Ingrian Finns
Flag of Ingrians | |
Ingrian Finns of Estonia at the Estonian Song and Dance Festival | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 50,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Finland, Russia | |
| Finland | 25,000 |
| Russia | 20,300 (2010) |
| Sweden | 4,500 (2008) |
| Ukraine | 768 (2001) |
| Kazakhstan | 373 (2009) |
| Estonia | 369 (2011) |
| Belarus | 151 (2009) |
| Languages | |
| Finnish (Ingrian dialects), Ingrian, Votic, Estonian, Russian | |
| Religion | |
| Lutheranism, Orthodox Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Baltic Finns Especially Izhorians, Votes, Estonians, and other Finns (particularly Siberian Finns and Korlaks) | |
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.