African diaspora in Finland


The African diaspora in Finland refers to the residents of Finland of full or partial African ancestry, mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa., there were 54,046 people born in Africa living in Finland. Similarly, the number of people with African background was 75,953.
The distinct adjacent term Afro-Finns, also referred to as Black Finns, can be used for Finns whose lineages are fully or partly in the populations of Sub-Saharan Africa. Afro-Finns have lived in Finland since the 19th century. In 2009, according to Yle, there were an estimated 20,000 Afro-Finns in Finland, and according to Statistics Finland, the total number of people in Finland with a close Sub-Saharan African background was 62,759 in 2024.

History

Finns reacted to the first Sub-Saharan Africans in Finland with curiosity and amazement. In the 19th century, some Africans from the Americas worked as servants for wealthy Russians in the Grand Duchy of Finland. The first known African to receive Finnish citizenship was Rosa Lemberg who came to Finland from Ovamboland in 1888 and was granted citizenship in 1899.
Between the 1900s and the 1970s, the few Africans in Finland were mostly students, political exiles from South Africa or people married to Finns. In World War II, there were some Afro-Finnish soldiers, including Private 1st Class, who served as a ski patrol leader on the Karelian Isthmus and was killed in the Winter War, and Corporal Holger Sonntag, who was of African-American and German descent and served as a driver in both the Winter War and the Continuation War.
In 1990, during the Somali Civil War, the first Somali refugees arrived in Finland. After that, due to their high fertility rate, along with the significant number of Somali family reunifications, quota refugees and asylum seekers, they rapidly became the largest African group in Finland. During the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Finland, most of the Sierra Leone national under-17 football team's players defected to Finland due to the poor conditions in their country, following a civil war that had ended a year earlier.
In the 21st century, most people of African ancestry have come to Finland from Africa, but many have also arrived from the United States, Latin America and other European countries. In particular, Americans and British people of African descent have moved to Finland, mostly through marriage.

Demographics

As of 31 December 2024, according to Statistics Finland, the total number of people in Finland with a close African background is 75,953, which is 1.4% of the population of Finland. 42,118 of them are men, while 33,835 are women. 62,759 of them are from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Countries of origin

Countries with a significant African diaspora

The following countries outside Africa have a majority population of Afro-descendants and, as of 31 December 2024, a total of 147 expatriates or close descendants in Finland:

Distribution

Municipalities

On 31 December 2020, 13.4% of the total population of Itäkeskus, a quarter of Helsinki, had an African background, which was the highest percentage of all subdivisions of Helsinki.

Regions

On 31 December 2022, the region with the most people with a close African background was Uusimaa with 45,025 people, which is 69.3% of their total population in Finland.

RegionPopulation Percent of the
region's population
Åland1350.4%
Central Finland1,2100.4%
Central Ostrobothnia3810.6%
Kainuu3320.5%
Kanta-Häme8940.5%
Kymenlaakso7950.5%
Lapland4180.2%
North Karelia4420.3%
North Ostrobothnia2,1330.5%
North Savo8370.3%
Ostrobothnia2,3261.3%
Päijät-Häme8860.4%
Pirkanmaa3,2660.6%
Satakunta4480.2%
South Karelia3940.3%
South Ostrobothnia2650.1%
South Savo2760.2%
Southwest Finland4,5440.9%
Uusimaa45,0252.6%




Citizenships

On 31 December 2023, there were 23,672 people who had dual citizenship of Finland and an African country.
Citizens of African countries who received Finnish citizenship by year:
  • 1990 – 70
  • 1991 – 101
  • 1992 – 104
  • 1993 – 67
  • 1994 – 56
  • 1995 – 81
  • 1996 – 120
  • 1997 – 180
  • 1998 – 788
  • 1999 – 1,365
  • 2000 – 522
  • 2001 – 406
  • 2002 – 419
  • 2003 – 403
  • 2004 – 426
  • 2005 – 605
  • 2006 – 658
  • 2007 – 671
  • 2008 – 891
  • 2009 – 466
  • 2010 – 368
  • 2011 – 400
  • 2012 – 1,559
  • 2013 – 1,923
  • 2014 – 1,750
  • 2015 – 1,946
  • 2016 – 2,137
  • 2017 – 2,448
  • 2018 – 1,904
  • 2019 – 1,499
  • 2020 – 1,250
  • 2021 – 997
  • 2022 – 1,393
  • 2023 – 2,010
People born in Africa who received Finnish citizenship by year:
  • 1990 – 37
  • 1991 – 87
  • 1992 – 86
  • 1993 – 42
  • 1994 – 58
  • 1995 – 78
  • 1996 – 117
  • 1997 – 175
  • 1998 – 559
  • 1999 – 829
  • 2000 – 332
  • 2001 – 275
  • 2002 – 306
  • 2003 – 290
  • 2004 – 329
  • 2005 – 387
  • 2006 – 397
  • 2007 – 426
  • 2008 – 627
  • 2009 – 329
  • 2010 – 279
  • 2011 – 297
  • 2012 – 1,043
  • 2013 – 1,344
  • 2014 – 1,350
  • 2015 – 1,447
  • 2016 – 1,590
  • 2017 – 1,844
  • 2018 – 1,480
  • 2019 – 1,231
  • 2020 – 972
  • 2021 – 764
  • 2022 – 1,059
  • 2023 – 1,449

