Coordinates: 63°N 32°E

Karelia

Flags of Karelia

The two flags of Karelia, the nationalist flag (left, with cross) and the official flag of the Russian Republic of
Karelia (right, with bars)

Coat of arms of Karelia

The two coats of arms of Karelia, the Finnish one (left, with crown) and the Russian one (right, with bear)

Karelia (Karelian and Finnish: Karjala, Finnish pronunciation:  [ˈkɑrjɑlɑ]; Russian: Каре́лия, tr.
Karélija, IPA:  [kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə], historically Корела Korjela; Swedish: Karelen), the land of the Karelian
people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet
era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currently divided between northwestern Russia (specifically the
federal subjects of the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast) and Finland (the regions of South
Karelia, North Karelia, and the eastern portion of modern-day Kymenlaakso).

Contents
Use of name
Geography
Inhabited localities
History
Politics
Demographics
Culture
Tourism
See also
References
Sources
Further reading
External links

Use of name
Various subdivisions may be called Karelia. Finnish Karelia was
a historical province of Finland, and is now divided between
Finland and Russia, often called just Karjala in Finnish. The
eastern part of this chiefly Lutheran area was ceded to Russia
after the Winter War of 1939–40.

The Republic of Karelia is a Russian federal subject, including

East Karelia with a chiefly Russian Orthodox population.

Within present-day Finland, Karjala refers to the regions of

South and North Karelia, although parts of historical Karelia
also lie within the region of Kymenlaakso (east of the River
Kymi), Northern Savonia (Kaavi, Rautavaara and Säyneinen)
and Southern Savonia (Mäntyharju).

Geography
Karelia stretches from the White Sea coast to the Gulf of Parts of Karelia, as they are divided
Finland. It contains the two largest lakes in Europe, Lake today
Ladoga and Lake Onega. The Karelian Isthmus is located
between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga. The highest
point of Karelia, the 576 metres (1,890  ft) high Nuorunen, is
located in the Russian side of the Maanselka hill region.[1]

The border between Karelia and Ingria, the land of the closely
related Ingrian people, had originally been the Neva River itself
but later on it was moved northward into Karelian isthmus to
follow the Sestra River (Russian: Сестра), today in the Saint
Petersburg metropolitan area, but in 1812–1940 the Russo-
Finnish border.

On the other side of Lake Ladoga, the River Svir is usually

thought of as the traditional southern border of Karelian
territory while Lake Onega and the White Sea mark the Eastern
border. The River Kymi marks the historic western border of
Karelian territory as it served as the boundary between the
Kizhi Pogost, one of many fine
Häme Finns and the Karelians during the Middle Ages.[2] The
examples of wooden architecture
River Kymi is also said to have formed a boundary between the
surviving on Kizhi island.
eastern and western cultural spheres by the beginning of the
Bronze Age at the latest.[3] In the North lived the nomadic
Samis, but there were no natural borders except for large wooded areas (taiga) and the tundra.

In historical texts Karelia is sometimes divided into East Karelia and West Karelia, which are also
called Russian Karelia and Finnish Karelia respectively. The area to the north of Lake Ladoga
which belonged to Finland before World War II is called Ladoga Karelia, and the parishes on the
old pre-war border are sometimes called Border Karelia. White Sea Karelia (sometimes the Finnish
or Karelian term "Viena Karelia", or in some English-language sources, "White Karelia", is used) is
the northern part of East Karelia and Olonets Karelia is the southern part.
Tver Karelia denotes the villages in the Tver Oblast that are
inhabited by Tver Karelians.

