Setomaa (; russian: Сетумаа, seto, Setomaa) is a region south of

Lake Peipus Lake Peipus ( et, Peipsi-Pihkva järv; russian: Чудско-Псковское озеро, Псковско-Чудское озеро, Chudsko-Pskovskoye ozero, Pskovsko-Chudskoye ozero); is the largest trans-boundary lake in Europe, lying on ...

and inhabited by the

Seto people Setos ( seto, setokõsõq, , et, setukesed, ) are an indigenous Finnic peoples and linguistic minority that have historically lived in the borderlands between modern day Estonia and Russia. Setos have historically spoken the Seto language and ...

. The

Seto dialect Seto (; et, setu keel) is a dialect of Estonian or a separate language spoken by 12,549 people. It is sometimes identified as a dialect of Võro, or the two are described as one language, Võro-Seto. Setos () mostly inhabit the area near ...

is a variety of

South Estonian South Estonian, spoken in south-eastern Estonia, encompasses the Tartu, Mulgi, Võro and Seto varieties. There is no academic consensus on its status, as some linguists consider South Estonian a dialect group of Estonian whereas other lingu ...

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

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

and Russia. Estonian Setomaa presently consists of lands in

Võru County Võru County ( et, Võru maakond or ''Võrumaa''; vro, Võro maakund) is a county in southern Estonia. It is bordered by Valga County and Põlva County and is the only Estonian county bordering two countries - Latvia ( Alūksne Municipality a ...

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

Pechory Pechory (russian: Печо́ры; 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 i ...

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

Current subdivision

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

Setomaa Parish Setomaa Parish ( et, Setomaa vald) is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County. It has a population of 3,369 (as of 1 January 2018) and an area of 463.1 km². Settlements There is one small borough (''alevik'') Värska and 156 vi ...

(municipality) The Russian part consists of

Pechorsky District Pechorsky District (russian: Печо́рский райо́н) 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 wi ...

, part of

Pskov Oblast Pskov Oblast (russian: Пско́вская о́бласть, ') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the city of Pskov. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 67 ...

. Between 1918 and 1944, the area was part of Estonia, administered as Petseri County. After Estonia regained its independence from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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. The paper was formed from a merger in 1996 of the ''Baltic Independent'' and ' ...

. 20.03.2015

References

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