Setomaa (; , ) is a region south of

Lake Peipus Lake Peipus is the largest trans-boundary lake in Europe, lying on the international border between Estonia and Russia. The lake is the fifth-largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega (in Russia), Lake Vänern (in Sweden), and Lake ...

and traditionally inhabited by the Seto people. The Seto dialect is a variety of

South Estonian South Estonian, or Võro-Seto, is a Finnic language spoken in south-eastern Estonia, encompassing the Tartu, Mulgi, Võro and Seto dialects. Diachronically speaking, Estonian and South Estonian are in separate branches of the Finnic langua ...

. The historic range of Setomaa is located in the territories of present-day

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and Russia. Estonian Setomaa presently consists of lands in

Võru County Võru County ( or ''Võrumaa''; ) is a county in southern Estonia. It is bordered by Valga and Põlva counties, Latvia's Alūksne and Ape municipalities, and Russia's Pskov Oblast (making it the only Estonian county to border two countries) ...

located in southeastern Estonia and bordering Russia. Petseri (Russian:

Pechory Pechory (; Estonian and Seto: ') is a town and the administrative centre of Pechorsky District in the Pskov Oblast, Russia. Its population in the 2010 Census was 11,195, having fallen from 13,056 recorded in the 2002 Census and& ...

) has been the historic and cultural centre for the Setos.

Current subdivision

Estonian Setomaa consists of: *In Võrumaa county: **

Setomaa Parish Setomaa Parish () is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County. It has a population of 2,849 (as of 1 January 2022) and an area of 463.1 km2. Demographics Population in the municipality: * 2000: 4,206 * 2011: 2,990 * 2022: 2,849 ...

(municipality) The Russian part consists of

Pechorsky District Pechorsky District () is an administrativeLaw #833-oz and municipalLaw #420-oz district (raion), one of the twenty-four in Pskov Oblast, Russia. It is located in the northwest of the oblast and borders with Pskovsky District in the northwest, Pa ...

, part of

Pskov Oblast Pskov Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Pskov. As of the Russian Census ...

. Between 1918 and 1944, the area was part of Estonia, administered as

Petseri County Petseri County () was a county of Estonia established in 1918. Since 1944, however, most of the county has been administered as Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, first by the Russian SFSR and then, from 1991, by Russia. Estonia retains territ ...

. After Estonia regained its independence from the

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 ...

in 1991, there was a dispute between Estonia and Russia over the possession of this territory until Estonia dropped its territorial claims to these areas in 1995.Estonian-Russian border agreement sent to Russian Duma for ratification

The Baltic Times ''The Baltic Times'' is an independent monthly newspaper that covers the latest political, economic, business, and cultural events in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. History The paper was formed from a merger in 1996 of the ''Baltic Independent ...

. 20.03.2015

References

Seto Geography of Võru County Geography of Põlva County Geography of Pskov Oblast {{Võru-geo-stub