Russians in Finland or Finnish Russians are a

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

minority in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. , there were 102,487 Russian speakers in Finland, or 1.8% of the population. It is the second largest linguistic minority in the country. However, many of the Russian-speaking immigrants are ethnically

Ingrian Finns Ingrian Finns (, ; ) are the Finnish people, Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lutheranism, Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced into the area in the 17th century, when Finland ...

and other

Finno-Ugric peoples Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th century ...

. In addition, a significant minority of

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

and people from the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

speak Russian as their mother tongue. , there were 35,172 people, or 0.6% of population, who hold

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n citizenship residing in Finland –

dual citizen Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

s included. The

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

has influenced how

Statistics Finland Statistics Finland ( , ) is the national statistical institution in Finland, established in 1865 to serve as an information service and to provide statistics and expertise in the statistical sciences. The institution employs more than 800 exper ...

defines a person's country of birth in their statistical data. Before 1991, individuals born in what is now Russia,

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, or in other

Post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

, are considered to have been born in the

. 20,499 people were born in Russia and whereas 63,885 people come from the former Soviet Union. Furthermore, there are people with Russian-background who have received only Finnish citizenship, and

Estonian Russians In Estonia, the population of ethnic Russians (, ) is estimated at 285,819, most of whom live in the capital city Tallinn and other urban areas of Harju and Ida-Viru counties. While a small settlement of Russian Old Believers on the coast o ...

. Two common reasons for immigration were marriage, and descendant from Ingrian Finns. Russian citizens who moved before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

are called "Old Russians". The next immigration wave happened after the

, as

re-migrated to Finland. At present, marriage and family ties are two other common reasons for Russians to immigrate to Finland.

History

The first migratory wave of Russians began in the early 18th century, when Finland was part of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

."Socmag: Russian Immigrants in Finnish Society" 18 November 2007 About 40,000 Russian soldiers, civilian workers, and about 600 businessmen moved to the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

, which became an autonomous state in personal union with the Russian Empire in 1809. When

became fully independent in 1917, many soldiers returned to Russia. Many businessmen stayed, including the

Sinebrychoff The Sinebrychoff Brewery (, ) is a Finnish brewery and soft drink company. It was founded in 1819 in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, by the Russian businessman Nikolai Sinebrychoff who lived in Finland, and it is the largest brewery in Finland ...

family. During the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, many aristocrats and officers fled to Finland as refugees. The biggest refugee wave was in 1922 when about 33,500 people came to Finland. Many of them had

Nansen passport Nansen passports, originally and officially stateless persons passports, were internationally recognized refugee travel documents from 1922 to 1938, first issued by the League of Nations's Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees to stateles ...

s for many years. During the

Kronstadt rebellion The Kronstadt rebellion () was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors, Marines, naval infantry, and civilians against the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik government in the Russian port city of Kronstadt. Located on Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland, ...

about 1,600 officers fled to Finland. Russian citizens who moved in these three waves are called "Old Russians", whose 3,000–5,000 descendants live in Finland today. During World War II, there were about 69,700

Soviet prisoners of war The following articles deal with Soviet prisoners of war. * Camps for Russian prisoners and internees in Poland (1919–24) *Soviet prisoners of war in Finland Soviet prisoners of war in Finland during World War II were captured in two Soviet Un ...

in Finland, and 200–300 children were born to them and Finnish women. A second major wave of immigration occurred after the

fall of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of Nationalities, Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. :s: ...

. Many Russian guest workers came to Finland, working low-paying jobs. In the 1990s, immigration to Finland grew, and a Russian-speaking population descended from

immigrated to Finland. In the 2000s, many

nouveaux riche ; ), new rich, or new money (in contrast to old money; ) is a social class of the rich whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. These people previously had belonged to a lower social clas ...

Russians have bought estates in

Eastern Finland Eastern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia to the east. History On September 1, 1997, the Mikkeli Province, the Kuopio Pr ...

Population by municipalities

People born in Russia and living in Finland, according to Statistics Finland. People with Russia citizenship living in Finland according to Statistics Finland. People with Russian as mother tongue living in Finland according to Statistics Finland.

Culture

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

newspaper ''Spektr'' was founded in 1998, and

radio channel Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Radio Sputnik Sputnik (; formerly Voice of Russia and RIA Novosti, naming derived from Russian , "satellite") is a Russian state-owned news agency and radio broadcast service. It was established by the Russian government-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya ...