Inhabited localities
Republic of Karelia
Petrozavodsk (Петрозаводск, Petroskoi, from late
1941 to 1944 known as Äänislinna/Onegaborg to Finns)
Belomorsk (Беломорск, Sorokka)
Medvežyegorsk (Медвежьегорск, Karhumäki)
Kalevala (Калевала, Uhtua)
Kem (Кемь, Vienan Kemi, compare with Kemi)
Kostomukša (Костомукша, Kostamus)
Kondopoga (Кондопога, Kontupohja)
Sortavala (Сортавала, Sortavala, Sordavala) East Karelia and West Karelia with
borders of 1939 and 1940–1947.
Suojarvi (Суоярви, Suojärvi)
They are also known as Russian
Segeža (Сегежа, Sekehe)
Karelia and Finnish Karelia
Pitkjaranta (Питкяранта, Pitkäranta) respectively.
Olonec (Олонец, Aunus)
Karelian Isthmus
Vyborg (Выборг, Viipuri, Viborg)
Priozersk (Приозерск, Käkisalmi/Kexholm)
Svetogorsk (Светого́рск, Enso)
South Karelia
Imatra
Joutseno
Lappeenranta (Villmanstrand)
North Karelia
View of the old town of Kem. Photo
Joensuu by S.M.Prokudin-Gorsky, 1916
Ilomantsi (Ilomants)
Kitee
Kesälahti
Kontiolahti
Lieksa
Liperi
Nurmes
Outokumpu Viipuri Castle on the Gulf of Finland
in the city of Vyborg. Viipuri was
called the capital of Karelia when it
History was a part of Finland.

Karelia was bitterly fought over by Sweden and the Novgorod

Republic for a period starting in the 13th-century Swedish-Novgorodian Wars. The Treaty of
Nöteborg (Finnish: Pähkinäsaaren rauha) in 1323 divided Karelia between the two. Viborg
(Finnish: Viipuri) became the capital of the new Swedish province. In the Treaty of Stolbovo in
1617 large parts of Russian Karelia were ceded to Sweden. Conflicts between the new Swedish
rulers and the indigenous population of these areas led to an exodus: thousands of Karelians,
including the ancestors of the Tver Karelians, emigrated to Russia.

The Treaty of Nystad (Finnish: Uudenkaupungin rauha) in 1721

between Imperial Russia and Sweden ceded a portion of
Karelia to Russia. The Treaty of Åbo in 1743 between Sweden
and Russia then ceded South Karelia to Russia. After Finland
had been occupied by Russia in the Finnish War, parts of the
ceded provinces (Old Finland) were incorporated into the
Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1917, Finland became independent
and the border was confirmed by the Treaty of Tartu in 1920.

Finnish partisans were involved in attempts to overthrow the

Bolsheviks in Russian Karelia (East Karelia) in 1918–21, as in Pioneers in Karelia, 1900. By Pekka
the failed Aunus expedition. They also wanted to incorporate Halonen
the rest of Karelia into Finland and cooperated with the short-
lived Republic of Uhtua. These mainly private expeditions
ended after the signing of the Treaty of Tartu. After the end of the Russian Civil War and the
establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922, the Russian part of Karelia became the Karelian
Autonomous republic of the Soviet Union (ASSR) in 1923.

At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, thus
starting the Winter War. The Treaty of Moscow, signed in 1940, handed a large portion of Finnish
Karelia to the Soviet Union, and over 400,000 people had to be relocated within Finland. During
the Continuation War, between 1941 and 1944, the Finns invaded and occupied much of East
Karelia for three years. After the war, Soviet expansion caused considerable bitterness in Finland,
which lost its fourth biggest city, Viipuri, its industrial heartland along the river Vuoksi, the Saimaa
canal that connected central Finland to the Gulf of Finland, and access to the fishing waters of Lake
Ladoga (Finnish: Laatokka). One eighth of its citizens became refugees with no chance of return.
The whole population from the areas ceded to the Soviet Union was evacuated and resettled in
other parts of Finland. The present inhabitants of the former Finnish parts of Russia, including the
city of Vyborg/Viipuri and the Karelian Isthmus – are post-war immigrants or their descendants.

The former Karelian ASSR was incorporated into a new Karelo-

Finnish SSR from 1941 to 1956, but then it became an ASSR
again. Karelia was the only Soviet republic that was "demoted"
from an SSR to an ASSR within the Russian SFSR. Unlike
administrative republics, Soviet republics (in theory) had the
constitutional right to secede. Fear of secession, as well as the
Russian ethnic minority in Karelia, may have resulted in its
"demotion".

