Reciting a formula that ethnic communities in other societies know all too well, Mr. Forshage said, ''The reason they are so motivated is that they feel they have to be twice as good as any other Swede.''

Since World War II, Sweden has gone from being a country of emigration to one of immigration. Unlike some other European nations, it has no colonial past that exposed its society to influences from abroad.

But it did have a strong political commitment to create an equitable society and a national dedication over the last 30 years to meeting the needs of people in the developing world. It has been more generous than other European nations to refugees from South American countries with military dictatorships, political exiles from ethnic disputes in Asia and victims of fighting in the Balkans, and it still maintains a relatively large foreign aid program aimed at the needy of Africa.

Sweden never adopted the guest worker policy of other European countries that saw immigrants returned to their native countries once jobs ended. Many of the people who came here tended to remain. But staying was one thing and cracking the cultural code was another.

Nordic immigrants can become Swedish citizens after only two years. For the others, the minimum period is five years, and there are inhibiting costs and complications. Even being born here does not entitle immigrants' children to citizenship.

''It's very hard for people who don't have white skins and blond hair to be accepted in Sweden,'' Mr. Jutfelt said. ''If you look different, you are called an immigrant, and if you're an immigrant, you're an immigrant for life.'' Swedish policy makers have begun to refer to ''third-generation immigrants.''

Sweden has altered its approach over time, first embracing the goal of assimilation, then moving gradually to the present posture of encouraging distinct cultures within Sweden while insisting on equality of opportunity. Finding that some immigrants could not speak any Swedish after being here two or three decades, the country also provided intensive free language instruction.