Befolkningars

Befolkningars is the possessive form of the Swedish plural noun befolkningar, meaning populations. It is used to express something that belongs to or is associated with multiple populations and translates roughly to “of the populations” or “the populations’” in English. The form is common in academic, demographic, and policy texts.

In Swedish, the indefinite possessive of a plural noun is typically formed by adding -s to the plural itself, yielding befolkningars. When the reference is to a specific, defined set of populations, the definite plural possessive is befolkningarnas, as in befolkningarnas behov (“the populations’ needs”). Examples include befolkningars sammansättning (the composition of populations) or befolkningars ålder (the populations’ age structure). The usage mirrors similar patterns for other plural nouns and does not require an extra article in many contexts.

Grammatical notes: befolkningars functions as a genitive form for plural populations without a definite article, while befolkningarnas is used when the sentence explicitly refers to a known group of populations. The base noun befolkning refers to a population or population group, and befolkningar is its plural. The concept is widely employed in demography, sociology, and regional planning to discuss characteristics that pertain to multiple populations rather than a single one.

See also befolkning, befolkningar, demography, population studies.