as a group across time and setting.}}</ref>

== Demographics == There are approximately 63,828 people<ref name=":0" /> born in Iran living in Sweden today, as well as 28,600 people born in Sweden with at least one parent born in Iran. They are one of Sweden's largest immigrant groups, accounting for about 1.7% of the population.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scb.se/Statistik/BE/BE0101/2011A01B/be0101_Fodelseland_och_ursprungsland.xls|title=be0101_Fodelseland_och_ursprungsland (XLS)}}</ref>

The very first wave of Iranian refugees consisted of 5,000 Iranian refugees who fled to Sweden in 1979-1980 most of them were middle-aged, middle-class Pahlavi supporters who were opposing the [[Iranian revolution|revolution]]. When the [[Iran–Iraq War]] broke out in 1980, almost 20,000 Iranian citizens found asylum in Sweden. Second generation Iranian Swedes are well-represented in higher education and in some well paying professions like dentistry and engineering. About 60% percent of Swedish Iranians go on to higher education – more than the Swedish average (45%).<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.svd.se/opinion/brannpunkt/klassresa-ar-mojlig-trots-hinder_6842603.svd|title=Klassresa är möjlig trots hinder|work=SvD.se|access-date=2017-12-18|language=sv}}</ref> Iranian culture with its emphasis on education may be part of the reason for this. Becoming an engineer or a doctor is a mantra in many families. Abundantly represented minorities amongst the Swedish Iranians, like in other Iranian diaspora nations are [[Azerbaijanis]], [[Kurds]], [[Armenians]] and [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]].

==Notable Iranians in Sweden==

* [[Snoh Aalegra]], singer and songwriter * [[Mana Aghaee]], poet and writer * [[Minoo Akhtarzand]], governor of [[Jönköping County]] * [[Milad Alami]], film director * [[Poya Asbaghi]], football manager * [[William Atashkadeh]], professional footballer * [[Hanif Bali]], MP and part of the party executive of the [[Moderate Party]] * [[Sean Banan]], singer, comedian and entertainer * [[Arash Bayat]], footballer * [[Hanni Beronius]], beauty queen and [[Miss Universe Sweden|Miss Universe Sweden 2012]] * [[Cameron Cartio]], singer * [[Akira Corassani]], UFC fighter * [[Ashk Dahlén]], scholar, linguist, translator * [[Reza Khelili Dylami]], politician * [[Ali Esbati]], politician * [[Athena Farrokhzad]], poet * [[Rashid Farivar]], politician * [[Mohammad Fazlhashemi]], professor in History of Ideas, [[Umeå University]] * [[Azita Ghahreman]], poet, translator, writer, member of the [[International PEN]] * [[Saman Ghoddos]], international footballer* * [[Ali Ghodsi]], businessman * [[Adam Hemati]], footballer for Persepolis F.C. * [[Jasmine Kara]], singer and songwriter * [[Arash (entertainer)|Arash Labaf]], platinum-selling artist * [[Lina Leandersson]], actress * [[Janet Leon]], singer * [[Lasse Lindroth]], comedian and actor * [[Parisa Liljestrand]], Minister of Culture. * [[Reza Madadi]], professional MMA fighter and convicted criminal. * [[Jila Mossaed]], poet, member of the Swedish Academy, Chair No. 15<ref>{{cite web |title=Chair no. 15 - Jila Mossaed {{!}} Swedish Academy |url=https://www.svenskaakademien.se/en/the-academy/chair-no-15-jila-mossaed |website=www.svenskaakademien.se |access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref> * [[Babak Najafi]], film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer * [[Marall Nasiri]], actress * [[Amin Nazari]], professional football player * [[Omid Nazari]], professional football player* * [[Shima Niavarani]], actress * [[Bahar Pars]], actress * [[Trita Parsi]], founder and president of the [[National Iranian American Council]] * [[Nahid Persson Sarvestani]], film director * [[Zinat Pirzadeh]], comedian * [[Laleh Pourkarim]], singer-songwriter * [[Romina Pourmokhtari]], Minister for the Environment. * [[Arash Pournouri]], music manager * [[Daniel Rahimi]], professional Ice hockey player * [[Eddie Razaz]], singer * [[Behrang Safari]], Swedish international footballer * [[Ilya Salmanzadeh]], music producer * [[Nima Sanandaji]], scientist and author *[[Ardalan Shekarabi]], politician * [[Maryam Yazdanfar]], [[Parliament of Sweden|Riksdag]] politician * [[Sara Zahedi]], mathematician and winner of [[European Mathematical Society]] prize * [[Nina Zanjani]], actress * [[Mika Zibanejad]], professional Ice hockey player

==See also== *[[Iran-Sweden relations]] *[[Iranian diaspora]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite encyclopedia | title = SWEDEN iv. Iranian Community | last1 = Hosseini-Kaladjahi | first1 = Hassan | last2 = Kelly | first2 = Melissa | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/sweden-iv | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica | year = 2012 | orig-year = 2000}} * [http://sweden.choone.com Iranian-Swedish Community Classifieds Website in Persian (Farsi) Language]

[[Category:Swedish people of Iranian descent| ]] [[Category:Diasporas in Sweden]] [[Category:Iran–Sweden relations]] [[Category:Iranian diaspora in Sweden]]