Kvenland , known as Cwenland , Qwenland , Kænland , and similar terms in medieval sources, is an ancient name for an area in Fennoscandia and Scandinavia . Kvenland, in that or nearly that spelling, is known from an Old English account written in the 9th century, which used information provided by Norwegian adventurer and traveler Ohthere , and from Nordic sources, primarily Icelandic . A possible additional source was written in the modern-day area of Norway . All known Nordic sources date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Other possible references to Kvenland by other names and spellings are also discussed here.
154-551: A Norwegian adventurer and traveler named Ohthere visited England around 890 CE. King Alfred of Wessex had his stories written down and included them in his Old English version of a world history written by the Romano-Hispanic author Orosius . Ohthere's story contains the only contemporary description about Kvenland that has survived from the 9th century: [Ohthere] said that the Norwegians' ( Norðmanna ) land
308-594: A Latin historical book written early in the fifth century by Paulus Orosius , called Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII , or Seven Books of History Against the Pagans . The Old English version of this book is believed to have been written in Wessex in King Alfred's lifetime or soon after his death, and the earliest surviving copy is attributed to the same place and time. In his account, Ohthere said that his home
462-615: A presidential republic , with K. J. Ståhlberg elected as its first president on 25 July 1919. A liberal nationalist with a legal background, Ståhlberg anchored the state in liberal democracy , promoted the rule of law and initiated internal reforms. Finland was also one of the first European countries to strongly promote women's equality , with Miina Sillanpää becoming the first female minister in Finnish history in Väinö Tanner's cabinet in 1926–1927. The Finnish-Russian border
616-435: A "common ancestor". Ohthere said that he lived furthest north of all Norwegians, and that his home was in "Halgoland", in the north of Norway, by the sea. Halgoland is identified in modern historiography as Hålogaland , a historical region of northern Norway comparable in area to the modern region of Nord-Norge . While greater precision is impossible, suggested localities for Ohthere's home include Senja , Kvaløya , and
770-473: A 45-degree rotation of cardinal points . If the territories listed in King Alfred's Orosius are examined with that in mind, the Norwegians would be to the northwest of Sweden, and the nomadic people would be to the north. These points are correct after rotation based on the difference between the Viking and modern compasses. Kvenland is then situated to the northeast of Sweden and might be placed somewhere around
924-468: A diverse and extensive range of fauna. There are at least sixty native mammalian species, 248 breeding bird species, over 70 fish species, and 11 reptile and frog species present today, many migrating from neighbouring countries thousands of years ago. Large and widely recognized wildlife mammals found in Finland are the brown bear , grey wolf , wolverine , and elk . Three of the more striking birds are
1078-542: A divine revenge. And at first King's son called Anund, whose father had sent him to enlarge his kingdom, after arriving to Women's Land ( patriam feminarum ), whom we consider to be Amazons, was killed along with his army from poison, that they had mixed to the spring water. (III 15) "After that come the Swedes ( Sueones ) that rule wide areas up until the "Land of Women" ( terram feminarum ). Living east of these are said to be Wizzi, Mirri, Lamiy, Scuti and Turci up until
1232-619: A fair [or: contrary] wind ("Þyder he cwæð þæt man ne mihte geseglian on anum monðe gyf man on niht wicode and ælce dæge hæfde ambyrne wind"). This sentence has very often been quoted in literature. Old English ambyrne (accusative singular masculine; the nominative would be ambyre ) is a hapax legomenon in Old English. Since around 1600 the traditionally accepted rendering of the phrase in English has been, without ultimate proof, "fair/favourable wind" in translations and dictionaries; on
1386-608: A late mention of Kvens clearly active in the North. Around 1271 CE, the following is said to have happened: Then Karelians ( Kereliar ) and Kvens ( Kvænir ) pillaged widely in Hålogaland ( Hálogaland ). In some pre-medieval and medieval texts, it is not clear which groups of people the authors are referring to by the titles used. According to historians, terms used for either the Kvens, Finns and/or Sami in texts written during
