Karelia facts for kids

Karelia is an area in eastern Fennoscandia. It is to the east from where Finnish people live. There are many opinions about what places exactly belong to Karelia.

Most of Karelia belongs to Russia today. Small parts of Karelia belong to Finland. On the Russian side of Karelia is the Republic of Karelia. On the Finnish side are the provinces of North Karelia and South Karelia.

The original people of Karelia are Karelians. Karelian people speak Karelian, a Finnic language very close to Finnish. Karelians knew many old poems. Many poems of the Finnish book Kalevala are from the Karelians. Today in the Republic of Karelia, Karelians are a minority and Russians are a majority. Some people fear Karelian culture and language will die out.

Most of Karelia was part of Finland until the Soviet Union took it in the Winter War. East Karelia was not. To make peace after World War II, Finland had to give most of Karelia to the Soviet Union. After peace, many people from the Soviet Union went to live in Karelia.

Images for kids

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  Parts of Karelia, as they are divided today

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  Kizhi Pogost, one of many fine examples of wooden architecture surviving on Kizhi island

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  East Karelia and West Karelia with borders of 1939 and 1940–1947. They are also known as Russian Karelia and Finnish Karelia respectively.

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  View of the old town of Kem. Photo by S.M.Prokudin-Gorsky, 1916

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  Viipuri Castle on the Gulf of Finland in the city of Vyborg. Viipuri was called the capital of Karelia when it was a part of Finland.

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  Pioneers in Karelia, 1900. By Pekka Halonen

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  Map showing the Republic of Karelia and the Finnish regions

See also

In Spanish: Carelia para niños