Savakot (plural; singular: Savakko) were one of the two main subgroups of

Ingrian Finns The Ingrians ( fi, inkeriläiset, ; russian: Ингерманландцы, translit=Ingermanlandts'i), sometimes called Ingrian Finns, are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lu ...

, the other being the

Äyrämöiset The Äyrämöiset or, as the Russians call them, Evrimeiset ( Russian: Эвремейсы), were a Finnish language-speaking people who lived in the Saint Petersburg Oblast and earlier also on the Finnish part of the Karelian Isthmus The Ka ...

. The Savakot descended from Finnish ( Savonian) peasants who had migrated to

Swedish Ingria Swedish Ingria ( sv, Svenska Ingermanland, ‘land of Ingrians’) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1583 to 1595 and then again from 1617 to 1721, when it was ceded to the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Nystad. History Ingria was ceded ...

(now part of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

) from Savonia in Eastern Finland during the 17th century.Чистяков А.Ю. Этнические группы ингерманландских финнов в 18-19 вв. // Петербургские чтения 97. Петербург и Россия. СПб., 1997, as cited in
"Savakots"
(retrieved November 12, 2015) According to

Peter Köppen Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, in the middle of the 19th century there were 43,000 Savakot on the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern R ...

. In 1929, in

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 1 ...

, there were about 115,000 "Leningrad Finns", which included both Savakot and Äyrämöiset and excluded "Finland Finns" (whose number was estimated at 13,000).''Национальные меньшинства Ленинградской области. (Сборник материалов)'', 1929 (digitized by Directmedia, 2013,
pp.7-9
/ref> At that time (1929), their urban population was insignificant. At the same time, their literacy level was among the highest (72%), which was given as a reason for the higher level of their agriculture. Agriculture was their major occupation, with shoreside population engaged in fishing, and small part engaged in logging. Later the self-identification of the Savakot disappeared.

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Further reading