Finnskogen ("Forest of the Finns") is an area of

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 ...

and

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 ...

situated in the counties of

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...

and

Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are ''Va ...

respectively, so named because of immigration of

Finnish people Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...

in the 17th century, the so-called '' Skogfinner/"Forest Finns"''. The core area of Finnskogen lies in the eastern part of a small region known as

Solør Solør is a Norwegian traditional district consisting of the valley between Elverum in the north and Kongsvinger in the south. It is part of Innlandet county and it includes the municipalities Våler, Åsnes, and Grue. Glomma valley Glommadal ...

, on the border with

. It consists of a forested belt of land, about wide. It is adjacent to the Swedish region with similar Finnish immigration, named ''

Finnskogarna Finnskogen ("Forest of the Finns") is an area of Norway and Sweden situated in the counties of Innlandet and Värmland respectively, so named because of immigration of Finnish people in the 17th century, the so-called ''Forest Finns, Skogfinner/"For ...

''. There are also similar forested areas in other parts of eastern Norway,

Brandval Brandval is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1867 until its dissolution in 1964 when it became part of Kongsvinger Municipality. It was located in the ...

, Vinger Finnskog of Kongsvinger (Austmarka), Søre Osen,

Finnemarka Finnskogen ("Forest of the Finns") is an area of Norway and Sweden situated in the counties of Innlandet and Värmland respectively, so named because of immigration of Finnish people in the 17th century, the so-called '' Skogfinner/"Forest Finns"''. ...

near the city of

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...

and in

Nordmarka Nordmarka is the mostly forested region which makes up the northern part of Oslo, Norway. Nordmarka is the largest and most central part of Oslomarka. The area called Nordmarka also extends into the municipalities of Hole, Ringerike, Lunner, Je ...

just outside

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

History

Finns, or Finnish people, were encouraged to migrate from the Finnish part of the Kingdom of Sweden to

Sweden proper Sweden proper ( sv, Egentliga Sverige) is a term used to distinguish those territories that were fully integrated into the Kingdom of Sweden, as opposed to the dominions and possessions of, or states in union with, Sweden. Only the estates of t ...

, where they were initially well received by the Duke of Södermanland (who became King

Karl IX Charles IX, also Carl ( sv, Karl IX; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric X ...

(1604–1611). At the time, the kingdom of Sweden covered both Sweden and

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 ...

, as we know them today. The migrants were settled on crown lands in

and

Dalsland Dalsland () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Götaland in southern Sweden. Lying to the west of Lake Vänern, it is bordered by Värmland to the north, Västergötland to the southeast, Bohuslän to the west, and ...

to occupy the area immediately adjacent to the border with Denmark-Norway. More were encouraged to come to Sweden during the reign of

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

(1611–1632). The local Swedish peasants did not appreciate the immigrants, who lived by slash-burn agriculture (

svedjebruk 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 vegeta ...

), and tensions led to persecution. In 1636, a Swedish decree evicted all Finns who were not registered as taxpayers, which in practice amounted to an expulsion of most of the Finns. Most moved across the Norwegian border into

, forming a colony at Grue. The 1686 census indicates many there were born in Finland, but had been living in Sweden before eventually settling in Norway.''East Norway and Its Frontier'' by Frank Noel Stagg, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. 1956 Their loyalties during the

Hannibal War The Torstenson war, Hannibal controversy or Hannibal War ( no, Hannibalsfeiden) was a short period of conflict between Sweden and Denmark–Norway from 1643 to 1645 towards the end of the Thirty Years' War. The names refer to Swedish general Le ...

(1643–1645) were with Sweden and some were caught spying on Norwegian troops. In 1709, the Danish-Norwegian general Hausmann so distrusted them that he ordered they all be evacuated from Solør. The bailiff declined to evict them on the basis that they were subsistence farmers and so poor they would have starved if moved from the land they customarily used. By the 20th century, the blood had so intermingled that it was probably impossible to find inhabitants of pure Finnish descent in the Finnskogen. But in Grue, over a quarter of the place names are still in Finnish.

References

External links

The history of the Finnish culture in the south of Norway

The Finnskogen Travel association (Norwegian)
{{coord, 60, 40, N, 12, 25, E, source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title Geography of Innlandet History of Innlandet 17th century in Norway Värmland