Karelians
The Karelians (own names: karjalaižet ) are a Finno-Ugric people in Finland , in north-western Russia , especially in the Autonomous Republic of Karelia , but also in the Tver Oblast .
They speak a Baltic Finnish language , Karelian (in contrast to the Karelians who live in the Finnish region of Karelia, who use a Finnish dialect). Around 400,000 Karelians who fled and resettled in Finland as a result of the Finnish-Soviet winter war (1939/40) and the Continuation War (1940/44) have been absorbed by the Finnish people. The number of Karelians living in Russia is rapidly decreasing, but it is still over 100,000. The Karelians have been under Russian influence since the early medieval Kievan Rus and increasingly from the 17th century. Even so, they have a rich culture of their own. The famous song collectionKalevala is predominantly of Karelian origin. The Karelians are Russian Orthodox Christians .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Willi Stegner (Ed.): Pocket Atlas Völker und Sprachen , page 41. Klett-Perthes, Gotha and Stuttgart 2006
Web links
- The Karelier report of the radio station "Voice of Russia"