Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a
Baltic Finnic ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
native to
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these countries as well as those who have resettled. Some of these may be classified as separate ethnic groups, rather than subgroups of Finns. These include the
Kvens and
Forest Finns
Forest Finns ( fi, Metsäsuomalaiset, Norwegian bokmål: ''Skogfinner'', Norwegian nynorsk: ''Skogfinnar'', sv, Skogsfinnar) were Finnish migrants from Savonia and Northern Tavastia in Finland who settled in forest areas of Sweden proper and N ...
in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, the
Tornedalians
The Tornedalians are descendants of Finns who, at some point, settled to the areas of today's Northern Sweden near the Torne Valley district and west from there.
History
Tornedalians migrated from today's Southern Finland, mainly from Häme and ...
in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, and the
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...
in Russia.
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
, the language spoken by Finns, is closely related to other
Balto-Finnic languages, e.g.
Estonian and
Karelian. The Finnic languages are a subgroup of the larger
Uralic family of languages, which also includes
Hungarian. These languages are markedly different from most other languages spoken in Europe, which belong to the
Indo-European family of languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the languages of Europe, overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English language, Englis ...
. Native Finns can also be divided according to dialect into subgroups sometimes called ''
heimo Heimo is a German and Finnish male given name. Notable people with this name include:
* Heimo Erbse (1924–2005), German composer
* Heimo Haitto (1925–1999), Finnish-American violinist
* Heimo Hecht (born 1961), Austrian sailor
* Heimo Korth ...
'' (lit. ''tribe''), although such divisions have become less important due to internal migration.
Today, there are approximately 6–7 million ethnic Finns and their descendants worldwide, with the majority of them living in their native Finland and the surrounding countries, namely
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, Russia and Norway. An overseas Finnish diaspora has long been established in the countries of the Americas and Oceania, with the population of primarily immigrant background, namely
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, Brazil and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Subgroups
The
Population Register Centre maintains information on the birthplace, citizenship and mother tongue of the people living in Finland, but does not specifically categorize any as Finns by
ethnicity.
Balto-Finnic peoples
The majority of people living in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
consider Finnish to be their first language. According to
Statistics Finland
Statistics Finland ( fi, Tilastokeskus, sv, Statistikcentralen) is the national statistical institution in Finland, established in 1865 to serve as an information service and to provide statistics and expertise in the statistical sciences. The i ...
, of the country's total population of 5,503,297 at the end of 2016, 88.3% (or 4,857,795) considered Finnish to be their native language. It is not known how many of the ethnic Finns living outside Finland speak Finnish as their first language.
In addition to the
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
-speaking inhabitants of Finland, the
Kvens (people of Finnish descent in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
), the
Tornedalians
The Tornedalians are descendants of Finns who, at some point, settled to the areas of today's Northern Sweden near the Torne Valley district and west from there.
History
Tornedalians migrated from today's Southern Finland, mainly from Häme and ...
(people of Finnish descent in northernmost Sweden), and the
Karelians
Karelians ( krl, karjalaižet, karjalazet, karjalaiset, Finnish: , sv, kareler, karelare, russian: Карелы) are a Finnic ethnic group who are indigenous to the historical region of Karelia, which is today split between Finland and Russi ...
in the historic Finnish province of
Karelia and Evangelical Lutheran
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...
(both in the northwestern Russian Federation), as well as Finnish expatriates in various countries, are Baltic Finns.
Finns have been traditionally divided into sub-groups (''heimot'' in Finnish) along regional, dialectical or ethnographical lines. These subgroups include the people of
Finland Proper
Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regi ...
(''varsinaissuomalaiset''),
Satakunta
Satakunta (in both Finnish and Swedish, ) is a region ( / ) of Finland, part of the former Western Finland Province. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia and Ostrobothnia. The capital city of the region ...
(''satakuntalaiset''),
Tavastia (''hämäläiset''),
Savonia (''savolaiset''),
Karelia (''karjalaiset'') and
Ostrobothnia (''pohjalaiset''). These sub-groups express regional self-identity with varying frequency and significance.
