African immigrants to Sweden

African immigrants have been living in Sweden since the 17th century,[2] but in very few numbers. In 1900, there were 79 Africans in Sweden, of which 5, all South Africans, were citizens.[3] 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.[2] Badin was not the only African swede during the 18th century. There were blacks 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.[4]

In the 1880s, a circus performer named John Hood moved from the US to Sweden. It is unclear if John Hood was of complete African descent or if he was half-European. Hood was the great-great-grandfather of Frederik Reinfeldt, who was prime minister of Sweden from 2006-2014. With either 1/16 or 1/32 African blood, Reinfeldt was the first head of state in any European country to be known to have black ancestry.

The 1970s, 1980s and 1990s saw increasing immigration from Africa, often as a consequence of civil wars.[5] 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.[3]

Swedish national statistics collect data on country of birth, citizenship and parents' citizenship, but not on ethnicity or parents' country of birth.[6][7] According to Statistics Sweden, as of 2016, there are 110,758 citizens of African nations residing in Sweden.[8] 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).[9] 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).[8]

Swedish families have been adopting children from Ethiopia since 1969. Between 1969 and 2005, 1,015 Ethiopian children found new parents in Sweden.[10] 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.[11] News anchor Katarina Sandström,[12] TV-comedian Marika Carlsson[13] and restaurateur and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson[14] are three well-known Swedes adopted from Ethiopia. Television sports journalist David Fjäll and is another well-known Swedish person adopted from Africa.[15]

The following list includes notable people in Sweden with recent ancestry from Africa.