The
Karelians (also
Karels,
Russian Karelians and
East Karelians) are a
Baltic-Finnic ethnic group living mostly in the
Republic of Karelia and in other north-western parts of the
Russian Federation. The historic homeland of Karelians includes also parts of present-day Eastern
Finland (
North Karelia) and the formerly Finnish territory of
Ladoga Karelia. In a process starting during the 17th century and culminating after the Second World War, the ethnic Karelians in Finland have been linguistically and ethnically assimilated with the closely related Finnish people and are included in the wider group of
Finnish Karelians , who are considered to form a sub-group of the
ethnic Finns.
The separation between the Finnish Karelians and the Russian or East Karelians has been created and maintained by different religions, dialects and historical experiences. The Karelians in Russia have lived for centuries under the Slavic cultural influence, adopted the Russian Orthodox religion and have been to some extent assimilated by Russians.
Over the centuries the Karelians living in Russia have become dispersed in several distinct subgroups. The largest groups are North Karelians living in
Republic of Karelia and the South Karelians in the
Tver,
Novgorod and in the
Leningrad Oblast of Russian federation. The subgroups of South Karelians, the Tikhvin Karels and Valdai Karels numbered between 90,000-100,000 are considered assimilated and speak Russian as their first language. The North Karelians include the Olonets and the Ludes, speakers of
Olonets Karelian language and
Ludic language live in the Russian Republic of Karelia.
The modern
literary Karelian language is identical in its written form to Finnish language and has maintained the use of Latin alphabet, which prevents it from becoming an official language under the current federal law.
History
Since the 13th century the Karelians have lived in the tension between the East and the West, between
Eastern Orthodoxy and Western
Catholicism, later
Lutheranism. Some Karelians were Christianized and subdued by
Sweden, others by
Novgorod or
Russia. Thus Karelia was divided between two different and often hostile realms, and the Karelian population was split politically and religiously, after a while also linguistically and culturally.
The Kingdom of Sweden held Western Karelia and Karelian Isthmus but the so-called
East Karelia was under the Russian rule. In 1617, the regions of
Ladoga Karelia and
North Karelia were annexed by Sweden. In the 17th century the tension between the Lutheran Swedish government and Orthodox Karelians triggered a mass migration from these areas into the region of
Tver in Russia, forming the
Tver-Karelian minority. People from
Savonia moved to Karelia in large numbers, and the present-day Finnish Karelians are largely their descendants. In 1721, Russia reconquered Ladoga Karelia, joining it to the new
Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812.
During the 19th century Finnish folklorists including
Elias Lönnrot traveled to North, Central and Eastern Karelia to gather archaic folklore and epic poetry. The Orthodox Karelians in North Karelia and Russia were now seen as close brethren or even a sub-group of the Finns. The ideology of
Karelianism inspired Finnish artists and researchers, who believed that the Orthodox Karelians had retained elements of an archaic, original Finnish culture which had disappeared from Finland.
When Finland gained its independence in 1917 only a small fraction of the Orthodox Karelians lived in the
Finnish Karelia. This region was mainly populated by Finnish Karelians of Lutheran background. Finland lost most of this area to the Soviet Union in
World War II, when
over 400,000 people were evacuated over Finland's new border from the
Karelian Isthmus,
Ladoga Karelia and, to a lesser degree, from the main part of
East Karelia that had been held by Finland 1941–1944. 55 000 Orthodox Karelians were included among the people Finland evacuated from Ladoga Karelia. These were mainly Karelian-speaking, but they and their descendants soon adopted the Finnish language after the war. Many of the evacuees have
emigrated, mainly to
Sweden, to
Australia and to
North America.
The Russian Karelians, living in the Republic of Karelia, are nowadays rapidly being absorbed into the Russian population. This process began several decades ago. For example, it has been estimated that even between the 1959 and 1970 Soviet censuses, nearly 30 percent of those who were enumerated as Karelian by self-identification in 1959 changed their self-identification to Russian 11 years later.
Language
The
Karelian language is closely related to the
Finnish language, and particularly by Finnish linguists seen as a
dialect of Finnish, although the variety spoken in East Karelia is usually seen as a proper language.
The dialect spoken in the
South Karelian region of Finland belongs to the South Eastern dialects of the Finnish language. The dialect spoken in the
Karelian Isthmus before
World War II and the
Ingrian dialect were also part of this dialect group. The dialect that is spoken in
North Karelia is considered to be one of the
Savonian dialects.
Religion
The Russian Karelians are
Eastern Orthodox Christians. Most Finnish Karelians are
Lutherans.
Demographics
Karelian women in
Sammatus, Russian Karelia.
Significant enclaves of Karelians exist in the
Tver oblast of
Russia,
resettled after Russia's defeat in 1617 against
Sweden — in order to escape the peril of forced
conversion to
Lutheranism in Swedish
Karelia and because the Russians promised tax deductions the Orthodox Karelians mass migrated there.
Olonets (Anus) is the only city in Russia where the Karelians form a majority (60% of the population).
Culture
The Karelian culture and language was a major inspiration for the
Fennoman movement, and the unification of
East Karelia with independent Finland (
Greater Finland) was a major political issue in 20th century Finland.
See also