There are a number of distinct
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
s (''murre'' s. ''murteet'' pl. in Finnish) of the
Finnish language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...
spoken in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, although the exclusive use of the standard
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
(''yleiskieli'')—both in its formal written (kirjakieli) and more casual spoken (puhekieli) form—in Finnish schools, in the media, and in popular culture, along with internal migration and urbanization, have considerably diminished the use of regional varieties, especially since the middle of the 20th century. Historically, there were three dialects: the South-Western (''Lounaismurteet''), Tavastian (''Hämeen murre''), and
Karelian (''Karjalan murre''). These and neighboring languages mixed with each other in various ways as the population spread out, and evolved into the
Southern Ostrobothnia
South Ostrobothnia ( fi, Etelä-Pohjanmaa; sv, Södra Österbotten) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South ...
n (''Etelä-Pohjanmaan murre''),
Central Ostrobothnian (''Keski-Pohjanmaan murre''),
Northern Ostrobothnia
North Ostrobothnia ( fi, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa; sv, Norra Österbotten) is a region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland, Kainuu, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of Karelia. ...
n (''Pohjois-Pohjanmaan murre''), Far-Northern (''Peräpohjolan murre''),
Savonian (''Savon murre''), and South-Eastern (''Kaakkois-Suomen murteet'') aka
South Karelia
South Karelia ( fi, Etelä-Karjala; sv, Södra Karelen) is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Kymenlaakso, South Savo and North Karelia, as well as Russia (Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast).
Historical province
''For his ...
n (''Karjalan murre'') dialects.
Sweden Finns
The
Sweden Finns
Sweden Finns ( fi, ruotsinsuomalaiset; sv, sverigefinnar) are a Finnish-speaking national minority in Sweden.
People with Finnish heritage comprise a relatively large share of the population of Sweden. In addition to a smaller part of Sweden F ...
are either native to Sweden or have emigrated from Finland to Sweden. An estimated 450,000 first- or second-generation immigrants from Finland live in Sweden, of which approximately half speak
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
. The majority moved from Finland to Sweden following the Second World War, contributing and taking advantage of the rapidly expanding
Swedish economy. This emigration peaked in 1970 and has been declining since. There is also a native Finnish-speaking minority in Sweden, the
Tornedalians
The Tornedalians are descendants of Finns who, at some point, settled to the areas of today's Northern Sweden near the Torne Valley district and west from there.
History
Tornedalians migrated from today's Southern Finland, mainly from Häme and ...
in the border area in the extreme north of Sweden. The Finnish language has official status as one of five
minority languages in Sweden
In 1999, the Minority Language Committee of Sweden formally declared five official minority languages: Finnish, Sami, Romani, Yiddish, and Meänkieli (Tornedal Finnish).
The Swedish language dominates commercial and cultural life in Sweden but d ...
, but only in the five northernmost municipalities in Sweden.
Other groups
The term Finns is also used for other
Baltic Finns, including
Izhorians
The Izhorians (russian: Ижо́ра; ижо́рцы; fi, inkerikot; et, isurid; sg. ''ižoralain'', ''inkeroin'', ''ižora'', ''ingermans'', ''ingers'', ''ingrian'', pl. ''ižoralaizet''), along with the Votes, are a Finnic indigenous peopl ...
in
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern European Russia. It lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with Esto ...
, Karelians in
Karelia and
Veps in the former
Veps National Volost Veps National Volost (russian: Ве́псская национа́льная во́лость, ''Vepsskaya natsionalnaya volost''; vep, Vepsän rahvahaline volost’) was a municipal autonomy (a ''volost'') of North Vepses in Prionezhsky District ...
, all in Russia. Among these groups, the Karelians is the most populous one, followed by the
Ingrians
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish people, Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), des ...
. According to a 2002 census, it was found that Ingrians also identify with Finnish ethnic identity, referring to themselves as
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...
.
Terminology
The Finnish term for Finns is ''suomalaiset'' (sing. ''suomalainen'').
It is a matter of debate how best to designate the Finnish-speakers of Sweden, all of whom have migrated to Sweden from Finland. Terms used include ''Sweden Finns'' and ''
Finnish Swedes
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic bra ...
'', with a distinction almost always made between more recent Finnish immigrants, most of whom have arrived after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and
Tornedalians
The Tornedalians are descendants of Finns who, at some point, settled to the areas of today's Northern Sweden near the Torne Valley district and west from there.
