Editing Swedish language (section)

===Language minorities in Estonia and Ukraine===
From the 13th to 20th century, there were [[Estonian Swedes|Swedish-speaking communities in Estonia]], particularly on the islands (e. g., [[Hiiumaa]], [[Vormsi]], [[Ruhnu]]; in Swedish, known as ''Dagö'', ''Ormsö'', ''Runö'', respectively) along the coast of the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]], communities that today have all disappeared. The Swedish-speaking minority was represented in [[parliament]], and entitled to use their native language in parliamentary debates. After the loss of Estonia to the [[Russian Empire]] in the early 18th century, around 1,000 [[Estonian Swedish]] speakers were forced to march to southern [[Ukraine]], where they founded a village, ''[[Gammalsvenskby]]'' ("Old Swedish Village"). A few elderly people in the village still speak a [[Gammalsvenska|Swedish dialect]] and observe the holidays of the Swedish calendar, although their dialect is most likely facing extinction.<ref>The number of registered Swedes in Zmeyovka (the modern Ukrainian name of ''Gammalsvenskby'') in 1994 was 116 according to [[Nationalencyklopedin]], article ''svenskbyborna''.</ref>

From 1918 to 1940, when Estonia was independent, the small Swedish community was well treated. Municipalities with a Swedish majority, mainly found along the coast, used Swedish as the administrative language and Swedish-Estonian culture saw an upswing. However, most Swedish-speaking people fled to Sweden before the end of [[World War II]], that is before the invasion of Estonia by the Soviet army in 1944. Only a handful of speakers remain.<ref>''Nationalencyklopedin'', ''estlandssvenskar''.</ref>