Karelia (Finnish:Karjala:Swedish:Karelen) is ahistorical province of Finland, consisting of the modern-day Finnish regions ofSouth Karelia andNorth Karelia plus the historical regions ofLadoga Karelia and theKarelian Isthmus, which are now inRussia. Historical Karelia also extends to the regions ofKymenlaakso (east of theRiver Kymi),Northern Savonia (Kaavi,Rautavaara andSäyneinen) andSouthern Savonia (Mäntyharju).
Karelia may also refer to the region as a whole, including the portion of Karelia withinRussia. The term "Finnish Karelia" refers specifically to the historical Finnish province, whileEast Karelia or "Russian Karelia" refers to the portion of Karelia within Russia. Finlandceded a portion of Finnish Karelia to theSoviet Union after theWinter War of 1939–40. More than 400,000evacuees from the ceded territories re-settled in various parts of Finland.Finnish Karelians include the present-day inhabitants ofSouth Karelia andNorth Karelia, as well as the still-surviving evacuees from the ceded territories.
FinnishKarelia historically came underwestern influence, religiously and politically, and was separate fromEast Karelia, which was dominated by theNovgorod Republic and its many successor states from theMiddle Ages onwards.
First indications of human settlement in Karelia are from theMesolithic period. The oldest find from the area is the over 9000 years oldAntrea Net which is a fishing net of willow bast. The number of finds from the area is lower towards the end of theStone Age. Archeological finds from Karelia are relatively rare between the years 400–800. From the Merovingian period onwards finds from Karelia display a distinct features of West Finnish influences which has been interpreted to result at least partly from a colonisation.[1] The mixing of western Finnish settlers with the local population led to the creation of theKarelian ethnic group.[2]
Archeological evidence indicates that Karelian inhabitation was highest along the western shore ofLake Ladoga and theKarelian Isthmus, with multiple cemeteries and other archeological discoveries dating from AD 600 to AD 800. InSouth Karelia, the number of archeological discoveries from this time period is lower, though permanent inhabitation was nonetheless present.Lappee, South Karelia has been continuously inhabited for approximately 2,000 years. InNorth Karelia, only one archeological discovery from this time period has been found, dating to the eighth century. The considerably higher number of archeological discoveries in these regions from AD 800 to AD 1050 indicates that the Karelian population grew and expanded rapidly during this time.[3]
At least 50 sites ofIron Age settlements and 40hillforts are known from Karelia.[4] According to archeological record and historical data most of the hillforts in Karelia were erected between 1100 and 1323.[5] ParticularKarelian culture including axes, brooches andornamental culture flourished approximately between the years 1000–1400.[6]
TheRiver Kymi formed a boundary between the eastern and western cultural spheres by the beginning of theBronze Age at the latest[7] and is also said to be the boundary between theTavastians and the Karelians during theMiddle Ages.[8] The 15th and 16th centuries saw the River Kymi become a more official border between the Tavastians and the Karelians, with Naulasaari (located inMäntyharju) serving as the meeting point of the borders between the Häme Finns,Savonians, and Karelians.
During the 12th and 13th century, Karelians fought against Swedes and other Finnic tribes situated in western Finland, such as Tavastians andFinns proper. Karelians were listed as Novgorodian allies in the mid-12th century in Russian Chronicles. Historical records describe Karelianspillaging Sigtuna in Sweden in 1187 and making another expedition in 1257 which leadPope Alexander IV to call out acrusade against Karelians at the request ofValdemar, the king of Sweden. TheThird Swedish crusade, led by themarshalTorgils Knutsson took place between 1293 and 1295. As a result of the crusade the western parts of Karelia fell under Swedish rule and the building of theCastle of Viborg on the site of a destroyed Karelian fort started. According to theEric's Chronicle invading Swedes conquered 14hundreds from Karelians during the crusade.
Hostilities between Novgorod and the kingdom of Sweden continued in 1300 when a Swedish force attacked the mouth of theRiver Neva and built a fort near the current location ofSaint Petersburg. The fort was destroyed the following year by the Novgorodians. Indecisive fighting in 1321 and 1322 led to negotiations and peace by theTreaty of Nöteborg which for the first time decided the border between Sweden and Novgorod. Sweden got territory aroundViborg, the westernKarelian Isthmus andSouth Karelia; and Novgorod got the easternKarelian Isthmus,Ingria,Ladoga Karelia,North Karelia andEast Karelia.[citation needed]
In 1617, Sweden seizedKexholm County (eastern Karelian Isthmus, Ladoga Karelia, and North Karelia) from Russia. In 1634Savonia and old Swedish Karelia were incorporated in theViborg and Nyslott County. After theTreaty of Nystad in 1721 eastern parts of the Viborg and Nyslott County and the Kexholm County were ceded to Russia. The rest of these counties were incorporated into theKymmenegård and Nyslott County. The southeastern part of this county was also ceded to Russia in theTreaty of Åbo of 1743. After the conquest in 1809 of the rest of Finland, Russia's 18th century gains, called "Old Finland", were in 1812 joined to theGrand Duchy of Finland as a gesture of good will (seeViipuri Province).
A large part of Finnish Karelia was ceded by Finland to theSoviet Union in 1940 after the Soviet aggression known as theWinter War, when the new border was established close to that of 1721. During theContinuation War of 1941–44, most of the ceded area was recaptured by Finland, but in 1944 was taken over again by the Soviet Union. After the war, the remains of the Province of Viipuri were made into theProvince of Kymi. In 1997 the province was incorporated within theSouthern Finland Province.
Western Karelia, as a historicalProvince of Sweden, was religiously and politically distinct from the eastern parts that were under theRussian Orthodox Church.
Some notable regions within the Region of Finnish Karelia includeViipuri Province (1812–1944),Kymenlaakso (1917–present),South Karelia (1917–present), andNorth Karelia (1917–present).
The inhabitants ofKarelian provinces historically belonging toFinland are known asKarelians. Confusingly, the same name is used also of aclosely related but distinct ethnic group living mostly inEast Karelia, earlier also in some of the territories Finland ceded to the Soviet Union in 1944.
The traditional culture of "Ladoga-Karelia", or Finnish Karelia according to the pre-Winter War borders, was by and large similar to that of Eastern Karelia, or Russian Karelia. Karelians live, and did even more so beforeStalinism and theGreat Purges, also in vast areas east of Finland (in Eastern Karelia, not marked on the map above), wherefolklore, language andarchitecture during the 19th century was in the center of the Finns' interest (seeKarelianism), representing a "purer" Finnish culture than that of Southern and Western Finland, which had been for thousands of years in more contact with (or "contaminated by")Germanic andScandinavian culture, of which theKalevala and FinnishArt Nouveau are expressions.[clarification needed]
Other than Finns, the historical province of Karelia also had Russian speakers living on the territory. The Russian name for the province is Карелия.
The arms is crowned by a ducal coronet, though by Finnish tradition this more resembles a Swedish count's coronet. The symbolism of the coat of arms is supposed to represent how the region was fought over by Sweden and Russia for centuries. Blazon: "Gules, in center chief a crown or above two duelling arms, the dexter armored holding a sword and the sinister chain-mail armored with a scimitar, all argent except for hafts and gauntlet joint or.".
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Ostrobothnia | |
Satakunta | |
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Uusimaa |
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61°52′45″N30°06′49″E / 61.8792°N 30.1136°E /61.8792; 30.1136