In 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ASSR

became the Republic of Karelia. The political collapse brought
about an economic collapse and the Republic has experienced
massive urban decay. The buildings hastily and poorly
constructed during the Soviet era, as well as older houses
remaining from the Finnish era, are being abandoned.[4]
Map showing the Republic of
Karelia and the Finnish regions.
Politics
Karelia is politically divided between Finland and Russia. The Republic of Karelia is a federal
subject of Russia formed in 1991 from the Karelian ASSR. The Karelian Isthmus belongs to the
Leningrad Oblast. The Finnish side consists of parts of the regions (maakunta) of South Karelia,
North Karelia and Kymenlaakso.
There are some small but enthusiastic groups of Finns
campaigning for closer ties between Finland and Karelia. The
political expression of their irredentist hopes is called the
Karelian question and concerns Finland's re-acquisition of the
ceded Finnish Karelia. These hopes live on, for instance, in the
Karjalan Liitto (Karelian League) and ProKarelia. However,
ambitions for closer ties with East Karelia no longer include
territorial demands. Seat of the Legislative Assembly of
Karelia

Demographics
The Russian side is mostly Russian-speaking. However, there are minorities speaking either
Finnish or the Karelian language especially in the Republic of Karelia and in the Karelian villages
of the Tver Region of Northwest Russia. The more distantly related Veps language is spoken on
both sides of the River Svir. Finnish and Karelian have had varying levels of recognition in Russian
Karelia throughout history.
On the Finnish side, the area is Finnish-speaking. The Karelian dialects
of the Finnish language (which are different from the Karelian language) are spoken mainly in
Finnish South Karelia and form the southeastern dialect group of Finnish. The dialects in Finnish
North Karelia belong to the large group of Savonian dialects in Eastern and Central Finland.[5]

Ingrian Finnish dialects are spoken in Ingria, which is an area around St. Petersburg, between the
Estonian border and Lake Ladoga. Ingrian Finns settled in the region in the 17th century after the
Swedish conquest of the area. The settlers spoke Karelian and Savonian dialects of Finnish. The
older inhabitants of the Ingria, the Ingrians, have their own language which is related to the
Karelian language and the south-eastern dialects of Finnish.[6]

Karelians evacuated from the part of Finnish Karelia ceded to Russia were resettled all over
Finland. Today about one million people in Finland can trace their roots in the area ceded to the
Soviet Union after World War II. In Finland, about 5,000 people speak the Karelian language.

Culture
Kalevala
Karelian Bear Dog
Karelian hot pot
Karelian language
Karelian pasties
Karelo-Finnish Laika
Music of Karelia

Tourism
Russian Karelia is a regular destination for international tourism due to its unique architectural,
cultural and historical sites such as Kizhi and Valaam.[7] The region is visited by tourists in both
summer and winter when possible activities include riding in a sled behind a dog team and running
from the banya to an ice hole and back. Summer hikers can visit the Kivach waterfall or the
Demon's Chair plateau.[8]

In South Karelia, Lappeenranta is a popular destination for Russian tourists, with 1.5 million
visiting annually.[9] Imatrankoski in Imatra has been a tourist attraction since the late 18th
century, when the Empress of Russia Catherine the Great visited the site in 1772.
Koli National Park in North Karelia began receiving tourists
when Karelianism became a major trend. Koli was a source of
inspiration for numerous painters and composers such as Jean
Sibelius, Juhani Aho and Eero Järnefelt, who in turn
contributed to Karelianism through their work.[10] Koli gained
national park status in 1991.

See also
Karelian language is one of the
Asbestos-ceramic, a type of pottery made in Karelia and Finno-Ugrian languages
the vicinity.
History of Finland
Karelianism, a cultural movement in the Grand Duchy of Finland.
Karelia Suite, a collection of pieces by the composer Jean Sibelius.
Lauri Törni, born in Viipuri, a soldier and recipient of the Mannerheim Cross during the
Continuation War, who later served with the German and American armies.