Asylum seekers

1990–2013

From 1990 to 2013, a total of 14,481 African citizens applied for asylum in Finland, which was 22.4% out of the total of 64,536 asylum seekers. African asylum seekers by country of citizenship:
There were not asylum seekers from Cape Verde, the Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe or Seychelles.

2015–2020

From January 2015 to August 2020, there were a total of 7,935 African citizens who applied for asylum in Finland; 14.6% out of the total of 54,520 asylum seekers. African asylum seekers by country of citizenship:
There were not asylum seekers from Botswana, Djibouti, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe or Seychelles.

Adoptions

From 1987 to 2023, a total of 984 people were adopted from Africa to Finland. 907 of them were from the countries of South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya, and the rest, 77 people, were from other African countries.
Adoptees from Africa by year:
  • 1987 – 11
  • 1988 – 19
  • 1989 – 5
  • 1990 – 9
  • 1991 – 12
  • 1992 – 12
  • 1993 – 16
  • 1994 – 19
  • 1995 – 14
  • 1996 – 11
  • 1997 – 13
  • 1998 – 15
  • 1999 – 14
  • 2000 – 22
  • 2001 – 11
  • 2002 – 28
  • 2003 – 28
  • 2004 – 30
  • 2005 – 35
  • 2006 – 34
  • 2007 – 44
  • 2008 – 48
  • 2009 – 66
  • 2010 – 53
  • 2011 – 71
  • 2012 – 48
  • 2013 – 43
  • 2014 – 47
  • 2015 – 41
  • 2016 – 16
  • 2017 – 30
  • 2018 – 20
  • 2019 – 26
  • 2020 – 8
  • 2021 – 27
  • 2022 – 18
  • 2023 – 20

Marriages and cohabitation

On 31 December 2023, there were 5,097 Finnish citizens who were either married to or registered as cohabiting with citizens of African countries. 3,041 of the Finnish citizens were women and 2,056 were men; for both sexes the largest groups of partners were Somalian, Moroccan and Nigerian citizens. The next largest groups for Finnish women were Gambian and Ghanaian citizens, and for Finnish men Ethiopian and Kenyan citizens. On the same date, there were 4,989 African-born people who were either married to or registered as cohabiting with people born in Finland; 3,810 of the people born in Finland were women, while 1,179 were men.

Employment

Statistics Finland's employment statistics from 2000 to 2021 are available for the citizens of the following 23 African countries: Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.
NationalityLabour force EmployedUnemployedEmployed
Algeria

Afro-Finns

Identity

Afro-Finns, also referred to as Black Finns, are Finns whose lineages are fully or partly in the populations of Sub-Saharan Africa. They have lived in Finland since the 19th century. According to an estimate in 2009 by Yle, there are 20,000 Afro-Finns in Finland, and according to Statistics Finland, the total number of people in Finland with a close Sub-Saharan African background was 62,759 in 2024. Thus, they make up a much larger ethnic minority than many other prominent minority groups in Finland, such as the Sámi or Romani. The identity of Afro-Finns varies: some consider themselves Finns, while others identify with a separate cultural heritage. Some actively cherish their connections to Africa through their African relatives and cultures, while for others, these connections are more distant but still meaningful.

