Religious affiliation in Sweden [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. Religion in Sweden has, over the years, become increasingly diverse. Christianity was the religion of virtually all of the Swedish population from the 12th to the early 20th century, but it has rapidly declined throughout the late 20th and early 21st century.
Christianity came to Sweden as early as the 9th century mainly as a result of an expansion in trade. The ancient Nordic religions were slowly replaced. By the 12th century, Christianity became the established national religion and the Archdiocese of Uppsala was established as the first national church. Swedish Christians belonged to the Catholic Church until when the Swedish state church was established as a Protestant church based on Lutheran principles, following the Protestant Reformation enacted by Martin Luther which converted most of Germanic Europe.
In recent years, the Swedish religious landscape has become increasingly diverse , with Christians comprising in some Before the 11th century, Swedes practised Norse religion , worshipping a variety of Germanic deities.
An important religious centre was the Temple at Uppsala. The shape and location of this temple is sparsely documented, but it is referenced in the Norse sagas and Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum , and is also described by Adam of Bremen. It was probably destroyed by King Ingold I in While Norse religion was officially abandoned with the Christianization of Scandinavia , belief in many spirits of Norse mythology such as tomtar , trolls , elves and dwarves lived on for a long time in Scandinavian folklore.
The oldest evidence of Christian burial sites in Sweden are dated to the 6th century, but they are very few in number. The earliest documented campaign to Christianise the Swedes was made by the monk Ansgar β Making his first visit to Birka in β, he was granted permission to build a church. In , he returned home and became Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen , with responsibility for Christianity in the north.