1540-468: A later phase by an unknown author who wanted to make the saga more adventurous. Egils saga is an epic Icelandic saga possibly by Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241 CE), who may have written it between 1220 and 1240 CE. While authorship of the sagas is unclear, it is generally accepted that Snorri Sturluson , who was a powerful politician, a diplomat for the Royal House of Norway and a man of letters,
1694-557: A merchant, and that his visit to King Alfred has been connected with the king's plans for a navy, a desire to escape the Norwegian King Harald Fairhair , or a need to rebuild a lost fortune. Whitaker notes also that there is "no shred of evidence" to support any of these ideas, but for the fact that he had visited the trading centres of "Skiringshal" ( sic ) and Hedeby . Ohthere said that he had travelled north chiefly to hunt walrus, and his journey south to
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#17327801191971848-533: A mutual security pact with the United Kingdom. On 12 May, Finland's president and Prime Minister called for NATO membership "without delay". Subsequently, on 17 May, the Finnish Parliament voted 188–8 in favour of Finland's accession to NATO. Finland became a member of NATO on 4 April 2023. Lying approximately between latitudes 60° and 70° N , and longitudes 20° and 32° E , Finland
2002-766: A place-name which "must have emerged as a designation of a land of perem ' [i.e. Beormas ] on the Kola Peninsula": the latter forms the north-western coast of the White Sea, and is defined in part by an inlet of the sea leading to the town of Kandalaksha. The ethnicity of the Beormas and the Perm ' remains uncertain, but the term " perem ' " may have originated as a word used for nomadic tradesmen, rather than an ethnic group. Possible answers to incongruities and questions connected with Ohthere's account of
2156-458: A realistic description of Nór traveling from Kvenland to Norway. Based on the saga's internal chronologies, this would have happened around the 6th or 7th century CE, but the dating is very insecure. Locations of Kvenland, Finland and Gotland are given rather exactly: "to the east of the gulf that lies across from the White Sea (Gandvík); we call that the Gulf of Bothnia (Helsingjabotn)." The saga
2310-635: A reference to the Sami people . Alongside the southern part of the land, on the other side of the mountains and continuing north, was Sweoland , the "land of the Svear", or Swedes . To the north of the Swedes was Cwenaland , the "land of the Cwenas", and to the north of the Norwegians was wasteland. Ohthere described two journeys that he had made, one northward and around the Kola Peninsula into
2464-486: A result of the two wars, Finland lost 12% of its land area, 20% of its industrial capacity, its second largest city, Vyborg ( Finnish : Viipuri ), and the ice-free port of Liinakhamari ( Finnish : Liinahamari ). The Finns lost 97,000 soldiers and were forced to pay war reparations of $ 300 million ($ 4.1 billion in 2023). However, the country avoided occupation by Soviet forces and managed to retain its independence. Along with Great Britain, Finland emerged from
2618-533: A state of liberty, but even below a state of bondage." According to a view shared by many historians, the term Sitones (Kvens) shares etymological roots with Sigtuna , which much later had a Latin spelling Situne . According to Disas saga , the Sitones were ruled by a queen. According to a common view, the "queen" of the Sitones either derives from or is a possible linguistic confusion of an Old Norse term used for 'woman', which shares linguistic origins with
2772-422: A story from his own viewpoint but speaks in general terms for an anonymous mariner: "One cannot sail", "if one camped at night", "he will sail", "to him will be at first", "until he comes". Michael Korhammer, a proponent of "contrary wind", concludes from this change of aspect that the ambyrne-wind -sentence is not about Ohthere's own travelling experience nor does it refer to normal sailing speeds in his period, as
2926-526: A theory somewhat closely related to the Kainuu theory, Kvenland has also been associated with the legendary Pohjola . Pohjola is an other-worldly country in Finnish mythology, ruled by a fierce witch called Louhi . Pohjola is best known from the Kalevala , a 19th-century Finnish work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology , collected largely in