Culture

In 2013, the dance performance Noir? by became the first fully Afro-Finnish dance performance when it premiered at in Helsinki.
Held annually since 2018, the Afrofinns Achievement Awards—presented by Afrofinns ry, an organization for "Finns and everyone else with African heritage living in Finland"—acknowledges, honors and celebrates the contribution of the Afro-community in Finland.
In 2020,, 2013 and celebrity, and Obi-West Utchaychukwu, the editor-in-chief of Diaspora Glitz Magazine, founded the beauty pageant Miss Afro Diaspora Finland for young women of African ancestry living in Finland.

Media

Established in 1993, the magazine SCANDI-B was targeted to Black people in the Nordic countries. Printed in Raisio, Finland, it had a circulation of 7,000 in 1993 with as the editor-in-chief.
In 2010, Yle broadcast the three-episode documentary television series Afro-Suomen historia about early Afro-Finns.
The multimedia focuses on Afro-Finns and other people of colour in Finland. Its six-episode Afrosuomen historiaa etsimässä podcast's first episode was broadcast on in 2017.
The Afro-Finnish Diaspora Glitz Magazine won the category of Best Media at the 2019 Afrofinns Achievement Awards.

Racism

During the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland, some warned Finnish women against showing interest in "exotic" athletes and pressured them to "act appropriately" in the presence of black people, "neekerit". The Finnish word was long considered a neutral equivalent for "negro". In 2002, the usage notes of neekeri shifted from "perceived as derogatory by some" to "generally derogatory" in the Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish, edited by the Institute for the Languages of Finland.
Nationwide racism began to grow after the first Somali refugees arrived in Finland in the 1990s during the Somali Civil War. Finnish skinheads carried out attacks against Africans, and the city of Joensuu in eastern Finland, in particular, became. In the municipality of Nastola in southern Finland, the police had to protect the local refugee center from violence by local residents, who carried out a shooting. Other incidents included a bomb that detonated at a refugee center in Valkeala, a municipality in southeast Finland, and an attack by skinheads on Somalis in Hakunila, Vantaa, in southern Finland.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, some ethnic Finnish women married to or cohabiting with younger black men have faced discrimination, as they are sometimes stereotyped as sex tourists in Finnish society.
According to the study "Being Black in the EU" by the Fundamental Rights Agency published in 2018, 63% of Afro-Finns in Finland had experienced racist harassment, which took the form of offensive gestures, comments, threats or violence. This was the highest percentage among the twelve European Union member states included in the study, significantly higher than, for example, Malta's 20%. 14% stated that they had experienced violence in Finland due to their skin colour—also the highest among the participating countries—much higher than, for example, in Portugal, where 2% reported similar violence.
A report published in 2020 by the, an autonomous and independent authority, found that four out of five people with an African background had experienced racial discrimination in Finland due to their skin colour.

Notable people

Citizens and residents of Finland of full or partial African ancestry

Actors

  • Fathi Ahmed, actor and stand-up comedian of Somali descent
  • , French Guianan-Martiniquais actor
  • , half-Moroccan actress
  • , British-born actress, singer and model of Jamaican descent
  • , actor of African ancestry
  • Sofia Bryant, actress of African-American descent
  • Billy Carson, American-born African-American actor and drummer
  • , half-Kenyan actor
  • Pearl Hobson, American-born African-American actress, singer, dancer and cabaret artist in the Russian Empire
  • , half-Chadian actress
  • , half-Togolese actor
  • , half-Kenyan actor
  • , half-Cameroonian actress
  • , half-Nigerian actor
  • , Ghanaian-born actress
  • , half-Ghanaian actress
  • , Costa Rican-born actress

Artists

  • Sasha Huber, Swiss-born artist of Haitian descent
  • , fashion designer of African-American descent
  • , American-born African-American visual artist and designer

Beauty pageant contestants

  • , half-Moroccan 2010
  • Sara Chafak, half-Moroccan-Berber Miss Finland 2012
  • , Congolese-born Miss Helsinki 2013 and celebrity
  • Dana Mononen, half-Guadeloupean Miss World Finland 2019
  • Lola Odusoga, half-Nigerian model, presenter and Miss Finland 1996

Dancers

  • , half-Cameroonian dancer and choreographer
  • , Ethiopian-born dancer

Entrepreneurs

  • Soraya Bahgat, social entrepreneur of Egyptian descent
  • , Emirati-born entrepreneur of Egyptian descent
  • , Mozambican-born entrepreneur and director

Film people

  • Khadar Ayderus Ahmed, Somalian-born screenwriter and film director
  • Jessie Chisi, Zambian-born film director and screenwriter
  • , Algerian-born documentary film director

