FACTBOX-Anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats party

Sept 20 (Reuters) - Swedish voters for the first time have put an anti-immigrant party into parliament in a country long regarded as one of the world's most tolerant.

The Sweden Democrats have roots in neo-Nazi movements of the 1980s and 1990s but have gradually discarded these more radical elements.

Under young leader Jimme Akesson, 31, head of the Sweden Democrats since 2005, the party has become more and more respectable. In the last election in 2006, it won many seats on local councils.

The following are some facts about Sweden Democrats:

-- One of the party's main goals is to have much lower levels of immigration and a return to what it sees as a policy of assimilation, rather than integration.

-- It says Sweden has taken in too many immigrants over too short a time and that only a few of them were really in need of shelter.

-- The party has criticised Islam and Muslims as being un-Swedish.

-- It wants tougher citizenship requirements and backs tougher punishment for crime, including obligatory expulsion of all foreigners who commit more serious crimes.

-- The party proposes investment into the furthering of Swedish culture, as opposed to foreign cultures. It also wants to stop what it calls the process of making Swedish society more Islamic.

-- It seeks a renegotiation of Sweden's European Union membership.

-- The party says there should be better care for the elderly (Reporting by Patrick Lannin)