History
Tornedalians migrated from today's Southern Finland, mainly from Häme and ...
, who have lived along what is now the Swedish-Finnish border since the 15th century. The term "Finn" occasionally also has the meaning "a member of a people speaking Finnish or a Finnic language".
Etymology
![Gallen-Kallela Allmogelif](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Gallen-Kallela_Allmogelif.jpg)
Historical references to Northern Europe are scarce, and the names given to its peoples and geographic regions are obscure; therefore, the etymologies of the names are questionable. Such names as ''
Fenni'', ''
Phinnoi
The Fenni were an ancient people of northeastern Europe, first described by Cornelius Tacitus in ''Germania'' in AD 98.
Ancient accounts
The Fenni are first mentioned by Cornelius Tacitus in ''Germania'' in 98 A.D. Their location is uncert ...
'', ''Finnum'', and ''Skrithfinni'' / ''Scridefinnum'' appear in a few written texts starting from about two millennia ago in association with peoples located in a northern part of Europe, but the real meaning of these terms is debatable. It has been suggested that this non-
Uralic
The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...
ethnonym is of
Germanic language
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, E ...
origin and related to such words as ''finthan'' (
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
) 'find', 'notice'; (Old High German) 'check', 'try'; and ''fendo'' (Old High German) and ''vende'' (Old Middle German) 'pedestrian', 'wanderer'.
Another etymological interpretation associates this ethnonym with ''fen'' in a more toponymical approach. Yet another theory postulates that the words ''finn'' and ''kven''
are cognates. The Icelandic
Eddas
"Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been attributed by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poems ...
and
Norse sagas
is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to t ...
(11th to 14th centuries), some of the oldest written sources probably originating from the closest proximity, use words like ''finnr'' and ''finnas'' inconsistently. However, most of the time they seem to mean northern dwellers with a mobile life style. An etymological link between the Sami and the Finns exists in modern
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...
as well. It has been proposed that e.g. the toponyms ''
Sápmi
(, smj, Sábme / Sámeednam, sma, Saepmie, sju, Sábmie, , , sjd, Са̄мь е̄ммьне, Saam' jiemm'n'e) is the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. Sápmi is in Northern and Eastern Europe and includes the ...
'' (Sami for Lapland), ''Suomi'' (Finnish for Finland), and ''Häme'' (Finnish for
Tavastia) are of the same origin,
the source of which might be related to the proto-
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
word ''*žeme'' /
Slavic ''земля (zemlja)'' meaning 'land'.
It has been proposed that these designations started to mean specifically people in Southwestern Finland (
Finland Proper
Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regi ...
, Varsinais-Suomi) and later the whole area of modern Finland. But it is not known how, why, and when this occurred.
Petri Kallio has suggested that the name ''Suomi'' may bear even earlier Indo-European echoes with the original meaning of either "land" or "human".
The first known mention of Finns is in the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
poem
Widsith
"Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...
which was compiled in the 10th century, though its contents is probably older. Among the first written sources possibly designating western Finland as the land of Finns are also two
rune stones
A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...
. One of these is in Söderby, Sweden, with the inscription ''finlont'' (
U 582), and the other is in
Gotland, a Swedish
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, with the inscription ''finlandi'' (
G 319 M) dating from the 11th century.
History
Origins
Like other Western Uralic and Baltic Finnic peoples, Finns originate between the
Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...
,
Oka
Oka or OKA may refer to:
Cars
* Oka (automobile), a small car designed by AvtoVAZ and produced by ZMA and SeAZ
* OKA 4wd, a large 4-wheel-drive vehicle made in Western Australia by OKA
Military
* 2B1 Oka, Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mor ...
and
Kama
''Kama'' (Sanskrit ) means "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsकाम, kāmaMonier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, pp 271, see 3rd column Kama often connotes sensual pleasure, sexual ...
rivers in what is now Russia. The genetic basis of future Finns also emerged in this area. There have been at least two noticeable waves of migration to the west by the ancestors of Finns. They began to move upstream of the
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...
and from there to the upper reaches of the
Väinäjoki (Daugava), from where they eventually moved along the river towards the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
in 1250–1000 years BC. The second wave of migration brought the main group of ancestors of Finns from the Baltic Sea to the southwest coast of Finland in the 8th century BC.