References
1. "Манселькя" (http://bse.sci-lib.com/article073486.html). Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
2. Uino, Pirjo (1997). Ancient Karelia. Helsinki: Suomen muinaismuistoyhdistyksen aikakausikirja
104. p. 118.
3. Uino, Pirjo (1997). Ancient Karelia. Helsinki: Suomen muinaismuistoyhdistyksen aikakausikirja
104. p. 16.
4. (in Finnish) ROMAHTANUT YHTEISKUNTA ("Collapsed Society") (http://karjalantragedia.info/k
t/?x=collapse) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20071015182253/http://karjalantragedia.i
nfo/kt/?x=collapse) 2007-10-15 at the Wayback Machine on Free Karelia website
5. Savolainen, Erkki (1998). "1.6 Savolaismurteiden alue" (https://web.archive.org/web/19991006
021001/http://www.internetix.ofw.fi/opinnot/opintojaksot/8kieletkirjallisuus/aidinkieli/murteet/sav
olais.html) [1.6 Savo dialect area]. Suomen murteet (in Finnish). Archived from the original (htt
p://www.internetix.ofw.fi/opinnot/opintojaksot/8kieletkirjallisuus/aidinkieli/murteet/savolais.html)
on 6 October 1999. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
6. Savolainen, Erkki (1998). "1.7 Kaakkoismurteiden alue" (https://web.archive.org/web/19991004
124230/http://www.internetix.ofw.fi/opinnot/opintojaksot/8kieletkirjallisuus/aidinkieli/murteet/kaa
kkois.html) [1.7 South-Eastern dialect area]. Suomen murteet (in Finnish). Archived from the
original (http://www.internetix.ofw.fi/opinnot/opintojaksot/8kieletkirjallisuus/aidinkieli/murteet/kaa
kkois.html) on 4 October 1999. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
7. "Karelia Tourism Information" (http://www.ticrk.ru/en/karelia/). Karelia Tourism Portal. Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20181002043136/http://www.ticrk.ru/en/karelia/) from the original
on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
8. VSEVOLOD, PULYA (12 March 2010). "Karelia will return in your dreams" (http://rbth.com/articl
es/2010/03/12/120310_karelia.html). Russia Beyond the Headlines. Archived (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20190516042240/https://www.rbth.com/articles/2010/03/12/120310_karelia.html)
from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
9. "7 Reasons to Visit Lappeenranta" (https://www.visitlappeenranta.fi/en/Themes/7-reasons-to-vi
sit-Lappeenranta). Lappeenranta Tourism Portal. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/202111
27153638/https://www.visitlappeenranta.fi/en/Themes/7-reasons-to-visit-Lappeenranta) from
the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
10. "History of Koli National Park" (https://www.nationalparks.fi/kolinp/history). nationalparks.fi.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20211127160710/https://www.nationalparks.fi/kolinp/hist
ory) from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
Sources
"They Took My Father," (http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/S/sevander_they.html) by Mayme
Sevander and Laurie Hertzel, a history of Finnish Americans who emigrated to Soviet Karelia
during the Great Depression.

Further reading
Elias Lönnrot; Rainer Knapas (2002), Vandraren : reseberättelser från Karelen 1828-1842 /
Elias Lönnrot ; utgivna av Rainer Knapas. (https://urn.fi/urn:NBN:fi-fd2019-00022593), Skrifter
utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland (in Swedish), Helsinki, ISSN 0039-6842 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/issn/0039-6842), Wikidata Q113529996

External links
Karelians (http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/karelians.shtml) (The Peoples of the Red Book)
Tracing Finland's eastern border (http://finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=160531&conten
tlan=2&culture=en-US) – ThisisFINLAND
Saimaa Canal links two Karelia (http://finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=172062&contentl
an=2&culture=en-US) – ThisisFINLAND
Regional flag (https://web.archive.org/web/20121006072045/http://www.fotw.us/flags/ru-10h2.h
tml)
Visitkarelia.fi – Information about travel, tourism and other fields in North Karelia (http://visitkare
lia.fi)
Information about Southern Karelia travel (http://www.gosaimaa.fi)
Pielis.ru – travel information about North Karelia region and City of Joensuu (http://www.pielis.r
u/)
Karelia will return in your dreams (http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/03/12/120310_karelia.html) Article
about Karelia with photos and useful tourist information.
Genocide in Soviet Karelia: Stalin's Terror and the Finns of Soviet Karelia (http://www.genealog
ia.fi/emi/art/article255e.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201209224854/http://ww
w.genealogia.fi/emi/art/article255e.htm) 9 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine
Their Ideals Were Crushed. A Daughter's Story of the Säde Commune in Soviet Karelia. (http://
shop.migrationinstitute.fi/product/195/their-ideals-were-crushed-a-daughters-story-of-the-sade-
commune-in-soviet-karelia)

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