Journalists

Musicians

  • , half-Moroccan hip hop musician
  • , Ethiopian-born drummer and percussionist
  • , half-Senegalese singer and actor
  • Eric Bibb, American-born African-American blues musician
  • , half-Nigerian hip hop musician
  • Eddie Boyd, American-born African-American blues pianist and singer
  • Daco Junior, Angolan-born musician
  • Raymond Ebanks, half-Jamaican musician
  • Michael Ekeghasi, Nigerian-born singer-songwriter
  • Lee Gaines, American-born African-American jazz singer
  • , Congolese-born rapper
  • , singer and footballer of Nigerian descent
  • Jedidi, half-Tunisian DJ and hip hop musician
  • Juno, half-Kenyan rapper
  • , musician of Somalian descent
  • Noah Kin, Norwegian-born half-Nigerian rapper
  • , rapper of Somalian descent
  • , Ghanaian-born musician and sex offender
  • Mad Ice, Ugandan-born singer-songwriter
  • , Senegalese-born musician
  • , Liberian-born musician
  • Rummy Nanji, Tanzanian-born singer known from the Finnish band
  • James Nikander, half-Tanzanian rapper, bodybuilder and Internet personality
  • , Cuban-born musician
  • OX, half-Egyptian bass guitarist
  • , rapper of Gambian descent
  • , Congolese-born rapper
  • Pete Parkkonen, singer of partial Martiniquais descent
  • , Ethiopian-born rapper
  • Ismaila Sané, Senegalese-born musician
  • , half-Senegalese singer
  • Sexmane, half-Senegalese singer and rapper
  • Jackson Shuudifonya, musician of Namibian descent, known from the Finnish band
  • T.L, half-Jamaican musician known from the Finnish band TCT
  • , Jamaican-born reggae musician
  • Tiahu, half-Jamaican musician known from the Finnish band TCT
  • , Angolan-born rapper
  • , singer-songwriter of partial Martiniquais descent
  • Mirel Wagner, Ethiopian-born singer-songwriter
  • Nicole Willis, American-born African-American singer, songwriter and painter
  • Yasmine Yamajako, half-Beninese singer
  • , half-Ghanaian rapper

Politicians

Scientists

  • , Tunisian-born professor
  • Kelsey Harrison, Nigerian-born gynaecologist and researcher
  • , American-born African-American linguist and actor
  • , Somalian-born physician and researcher

Sportspeople

Writers

  • Ronald Fair, American-born African-American writer and sculptor
  • , Somalian-born writer
  • , half-Egyptian writer

Others

  • Farhia Abdi, Somalian-born for 2020
  • , Somalian-born activist
  • Aki Abiodun, half-Nigerian contestant on the Finnish version of Big Brother and presenter
  • Ujuni Ahmed, Somalian-born activist
  • François Bazaramba, Rwandan-born criminal who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Finland for participating in the Rwandan genocide
  • , media personality, YouTuber and musician of Somalian descent
  • , Somalian-born murderer and sex offender
  • , half-Chadian presenter
  • , Moroccan-born circus performer
  • , Kenyan-born project manager and Refugee Woman of the Year for 1999
  • Rosa Lemberg, half-Bantu teacher, choral conductor and theatre director from Ovamboland
  • Gibril Massaquoi, Sierra Leonean-born detainee
  • Amran Mohamed Ahmed, Somalian-born Refugee Woman of the Year for 2005
  • , Somalian-born Refugee Woman of the Year for 2011
  • Michele Murphy-Kaulanen, celebrity of African-American descent and the wife of Sampo Kaulanen, a celebrity and the manager of Jounin Kauppa
  • Daniela Owusu, half-Ghanaian, first black woman to portray Saint Lucy in Finland's national Saint Lucy's Day celebrations
  • , Latvian-born soldier of African ancestry
  • Nimo Samatar, contestant on the Finnish version of Big Brother and blogger of Somalian descent
  • , Angolan-born media personality, YouTuber, presenter and musician
  • Steven Thomas, American-born African-American sex offender
  • Leyla Väänänen, half-Somalian contestant on the Finnish version of Big Brother
  • , half-Somalian human rights activist

People of the Finnish diaspora with African ancestry

This list is for notable people of African ancestry who also belong to the Finnish diaspora but do not hold Finnish citizenship. Many of them maintain their ties to Finland.

The Gambia

Germany

  • Misan Haldin, half-Nigerian basketball player
  • , half-Nigerian basketball player

Norway

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States