During the 80–100 generations of the migration, Finnish language changed its form, although it retained its
Finno-Ugric
Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ba ...
roots. Material culture also changed during the transition, although the Baltic Finnic culture that formed on the shores of the Baltic Sea constantly retained its roots in a way that distinguished it from its neighbors.
Finnish material culture became independent of the wider Baltic Finnic culture in the 6th and 7th centuries, and by the turn of the 8th century the culture of metal objects that had prevailed in Finland had developed in its own way.
The same era can be considered to be broadly the date of the birth of the independent Finnish language, although its prehistory, like other Baltic Finnic languages, extends far into the past.
Language
![Väinämöisen soitto1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/V%C3%A4in%C3%A4m%C3%B6isen_soitto1.jpg)
Just as uncertain are the possible mediators and the timelines for the development of the Uralic majority language of the Finns. On the basis of comparative linguistics, it has been suggested that the separation of the
Finnic and the
Sami languages took place during the 2nd millennium BC, and that the
Proto-Uralic
Proto-Uralic is the unattested reconstructed language ancestral to the modern Uralic language family. The hypothetical language is believed to have been originally spoken in a small area in about 7000–2000 BCE, and expanded to give different ...
roots of the entire language group date from about the 6th to the 8th millennium BC. When the
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...
were first spoken in the area of contemporary Finland is debated. It is thought that
Proto-Finnic
Proto-Finnic or Proto-Baltic-Finnic is the common ancestor of the Finnic languages, which include the national languages Finnish and Estonian. Proto-Finnic is not attested in any texts, but has been reconstructed by linguists. Proto-Finnic is it ...
(the proto-language of the
Finnic languages
The Finnic (''Fennic'') or more precisely Balto-Finnic (Balto-Fennic, Baltic Finnic, Baltic Fennic) languages constitute a branch of the Uralic language family spoken around the Baltic Sea by the Baltic Finnic peoples. There are around 7 mi ...
) was not spoken in modern Finland, because the maximum divergence of the daughter languages occurs in modern-day Estonia. Therefore, Finnish was already a separate language when arriving in Finland. Furthermore, the traditional Finnish lexicon has a large number of words (about one-third) without a known etymology, hinting at the existence of a disappeared
Paleo-European language
The Paleo-European languages, or Old European languages, are the mostly unknown languages that were spoken in Europe prior to the spread of the Indo-European and Uralic families caused by the Bronze Age invasion from the Eurasian steppe of past ...
; these include toponyms such as ''niemi'' "peninsula". Because the Finnish language itself reached a written form only in the 16th century, little primary data remains of early Finnish life. For example, the origins of such cultural icons as the
sauna
A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
, and the
kantele
A kantele () or kannel () is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the south east Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Estonian kannel, Latvian kokles, Lithuania ...
(an instrument of the zither family) have remained rather obscure.
Livelihood
![Raatajat rahanalaiset](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Raatajat_rahanalaiset.JPG)
Agriculture supplemented by fishing and hunting has been the traditional livelihood among Finns.
Slash-and-burn agriculture
Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...
was practiced in the forest-covered east by Eastern Finns up to the 19th century. Agriculture, along with the language, distinguishes Finns from the
Sami
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
, who retained the hunter-gatherer lifestyle longer and moved to coastal fishing and
reindeer herding
Reindeer herding is when reindeer are herded by people in a limited area. Currently, reindeer are the only semi-domesticated animal which naturally belongs to the North. Reindeer herding is conducted in nine countries: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Rus ...
. Following industrialization and modernization of Finland, most Finns were urbanized and employed in modern service and manufacturing occupations, with agriculture becoming a minor employer (see
Economy of Finland
The economy of Finland is a highly industrialised, mixed economy with a per capita output similar to that of western European economies such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The largest sector of Finland's economy is services at 72.7 p ...
).
Religion
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
spread to Finland from the Medieval times onward and original native traditions of
Finnish paganism
Finnish paganism is the indigenous pagan religion in Finland and Karelia prior to Christianisation. It was a polytheistic religion, worshipping a number of different deities. The principal god was the god of thunder and the sky, Ukko; other ...
have become extinct. Finnish paganism combined various layers of Finnic, Norse, Germanic and Baltic paganism. Finnic ''Jumala'' was some sort of sky-god and is shared with Estonia. Belief of a thunder-god,
Ukko
Ukko (), Äijä or Äijö ( Finnish for 'male grandparent', 'grandfather', 'old man'), parallel to Uku in Estonian mythology, is the god of the sky, weather, harvest and thunder in Finnish mythology.
