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 people native to
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 Est ...
. Small numbers can still be found in the western part of Ingria, between the
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
and
Neva
The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it ...
rivers in northwestern
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Although in English oftentimes sharing a common name with the
Finns of Ingria, these two groups are distinct from one another.
History
The history of the Izhorians is bound to the history of Ingria. It is supposed that shortly after 1000 AD the Izhorians moved from
Karelia
Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...
to the west and south-west. In 1478, the
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of m ...
, where Ingrians had settled, was united with the
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...
, and some of the Izhorians were transferred to the east. The establishment of
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in 1703 had a great influence on Izhorian culture.
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 ...
had the biggest impact on Izhorians, as devastating battles (such as the
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
) took place on their territory.
In 1848, P. von Köppen counted 17,800 Izhorians, and by 1926 there were 26,137 Izhorians in the
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
. In the 1959 census, however, only 1,100 Izhorians were counted in the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. In 1989, 820 self-designated Izhorians, 302 of whom were speakers of the
Ingrian language Ingrian can refer to:
*Of or pertaining to the region of Ingria
*The Ingrians, which can refer to:
** Ingrian Finns, descendants of Finnish immigrants to Ingria in the 17th century
** Izhorians, an indigenous people of Ingria
*The Ingrian languag ...
were registered. 449 Izhorians lived in the territory of the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. According to the
2002 Russian Census, there were 327 Izhorians in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, of whom 177 lived in
Leningrad oblast
Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, a ...
and 53 in St Petersburg. There were also 812 Izhorians in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
according to
Ukrainian Census (2001)
The Ukrainian Census of 2001 is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989. (more than in
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
altogether) and a further 358 Izhorians in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
.
Language
Their language, close to
Karelian, is used primarily by members of the older generation. Izhorian (also called Ingrian), along with
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 ...
,
Ludic
Ludic may refer to:
*Ludic language, a Finnic language in the Uralic language family
* Ludic fallacy, is "the misuse of games to model real-life situations."
* Ludic interface, are types of computer interface that are inherently "playful".
*Ludolo ...
, Karelian and
Vepsian
Veps, or Vepsians (Vepsian language, Veps: ''vepsläižed''), are a Baltic Finns, Finnic people who speak the Veps language, which belongs to the Finnic languages, Finnic branch of the Uralic languages.
According to the 2002 census, there were 8 ...
, belongs to the Northern
Finnic group of 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 ...
.
In 1932–1937, a Latin-based orthography for the Izhorian language existed, taught in schools of the
and the area around the mouth of the
Luga River
The Luga () is a river in Novgorodsky and Batetsky Districts of Novgorod Oblast and Luzhsky, Volosovsky, Slantsevsky, and Kingiseppsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast of Russia. The river flows into the Luga Bay of the Gulf of Finland. It free ...
.
Several textbooks were published including a grammar of the language in 1936. However, in 1937 the Izhorian written language was abolished.
Religion
The Izhorians and the
Votes are generally
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
, while the other
Baltic Finns
The Baltic Finnic or Balto-Finnic peoples, also referred to as the Baltic Sea Finns, Baltic Finns, sometimes Western Finnic and often simply as the Finnic peoples, are the peoples inhabiting the Baltic Sea region in Northern and Eastern Europe ...
inhabitanting Ingria, 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 ...
, are generally
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
. Some pre-Christian traditions exist also.
References
External links
Izhoriansin the ''
Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire ''The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire'' is a book about the small nations of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and Russia and some other post-Soviet states of today. It was published in Estonian in 1991 and in English in 2001.
T ...
''
Estonian National Museum
* V. Cherniavskij
*
ttps://virtual-ingrian.webnode.fi/ Virtual ingrian
{{authority control
*
Ethnic groups in Russia
Indigenous peoples of Europe