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 (Finnish: inkeriläiset, inkerinsuomalaiset; Russian: Ингерманландцы, romanized: Ingermanlandtsy) are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced into the area in the 17th century, when Finland and Ingria were both parts of the Swedish Empire. Before and after World War II, most of them were relocated to other parts of the Soviet Union or killed, in Soviet 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. They are also referred to as Ingrians, although the term can also refer to the Izhorians or the Baltic Finnic residents of Ingria in general.