Ukkonen, the Finnish word for thunder, ...
or
Perkele, may have Baltic origins. Elements had their own protectors, such as
Ahti
In Finnish mythology, Ahti () is a heroic character in folk poetry who is sometimes given the epithet Saarelainen (, "Islander").
Ahto is a Finnish sea god.
The connection between the hero Ahti and the god Ahto, if any, is unclear.
Descript ...
for waterways and
Tapio for forests. Local animistic deities, "haltia", which resemble Scandinavian
tomte
A (, ), tomte (), , or () is a mythological creature from Nordic folklore today typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. They are generally described as being short, having a long white beard, and wearing a co ...
, were also given offerings to, and
bear worship was also known.
Finnish neopaganism or "suomenusko" attempts to revive these traditions.
Christianity was introduced to Finns and Karelians from the east, in the form of Eastern Orthodoxy from the Medieval times onwards. However, Swedish kings
conquered western parts of Finland in the late 13th century, imposing
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
.
Reformation in Sweden
The Reformation in Sweden is generally regarded as having begun in 1527 during the reign of King Gustav I of Sweden, but the process was slow and did not end definitively until the Uppsala Synod of 1593 and the following War against Sigismund, wit ...
had the important effect that bishop
Mikael Agricola
Mikael Agricola (; c. 1510 – 9 April 1557) was a Finnish Lutheran clergyman who became the de facto founder of literary Finnish and a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, including Finland, which was a Swedish territo ...
, a student of
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
's, introduced written Finnish, and literacy became common during the 18th century. When Finland became independent, it was overwhelmingly
Lutheran Protestant. A small number of Eastern Orthodox Finns were also included, thus the Finnish government recognized both religions as "national religions". In 2017 70.9% of the population of Finland belonged to the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; sv, Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal positio ...
, 1.1% to the
Finnish Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko, lit=Finnish Orthodox Church; sv, Ortodoxa kyrkan i Finland, lit=Orthodox Church in Finland; ) is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Const ...
, 1.6% to other religious groups and 26.3% had
no religious affiliation. Whereas, in Russian Ingria, there were both Lutheran and Orthodox Finns; the former were identified as
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...
while the latter were considered
Izhorians
The Izhorians (russian: Ижо́ра; ижо́рцы; fi, inkerikot; et, isurid; sg. ''ižoralain'', ''inkeroin'', ''ižora'', ''ingermans'', ''ingers'', ''ingrian'', pl. ''ižoralaizet''), along with the Votes, are a Finnic indigenous peopl ...
or
Karelians
Karelians ( krl, karjalaižet, karjalazet, karjalaiset, Finnish: , sv, kareler, karelare, russian: Карелы) are a Finnic ethnic group who are indigenous to the historical region of Karelia, which is today split between Finland and Russi ...
.
Subdivisions
Finns are traditionally assumed to originate from two different populations speaking different dialects of Proto-Finnic (''kantasuomi''). Thus, a division into Western Finnish and Eastern Finnish is made. Further, there are subgroups, traditionally called ''heimo'', according to dialects and local culture. Although ostensibly based on late
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
settlement patterns, the have been constructed according to dialect during the rise of
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
in the 19th century.
* Western
** Southwest Finland and Satakunta:
Finns proper
Finns proper ( fi, Varsinaissuomalaiset, sv, Egentliga Finnar) are a historic people and a modern subgroup (heimo) of the Finnish people. They live in the areas of the historical province of Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi) and Satakunta, and ...
(''varsinaissuomalaiset)''
**
Tavastia:
Tavastians
Tavastians ( fi, Hämäläiset, sv, Tavaster, russian: Емь, Yem, Yam) are a historic people and a modern subgroup (heimo) of the Finnish people. They live in areas of the historical province of Tavastia (Häme) and speak Tavastian dialects ...
(''hämäläiset'')
**
Ostrobothnia:
Ostrobothnians
Ostrobothnians ( fi, Pohjalaiset) are a Finnish tribes, subgroup (''Heimo'') of the Finns, Finnish people who live in the historical province of Ostrobothnia (historical province), Ostrobothnia in the northwestern parts of Finland.
