Karelians (; ; ; ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group who are indigenous to the historical region of Karelia, which is today split between Finland and Russia. Karelians living in Russian Karelia are considered a distinct ethnic group closely related to Finnish Karelians, who are considered a subset of Finns. This distinction historically arose from Karelia having been fought over and eventually split between Sweden and Novgorod, resulting in Karelians being under different cultural spheres.
In Russia, Karelians mostly live in the Republic of Karelia, where they are the designated ethnic group, and in other adjacent north-western parts of the country. They traditionally speak the Karelian language and are Eastern Orthodox Christians. There are also significant Karelian enclaves in the Tver and Novgorod oblasts, as some Karelians migrated to those areas after the Russo-Swedish War of 1656–1658.
In Finland, the term "Karelian" generally refers to the Finnish Karelians. There were Karelian-speaking Karelians living in the easternmost parts of Finnish Karelia, known as "Border Karelia" (Raja-Karjala). As Finland had to cede parts of Karelia to the Soviet Union in World War II, evacuated Karelians and Finnish Karelians settled elsewhere in Finland. A minority of them, about 38,000, were Border Karelian Orthodox Christians, who traditionally spoke Karelian. However, owing to Karelian being previously unrecognized as its own language by the Finnish government, most of these Karelians had no choice but to learn Finnish and now speak mostly Finnish.
History
Middle Ages
During the Early Middle Ages, settlers from western Finland mixed with the local population to form the Karelian ethnic group. Possible migration from elsewhere may also have contributed to the Karelian ethnic composition.
Archeological evidence indicates that Karelian inhabitation was highest along the western shore of Lake Ladoga and the Karelian Isthmus, with multiple cemeteries and other archeological discoveries dating from AD 600 to AD 800. In South 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. In North 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.
The first written mention of Karelia and Karelians occurs in Scandinavian sources. Several old Scandinavian sagas and chronicles refer to Karelia sometimes as Karjalabotn, Kirjalabotnar, or Kirjaland, which means that Karelians and Karelia were known to the Vikings as early as the 7th century. Another mention of Karelians in Scandinavian sources is The Chronicle of Erik. Part of the Chronicle attributes to the Karelians the sack and pillage of Sigtuna in 1187. This mention of Karelian raids on Sweden in the chronicle is given as the main reason to found Stockholm, the current capital of Sweden. when the Novgorod chronicle mentions that Karelians raided neighbouring Tavastia (Häme). Russian chronicles referred to Karelians as Koryela. Until the end of the 13th century, Karelians enjoyed a period of relative independence and self-government. However, as Karelians came in contact with Novgorod some of them started to take part in internal and external Novgorodian politics. Russian chronicles mention a joint raid of Novgorod and Karelians on Tavastia in 1191. In the 13th century, the Karelian relationship with Novgorod underwent significant changes, from partnership and alliance to gradual dominance by the latter.
In 1227, an attempt was made to convert Karelians to Eastern Orthodoxy. In 1253, Karelians aided Novgorod in its wars with Estonians.
Language
thumb|A store (Karelian laukku) in [[Vedlozero|Vedlozero, Russia. The sign translates to: "Welcome. Here, Karelian is spoken. Own mind, own language."]]
The Karelian language is closely related to the Finnish language. Here are the dialects of what can be classified as the Karelian language:
- North Karelian (northern parts of the Karelian republic and in some villages near the Russian border in the Kainuu region even today);
- South Karelian (Southern parts of the Karelian republic, before World War II also in the easternmost part of what was Finland before the war, and in different locations in the current area of Finland and elsewhere after WWII);
- Tver Karelian (In Tver area, Russia);
- Olonets Karelian or Livvi (in southeastern parts of Karelian republic, before World War II also in the easternmost part of What was Finland before the war, and in different locations in the current area of Finland and elsewhere after the WWII).
Ludic in the easternmost part of Karelian republic is currently considered a language of its own. Karelian shamanism is still practiced by some Karelians. Folk-beliefs have also been widely incorporated into Christianity by Orthodox Karelians. Karelian tales, along with some Finnish ones, have been collected to form Kalevala.
Demographics
thumb|300px|Settlement of Karelians in the [[Northwestern Federal District by urban and rural settlements in %, 2010 census.]]
thumb|300px|Settlement of Karelians in the [[Central Federal District by urban and rural settlements in %, 2010 census.]]
Significant enclaves of Karelians exist in the Tver oblast of Russia, resettled after Russia's defeat in 1617 against Sweden — in order to escape forced conversion to Lutheranism in Swedish Karelia. The Russians also promised tax deductions if the Orthodox Karelians migrated there. Olonets (Aunus) is the only city in Russia where the Karelians form a majority (60% of the population).
Karelians have been declining in numbers in modern times significantly due to a number of factors. These include low birthrates (characteristic of the region in general) and especially Russification, due to the predominance of Russian language and culture.
In 1926, according to the census, Karelians only accounted for 37.4% of the population in the Soviet Karelian Republic (which at that time did not yet include territories that would later be taken from Finland and added, most of which had mostly Karelian inhabitants), or 100,781 Karelians. Russians, meanwhile, numbered 153,967 in Karelia, or 57.2% of the population. Adding the Tver Karelian population of 140,567 at the time to the statistic gives a total of at least 241,348 Karelians in the whole USSR, if not far more.
By 2000, there were 65,651 Karelians in the Republic of Karelia (65.1% of the number in 1926, including the Karelian regions taken from Finland which were not counted in 1926), and Karelians made up only 9.2% of the population in their homeland. Russians, meanwhile, were 76.6% of the population in Karelia.
In the 2021 Census, there were 25,901 Karelians in the Republic of Karelia, only 5.5% of the population. Meanwhile Russians now make up 86.4% of the population in Karelia. The total number of Karelians in Russia was 32,422, or 0.02% of the country's population.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Karelians in Russia (1926–2021)
!Census
!1926
!1939
!1959
!1970
!1979
!1989
!2002
!2010
!2021 Haplogroup R1a is approximately as common for Karelian males, and 10 percent of them belong to the haplogroup I-M170. The mtDNA haplogroups among Karelians include H (45.7%) and U (27.2%), especially its subclade U5. commonly found in Uralic-speaking groups. Like other Baltic Finnic peoples, Karelians have a high level of Steppe-related admixture.
Karelians share more IBD (identity-by-descent) segments with several other Uralic-speaking groups, including geographically distant ones from Volga-Ural and Siberia, than with their non-Uralic-speaking neighbours. This is consistent with the idea that the Uralic peoples share common roots to some degree. Karelians are found to have significant IBD sharing with some non-Uralic-speaking peoples from the same distant regions, such as the Volga Tatars, Yakuts and Evens, as well.