Finnic peoples

The Finnic or Fennic peoples, sometimes simply called Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finnic (now commonly Finno-Permic) language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of the Volga River. The largest Finnic peoples by population are the Finns (or more precisely the Suomi, 6 million), the Estonians (1 million), the Mordvins (800,000), the Mari (570,000), the Udmurts (550,000), the Komis (330,000) and the Sami (100,000). The scope of the name "Finn" and "Finnic" varies by country. Today, Finnish and Estonian scholars restrict the term "Finnic" to the Baltic Finns, who include the Western Finns of Finland and their closest relatives but not the Sami. In Russia, however, where the Eastern Finns live, the word continues to be used in the broad sense, and sometimes implies the Volga Finns who have their own national republics. Three groups of people are covered by the names "Finn" and "Finnic" in the broad sense: the Sami people spread across northern Scandinavia the Baltic Finns, also known as the Western Finns, of Finland, Estonia, Karelia and northwestern Russia the Volga Finns and the Perm Finns, also known as the Eastern Finns, of central Russia, including the four central-Russian republics of Komi, Mari El, Mordovia and Udmurtia. In the 19th century, the Ugrians were considered to be a branch of Eastern Finns (as "Ugrian Finns"), but due to the theory that the Hungarian language is most closely related to the Ugrian languages and because the Hungarians are not ethnically Finns, the Ugrians are now generally excluded. Linguistically, the situation is more complex: in particular, the unity of the Volga Finnic languages is disputed, and because of this the Permians are sometimes counted as Volga Finns and sometimes not. The distinction is a linguistic one, however, and varies between linguistic reconstructions.

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Related concepts (16)

Komi Republic

The Komi Republic (Республика Коми; Коми Республика), sometimes simply referred to as Komi, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. Its capital is the city of Syktyvkar. The population of the republic as of the 2010 Census was 901,189. The Komi people first feature in the records of the Novgorod Republic in the 12th century, when East Slavic traders from Novgorod traveled to the Perm region in search of furs and animal hides. The Komi territories came under the influence of Muscovy in the late Middle Ages (late 15th to early 16th centuries).

Komi peoples

The Komi (komijas also komi-vojtyr), also called Komi-Zyryans or Zyryans, are an indigenous Permian ethnic group whose homeland is in the northeast of European Russia around the basins of the Vychegda, Pechora and Kama rivers. They mostly reside in the Komi Republic, Perm Krai, Murmansk Oblast, Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Federation. There have been at least three names for the Komis: Permyaks, Zyrians (пермяки, зыряне) and Komi, the last being the self-designation of the people.

Mari El

Mari El (Марий Эл; Марий Эл; Мары Эл), officially the Mari El Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is in the European Russia region of the country, along the northern bank of the Volga River, and is administratively part of the Volga Federal District. The republic has a population of 696,459 (2010 Census). Yoshkar-Ola is the capital and the largest city. Mari El is one of Russia's ethnic republics, established for the indigenous Mari people, a Finnic nation who have traditionally lived along the Volga River and Kama River.