(''Russkoje Radio Helsinki'') broadcast in the Russian language until 2018. Many small

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

es have been founded in Finland. Sofiankatu street sign.jpg, The Sofiankatu Trilingual street sign Финско-русский и русско-финский торговый словарь.jpg, Finnish Russian and Russian Finnish Dictionary on Commerce Iconostasis of Sotkamo Orthodox Church.jpg, Inside the

Sotkamo Sotkamo is a municipality of Finland, located in the Kainuu region about east of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu. Vuokatti, in west of Sotkamo, is the most populous village in the municipality and also a popular skiing resort. Both Hiidenportti ...

Orthodox Church Kouvola. Pyhän Ristin kirkko.jpg,

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city in Finland and the administrative capital of Kymenlaakso. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country. The population of Kouvola is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 17th m ...

Orthodox Church Tampere Orthodox Church2 2011.jpg,

Tampere Orthodox Church Tampere Orthodox Church (also known as the Church of the Alexander Nevsky and the Saint Nicholas) is an Eastern Orthodox church in Tampere, Finland, located in the Kyttälä city district. It is dedicated to Saint Alexander Nevsky and to Saint Nich ...

Manifestations of intolerance

In a 2012 poll, 12% of Russians in Finland reported that they had experienced a racially motivated hate crime (as compared to an average of 5% of Russians in all EU countries).Pressrelase
an
Fact sheet
for the study "Hate crime in the European Union" by EU

Fundamental Rights Agency The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, usually known in English as the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), is a Vienna-based agency of the European Union inaugurated on 1 March 2007. It was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 168/ ...

November 2012 27% of Russians in Finland were victims of crimes the last 12 months, for example theft, attacks, frightening threats or harassment (as compared to 17% of Russians in EU). In 2007, the

European Commission against Racism and Intolerance European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is the Council of Europe's independent human rights monitoring body specialised in combating antisemitism, discrimination, racism, religious intolerance, and xenophobia. It publishes periodi ...

reported in its Third report on Finland:

Notable Russians in Finland

* Georgij Alafuzoff, admiral * Kirill Babitzin, musician *

Sammy Babitzin Aleksandr "Sammy" Babitzin (11 July 1948 – 29 April 1973) was a Finnish popular music singer, the brother of Kirka and Muska. Babitzin was born into a Russian family in Helsinki, and he was of partial German-Russian descent through his mot ...

, musician * Alexander Barkov, Jr., hockey player * Danila Bulgakov, footballer *

Alexei Eremenko Alexei Eremenko (born Aleksei Alekseyevich Yeryomenko; ; born 24 March 1983) is a former professional footballer. He is from a footballing family, with his father, Aleksei Yeryomenko, and brothers Roman Eremenko and Sergei Eremenko also playi ...

, footballer *

Roman Eremenko Roman Alekseyevich Eremenko (; born 19 March 1987) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Veikkausliiga club IF Gnistan. Born in Russia, he represents Finland at international level. Eremenko ...

, footballer * George de Godzinsky, composer * Pasha Pozdniakova, model and social media influencer * Anton Popovitch, footballer *

Valeri Popovitch Valeri Aleksandrovich Popovitch (; born 18 May 1970) is a Russian former football forward. Popovitch is the all-time scoring leader of FC Haka. After his contract ended with HJK in 2010, he joined Ilves Tampere playing in Kakkonen, as a playe ...

, former footballer * Maria Guzenina, journalist, TV host and politician * Viktor Klimenko, singer * Leo Komarov, hockey player (born in Narva, Estonia) *

Adam Markhiyev Adam Umarovich Markhiyev (; born 17 March 2002) is a professional footballer. He plays as a midfielder for Cypriot First Division club Aris Limassol and the Finland U21 national team. Early career Markhiyev spent eight years in the youth secto ...

Ingushetia Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country o ...

-born footballer * Natalia Nordman, an author and the wife of Ilya Repin *

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is today Ukraine. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russian Empire, Russia in the 19th century. His major works include ''Barge Haulers on the Volga' ...

, realist painter, moved in Finland in 1899, a naturalized Finnish citizen in 1918 * the

family * Boris Rotenberg, football player * Roman Rotenberg, entrepreneur, manager and ice hockey executive *

Anna Vyrubova Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova (''née'' Taneyeva; ; 16 July 1884 – 20 July 1964) was a lady-in-waiting in the late Russian Empire, the best friend and confidante of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. Early life Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva was born in ...

, former

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

and confidante of the last Russian Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. * Inna Latiševa, writer * Vladislav Nobel-Oleinik, Russian

Activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

( Karelian National Movement)

References

{{Portal bar, Finland, Russia Ethnic groups in Finland

Russian diaspora in Finland