Languages of Sweden
In 2009, the Riksdag passed the Language Law recognizing Swedish as the "main" and "common" language of society as well as being the official language in "international contexts", the five national minority languages, and Swedish sign language .
Standard Swedish
The creation of the autonomous Russian Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 drastically decreased communication between Sweden and Finland, but Swedish remained the language of administration and higher education until Finnish was given equal status in the late 19th century. The position of Swedish gradually eroded in the 20th century, as population shifts from industrialisation and war increasingly caused many ethnic Finns to move to the traditional coastal and urban Swedish enclaves. In reaction, Swedish-speaking Finns renewed their cultural and linguistic connections with Sweden and a "Högsvenska", based on the current variety spoken by educated mainland Swedes, emerged. However, alienation between the two countries by the lack of tangible support from Sweden during both world wars, the Finnish Civil War, and the Åland crisis gradually led to "Högsvenska" being seen as the prestige dialect of Finland Swedish.