History
Ost ...
(''pohjalaiset'')
***Southern Ostrobothnians (''eteläpohjalaiset'')
***Central Ostrobothnians (''keskipohjalaiset'')
***Northern Ostrobothnians (''pohjoispohjalaiset'')
** Lapland: Lapland Finns (''lappilaiset'')
* Eastern
** Karelia:
Finnish Karelians (''karjalaiset''); Karelian dialects of Finnish are distinct from the
Karelian language
Karelian (North Karelian and Livvi Karelian: ; Ludic: ; Tver Karelian: ) is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically, Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland, and ...
spoken in Russia, and most of North Karelia actually speak
Savonian dialects
The Savonian dialects (also called Savo Finnish)( fi, Savolaismurteet) are forms of the Finnish language spoken in Savonia and other parts of Eastern Finland. Finnish dialects are grouped broadly into Eastern and Western varieties; Savonian diale ...
** Savonia:
Savonians
Savonians ( fi, Savolaiset, Savonian: ''Savolaaset'', ''Savolaeset'') are a subgroup ( ''heimo'') of the Finnish people who live in the areas of the historical province of Savonia.
History
Savonians are descendants of Tavastian and Kareli ...
(''savolaiset'')
** Kainuu:
Kainuu Finns (''kainuulaiset'')
* Finnish minority groups outside Finland
**
Tornedalians
The Tornedalians are descendants of Finns who, at some point, settled to the areas of today's Northern Sweden near the Torne Valley district and west from there.
History
Tornedalians migrated from today's Southern Finland, mainly from Häme and ...
(''länsipohjalaiset'') of Norrbotten, Sweden
**
Forest Finns
Forest Finns ( fi, Metsäsuomalaiset, Norwegian bokmål: ''Skogfinner'', Norwegian nynorsk: ''Skogfinnar'', sv, Skogsfinnar) were Finnish migrants from Savonia and Northern Tavastia in Finland who settled in forest areas of Sweden proper and N ...
(''metsäsuomalaiset'') of Sweden and Norway
**
Kvens (''kveenit'') of Finnmark, Norway
**
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...
(''inkerinsuomalaiset'') of Ingria, Russia
* Finnish diaspora (''ulkosuomalaiset'')
**
Sweden Finns
Sweden Finns ( fi, ruotsinsuomalaiset; sv, sverigefinnar) are a Finnish-speaking national minority in Sweden.
People with Finnish heritage comprise a relatively large share of the population of Sweden. In addition to a smaller part of Sweden F ...
(''ruotsinsuomalaiset''), Finnish minority in Sweden
The
historical provinces of Finland
The historical provinces ( fi, historialliset maakunnat, singular ''historiallinen maakunta'', sv, historiska landskap) of Finland are a legacy of the country's joint history with Sweden. The provinces ceased to be administrative entities in 163 ...
can be seen to approximate some of these divisions. The
regions of Finland
Finland is divided into 19 regions ( fi, maakunta; sv, landskap)., smn, eennâmkodde, and sms, mäddkåʹdd.
The regions are governed by regional councils that serve as forums of cooperation for the Municipalities of Finland, municipalities ...
, another remnant of a past governing system, can be seen to reflect a further manifestation of a local identity.
Journalist toured Finland in 1984 and looked into people's traditional and contemporary understanding of the ''heimos'', listing them as follows: Tavastians (''hämäläiset''), Ostrobothnians (''pohjalaiset''), Lapland Finns (''lappilaiset''), Finns proper (''varsinaissuomalaiset''), Savonians (''savolaiset''), Kainuu Finns (''kainuulaiset''), and Finnish Karelians (''karjalaiset'').
Today's (urbanized) Finns are not usually aware of the concept of 'heimo', nor do they typically identify with one, although the use of dialects has experienced a recent revival. Urbanized Finns do not necessarily know a particular dialect and tend to use standard Finnish or city slang, but they may switch to a dialect when visiting their native area.
