Ingrian Finns are the Finnish population native to Ingria, a historical region corresponding to the central part of today's Leningrad Oblast in Russia. They originated from Lutheran Finnish settlers who moved to Ingria in the 17th century, when both Finland and Ingria were parts of the Swedish Empire. During the Soviet era, particularly before and after World War II, most of them were relocated to other parts of the Soviet Union or killed in campaigns directed towards their forced deportation and genocide. Today, the Ingrian Finns constitute the largest part of the Finnish population of the Russian Federation. According to some records, some 25,000 Ingrian Finns have returned or still reside in the region of Saint Petersburg.
The term Ingrians is sometimes used as a synonym for Ingrian Finns, though it can also refer to the Izhorians or the Baltic Finnic residents of Ingria in general.
History
Swedish Ingria
thumb|left|Two main subgroups of Ingrian Finns: [[Äyrämöiset and Savakot]]
During the period of Swedish rule over Ingria in 1617–1703, the region underwent a drastic demographic change that led to the emergence of the Ingrian Finns. Following the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617, and especially after the War of Rupture in 1656–1658, a significant portion of the area's Orthodox population fled to Russia. This was largely a response to the Swedish crown's heavy taxation, and its policy of promoting Lutheranism and pressurizing the Orthodox population to convert.
The depopulated lands were subsequently settled by an influx of Lutheran migrants from Finland. These settlers consisted of two main groups: the Äyrämöiset from the Karelian Isthmus (especially from Äyräpää) and the Savakot from Savo and other parts of Finland. For many, Ingria represented a "wild east" of the Swedish empire, a frontier offering an escape from taxes and military service. The movement was mostly voluntary, but for example some Forest Finns from Närke were forced to move.
In the Russian Empire
Russia conquered Ingria in 1702–1703 during the Great Northern War and founded the city of Saint Petersburg (1703) in its center. The Treaty of Nystad in 1721 confirmed Ingria's incorporation into the Russian Empire. Under Russian rule, the Ingrian Finns became serfs: they no longer owned the land they cultivated and were forbidden to move elsewhere. Russian population grew rapidly in the region, and Orthodox Christianity became the dominant religion, while the Ingrian Finns were permitted to continue practicing Lutheranism.
Serfdom in Russia was abolished in 1861, granting the peasants the opportunity to buy their land and freeing them from extra taxes and labor obligations. The wealth of the Ingrian rural population grew, and by the end of the 19th century, many Ingrian Finns were independent peasants. In April 1935 7,000 people (2,000 families) were deported from Ingria to Kazakhstan, elsewhere in Central Asia, and the Ural region. In May and June 1936 20,000 people, the entire Finnish population of the parishes of Valkeasaari, Lempaala, Vuole and Miikkulainen near the Finnish border, were transferred to the area around Cherepovets. In Ingria they were replaced by people from other parts of the Soviet Union.
Present day
Finland
thumb|300px|A map of Votic and neighbouring Ingrian-Finnish and Izhorian villages 1848–2007.
From the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 until 2010, about 25,000 Ingrian Finns moved from Russia and Estonia to Finland, where they were eligible for automatic residence permits under the Finnish Law of Return. In 2010, the Finnish government decided to stop the remigration. There are still about 15,000 people in the remigration queue.
There are social integration problems similar to those of any other migrant group in Europe, to such an extent that there is a political debate in Finland over the retention of the Finnish Law of Return. In contrast, native Finnish-speakers have been easily assimilated into mainstream Finnish culture, leaving little trace of Ingrian Finnish traditions.
Russia
In Russia, many Ingrian Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria.
Genetics
In terms of autosomal DNA, Ingrian Finns are close to Finns from Finland and other Baltic Finnic groups. About 10 percent of their admixture is Siberian.
Notable people of Ingrian Finnish descent
See also
- Siberian Finns
- Kola Norwegians
- Karelians
- Tornedalians
- Skogfinner
- Sweden Finns
- Finland-Swedes
- Kvens
- Murmansk Finns