Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1942, Síða 67

SWEDISH EMIGRATION TO AMERICA
57
of the country during the 1880’s was 8.1 per iooo. The highest
figure was that for the Province of Halland (in the South
West) with 13.0 per 1000, closely followed by the Provinces
of Kronoberg and Vármland with 12.4 per 1000 each, and
the Province of Jönköping with 12.1 per 1000. Other high
relative figures were those of the Province of Alvsborg (11.3 per
1000) and the Provinces of Kalmar and Kristianstad (12.0 per
1000). The figure for the Province of Malmöhus was 9.7 per
1000.
A point on which nothing has as yet been said is the destina-
tion of the emigrants. In earlier times, before the emigration
movement began to gather speed, most emigrants went to Eu-
ropean countries, but since the middle of the i9th century, by
far the greater number went to America, and especially to the
United States. There was a certain amount of Swedish emigration
to Canada and other parts of the North and South American
continents, but this played only a subordinate part. During the
period of large-scale emigration 1865—1915 about 82 per cent.
of the registered emigration went to the United States, 17 per
cent. to European countries, and 1 per cent. to other countries.
The distribution of the emigration on the various countries of
destination varied a good deal from time to time, and was also
different for the various parts of Sweden. Of the large emigra-
tion from the Province of Malmöhus e. g., one third went to
Denmark, while a good fourth of the emigration from the Pro-
vinces of Gothenburg and Bohuslán, and about one sixth of the
emigration from the Provinces of Alvsborg and Vármland went
to Norway. It should be pointed out, however, that a not incon-
siderable part of the emigrants who left for Denmark and Nor-
way ultimately proceeded to America.
Given these data, the question naturally presents itself what
was the cause of this emigration movement. A good deal has
been written, in Sweden and in America, about the origin and
causes of the Swedish emigration movement, and only a rough
outline of the known facts can be given below.
In the first place, it must be borne in mind that the Swedish
emigration movement was not an isolated phenomenon, but part
of a general movement, which made itself felt with more or
less force throughout Europe. During the first decades of the
i9th century the total volume of European emigration was as