Population registration in Sweden

Complete archives are usually found from the mid 18th century onwards, unless records have been lost or destroyed by fire or the like.

A royal decree in 1631 required the names and dates of those born and dying to be noted in the parish registry books.

When other churches and congregations than the Church of Sweden were legally recognized (notably through the Dissenter Act of 1873 and the Liberty of Religion Act of 1951) these other congregations and confessions were required to keep records of births, deaths, marriages and so on and to share these with public authorities if it were required.

As Finland was part of the Swedish kingdom from the high Middle Ages to 1809, and its laws and administration were recognized by the Tsar after the country had been ceded to Russia, the country shared the Swedish system of population records and these have developed on lines broadly similar to Sweden into the present age.

All residence longer than that, including education and temporary work assignment, shall be registered as address (unless living regularly with the family).