Culture, religion and traditions

What you need to understand

Culture, religion and traditions

Culture is not a fixed list describing how everyone lives. Traditions, languages, art, religion and everyday customs change and can mean different things to different people. Sweden is a secular state with freedom of religion and a multi-religious society. For the test topic, it is useful to know common celebrations and historical connections without assuming that everybody celebrates or believes in the same way.

A secular state and freedom of religion

The Church of Sweden was the state church until 2000. Sweden is now a secular state, meaning that laws and public decisions are not based on one religion. Freedom of religion protects both the right to practise a religion and the right not to do so. Christianity has had major historical influence, while Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, other faiths and secular worldviews are all present in contemporary society.

Traditions, languages and minorities

Midsummer, Christmas, Easter, Walpurgis Night and National Day are well-known celebrations, but customs vary. Sweden recognises five national minorities: Jews, Roma, Sami, Swedish Finns and Tornedalians. The national minority languages are Yiddish, Romani Chib, Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli. The Sami are also an Indigenous people with their own cultures, languages and an elected Sami Parliament.

Important points to learn

• What a secular state and freedom of religion mean.
• The Church of Sweden’s historic role and separation from the state in 2000.
• Common celebrations and the fact that traditions are observed differently.
• The five national minorities and national minority languages.
• The Sami as an Indigenous people and the role of the Sami Parliament.

Three practice questions with answers

These questions come from Provkollen’s independently written question bank. The answer and explanation are shown immediately so you can use this page as a study guide.

Official sources for further study

Always check current information with UHR and in Swedish law. UHR’s corrected study material is the main source for this guide.

• UHR – study material for the citizenship test
• UHR – Sweden in focus (corrected edition, Swedish)
• Ordinance (2026:451) on citizenship tests (Swedish)