Genetics
![European genetic structure (based on SNPs) PC analysis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/European_genetic_structure_%28based_on_SNPs%29_PC_analysis.png)
The use of
mitochondrial "mtDNA" (female lineage) and
Y-chromosomal "Y-DNA" (male lineage) DNA-markers in tracing back the history of human populations has been gaining ground in ethnographic studies of Finnish people (e.g. the National Geographic Genographic Project
and the Suomi DNA-projekti.)
Haplogroup U5 is estimated to be the oldest major mtDNA haplogroup in Europe and is found in the whole of Europe at a low frequency, but seems to be found in significantly higher levels among Finns,
Estonians
Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language.
The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to oth ...
and the
Sami people.
The older population of European
hunter-gatherer
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
s that lived across large parts of Europe before the early farmers appeared are outside the genetic variation of modern populations, but most similar to Finns.
With regard to the Y-chromosome, the most common haplogroups of the Finns are
N1c (59%),
I1a (28%),
R1a (5%) and
R1b (3.5%).
N1c, which is found mainly in a few countries in Europe (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Russia), is a subgroup of the
haplogroup N distributed across northern Eurasia and suggested to have entered Europe from Siberia.
Variation within Finns is, according to
fixation index
The fixation index (FST) is a measure of population differentiation due to genetic structure. It is frequently estimated from genetic polymorphism data, such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) or microsatellites. Developed as a special case o ...
(F
ST) values, greater than anywhere else in Europe. Greatest intra-Finnish F
ST distance is found about 60, greatest intra-Swedish F
ST distance about 25.
F
ST distances between for example Germans, French and Hungarians is only 10, and between Estonians, Russians and Poles it is also 10. Thus Finns from different parts of the country are more remote from each other genetically compared to many European peoples between themselves. The closest genetic relatives for Finns are Estonians (F
ST to Helsinki 40 and to Kuusamo 90) and Swedes (F
ST to Helsinki 50 and to Kuusamo 100). The F
ST values given here are actual values multiplied by 10,000. The great intra-Finnish (F
ST) distance between Western Finns and Eastern Finns
supports the theorized dual origin of the Finns based on the regional distribution of the two major Y-DNA haplogroups, N1c in
Eastern Finland
Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen lääni, sv, Östra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia to the east.
History
On Septemb ...
and I1a in
Western Finland
Western Finland ( fi, Länsi-Suomen lääni, sv, Västra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. ...
.
A study on the Finnish genome found that Finns are not only more homogenous compared to other Europeans, but also that they are genetically distinct from their neighboring populations and form outliers in the genetic variation within Europe.
Autosomal genetic analyses have found that Finns, apart from their genome being mostly
Northern European, also share up to 10% of their genes with
Siberian populations. The specific Siberian-like ancestry is suggested to have arrived in Northern Europe during the early
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
, linked to the arrival of
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...
.
Theories of the origins of Finns
![Fenno-Ugrian people](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Fenno-Ugrian_people.png)
In the 19th century, the Finnish researcher
Matthias Castrén
Matthias Alexander Castrén (2 December 1813 – 7 May 1852) was a Finnish Swedish ethnologist and philologist who was a pioneer in the study of the Uralic languages. He was an educator, author and linguist at the University of Helsinki. Castré ...
prevailed with the theory that "the original home of Finns" was in west-central
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
.
Until the 1970s, most linguists believed that Finns arrived in Finland as late as the first century AD. However, accumulating archaeological data suggests that the area of contemporary Finland had been inhabited continuously since the end of the
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
, contrary to the earlier idea that the area had experienced long uninhabited intervals. The
hunter-gatherer
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
Sami
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
were pushed into the more remote northern regions.
[Aikio, A & Aikio, A. (2001). Heimovaelluksista jatkuvuuteen – suomalaisen väestöhistorian tutkimuksen pirstoutuminen. ''Muinaistutkija'' 4/2001. Retrieved 1-7-2008](_blank)
A hugely controversial theory is so-called ''refugia''. This was proposed in the 1990s by
Kalevi Wiik
Kaino Kalevi Wiik (2 August 1932, Turku — 12 September 2015, Turku) was a professor of phonetics at the University of Turku, Finland. He was best known for his controversial hypothesis about the effect of the Uralic contact influence on the cr ...
, a professor emeritus of
phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
at the
University of Turku
sv, Åbo universitet
, latin_name = Universitas Aboensis
, image_name = University of Turku.svg
, motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle''
, established = 1920
, type ...
