Scandinavian Americans : Ask Biography

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Scandinavian Americans are Americans with ancestral roots in Scandinavia (note that "Scandinavia" as a geographic region has varying definitions). However, they generally include:

* Denmark Danish Americans

* Faroe Islands Faroese Americans

* Finland Finnish American

* Iceland Icelandic Americans

* Norway Norwegian Americans

* Sweden Swedish Americans

Americans of Sami descent can be classed as either Norwegian, Finnish or Swedish, however, Sami Finnish are not racially European or Indo-Aryan, and the Finnish are not Scandanavian. Likewise, despite originating outside of Europe, Greenlandic Americans can be classed as Scandinavian American due to close historical ties with Scandinavia, and because Greenland is linked to Denmark.

Scandinavians immigrated initially to the northmost states of US, and found employment in agriculture, forestry and mining. They urbanized very soon, and many Scandinavian Americans are highly educated. The median income of Scandinavian Americans is significantly higher than the median of other White Americans. , and remarkably higher than in Scandinavian countries themselves.

The highest concentration of Scandinavian Americans is in the Upper Midwest, especially Minnesota. Other large concentrated areas are in the North-Central states, the Pacific Northwest, Utah and Alaska.

There are nearly 12 million Americans of Scandinavian, or part-Scandanavian, descent in the United States, or 3.9% of the total population of the country.