We present data from a genome-wide scan identifying genetic factors conferring susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. The linkage analysis was based on 59 families from northern Sweden, consisting of a total of 129 cases of type 2 diabetes and 19 individuals with impaired glucose tolerance. Model-free linkage analysis revealed a maximum multipoint logarithm of odds score of 3.19 for D2S2987 at 267.7 cM (P=0.00058), suggesting that a gene conferring susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in the northern Swedish population resides in the 2q37 region. These data replicate, in a European population, previously identified linkage of marker loci in this region to type 2 diabetes in Mexican Americans. In contrast, no evidence in support of association to the previously identified single nucleotide polymorphisms in the calpain-10 gene was observed in a case-control cohort derived from the same population.