. According to this theory, Finno-Ugric speakers spread north as the
Ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
ended. They populated central and northern Europe, while
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
speakers populated western Europe. As agriculture spread from the southeast into Europe, the Indo-European languages spread among the hunter-gatherers. In this process, both the hunter-gatherers speaking Finno-Ugric and those speaking Basque learned how to cultivate land and ''became'' Indo-Europeanized. According to Wiik, this is how the
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
,
Germanic,
Slavic, and
Baltic languages
The Baltic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 4.5 million people mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. Together with the Slavic lang ...
were formed. The linguistic ancestors of modern Finns did not switch their language due to their isolated location. The main supporters of Wiik's theory are Professor Ago Künnap of the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
, Professor Kyösti Julku of the
University of Oulu
The University of Oulu ( fi, Oulun yliopisto) is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's P ...
and Associate Professor Angela Marcantonio of the
University of Rome. Wiik has not presented his theories in peer-reviewed scientific publications. Many scholars in Finno-Ugrian studies have strongly criticized the theory. Professor Raimo Anttila, Petri Kallio and brothers Ante and Aslak Aikio have rejected Wiik's theory with strong words, hinting strongly to
pseudoscience
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or falsifiability, unfa ...
and even alt right-wing political
bias
Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...
es among Wiik's supporters.
Moreover, some dismissed the entire idea of refugia, due to the existence even today of arctic and subarctic peoples. The most heated debate took place in the Finnish journal ''Kaltio'' during autumn 2002. Since then, the debate has calmed, each side retaining their positions. Genotype analyses across the greater European genetic landscape have provided some credibility to the theory of the
Last Glacial Maximum refugia
Last Glacial Maximum refugia were places ('' refugia'') in which humans and other species survived during the Last Glacial Period in the Northern Hemisphere, around 25,000 to 20,000 years ago.
Sub-Saharan Africa and Australia were not affected ...
.
But this does not in any way corroborate or prove that these 'refugia' spoke Uralic/Finnic, as it belies wholly independent variables that are not necessarily coeval (i.e. language spreads and genetic expansions can occur independently, at different times and in different directions).
See also
*
Demographics of Finland
*
Finnic (disambiguation)
Finnic or Fennic may refer to:
* Finnic culture
* Finnic languages
** Baltic Finnic languages
* Finnic peoples
** Baltic Finnic peoples commonly referred to as just Finnic in a Western context, are the Finnic peoples historically inhabiting the ...
*
Finnish (disambiguation)
*
Finnish language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...
*
Finnish Americans
Finnish Americans ( fi, amerikansuomalaiset, ) comprise Americans with ancestral roots from Finland or Finnish people who immigrated to and reside in the United States. The Finnish-American population numbers a little bit more than 650,000. Ma ...
*
Finnish Brazilians
*
Finnish Canadians
Finnish Canadians are Canadian citizens of Finnish ancestry or Finns who emigrated to and reside in Canada. In 2016, 143,645 Canadians claimed Finnish ancestry. Finns started coming to Canada in the early 1880s, and in much larger numbers in the e ...
*
Finnish Australians
Finnish Australians ( fi, Australiansuomalaiset) are Australian citizens of Finnish ancestry or Finland-born people who reside in Australia. According to Finnish estimates, there are approximately 30,000 Australians of Finnish ancestry, and about ...
*
Finnish immigration to North America
Finnish Americans ( fi, amerikansuomalaiset, ) comprise Americans with ancestral roots from Finland or Finns, Finnish people who immigrated to and reside in the United States. The Finnish-American population numbers a little bit more than 650,0 ...
*
List of Finns
This is a list of notable people from Finland. Finland is a Nordic country located between Sweden, Norway and Russia.
Actors
*Ida Aalberg (1858–1915)
* Miica Patrick Johannes Ruohonen
*Jouko Ahola
* Joalin Loukamaa
*Olavi Ahonen
*Irina Bjö ...
Explanatory notes
References
External links
Finnish Colony of Penedo, BrazilFTDNA Finland Geographic DNA ProjectThe Finnish Heritage Museum of Fairport Harbor, OhioFolktingetFinno-Ugric media center
{{Authority control
Ethnic groups in Finland
Ethnic groups in Sápmi
Baltic Finns