3080-705: A violent time in the northern Baltic Sea. The Livonian Crusade was ongoing and the Finnish tribes such as the Tavastians and Karelians were in frequent conflicts with Novgorod and with each other. Also, during the 12th and 13th centuries several crusades from the Catholic realms of the Baltic Sea area were made against the Finnish tribes. Danes waged at least three crusades to Finland, in 1187 or slightly earlier, in 1191 and in 1202, and Swedes , possibly
3234-590: Is a member of various international organisations, such as the Nordic Council , the Schengen Area , and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The nation performs extremely well in national performance metrics , including education , economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, and human development. The area that is now Finland was settled in, at
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#17327801191973388-449: Is a wide tract; it is bounded westwards by the sea, wherefrom large firths run in; by sea also northwards and round to the east; but southwards lies Norway; and Finmark stretches along nearly all the inland region to the south, as also does Hålogaland outside. But eastwards from Namdalen (Naumdale) is Jämtland (Jamtaland), then Hälsingland (Helsingjaland) and Kvenland, then Finland, then Karelia (Kirialaland); along all these lands to
3542-648: Is also referred to in Orkneyinga saga . This way, the reference would have included Lake Mjøsa , an area which is known to have been inhabited at that time: the Orkneyinga saga tells how these inhabitants were attacked by men from Kvenland. The mention of the "very light ships" (boats) carried overland has a well-documented ethnographic parallel in the numerous portages of the historical river and lake routes in Fennoscandia and Northern Russia. According to
3696-544: Is correct in placing the Gulf of Bothnia "across" (i.e., "on the other side of" the isthmus between the two seas) from the White Sea . The saga does not say that Kvenland was on the coast, but just east of the Gulf. This is how Nór started his journey to Norway: But Nor, his brother, waited until snow lay on the moors so he could travel on skis. He went out from Kvenland and skirted the Gulf, and came to that place inhabited by
3850-405: Is mentioned again, as follows: ... the Swedes ( Sweons ) have to the south of them the arm of the sea called East ( Osti ), and to the east of them Sarmatia ( Sermende ), and to the north, over the wastes, is Kvenland ( Cwenland ), to the northwest are the nomadic people ( Scridefinnas ), and the Norwegians ( Norðmenn ) are to the west. The Viking compass is believed to have had
4004-638: Is no indication in the saga that the Kvens would have competed with the Norwegians for control of the Finns or lived near or among them. Much debate has taken place concerning whether the saga provides truthful information of Iron Age Kvenland by mentioning that the Kvens had a real-sounding 'king' and a 'law' to divide the loot. The saga places the confrontation of Norwegians and Karelians in the 9th century. Besides Old English Orosius , Hversu Noregr byggdist , Orkneyinga saga and Egil's saga , Kvenland or Kvens are very briefly mentioned in four Icelandic texts from
4158-458: Is no mention of Kvenland after that. Again only a handful of words are devoted to Kvenland, mainly telling where it was. Nór's journey from Kvenland to Norway is missing from Hversu , which in fact does not even mention that Nór came from Kvenland at all, only stating: "Norr had great battles west of the Keel". The journey may have been lifted from some other context and added to Orkneyinga saga in
4312-436: Is not listed in any of the saga's surviving versions, indicating that it might be a later addition by someone who did not recognize Kvenland any more. The saga says "eastwards from Namdalen is Jämtland", but actually the direction is southeast. Also Hälsingland is southeast, not east, of Jämtland. Since it is widely assumed that the Viking compass had a 45 degree rotation of cardinal points, the saga's "east" seems to correspond to
4466-639: Is not recorded. There is also no mention in the Old English Orosius of how recent the journeys were when Ohthere described them to the king, where the meeting took place, or the route by which Ohthere arrived in southern England. Ohthere's audience with King Alfred is dramatised in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 's poem "The Discoverer of the North Cape: A Leaf from King Alfred's Orosius", and Ohthere and his journey appear in
4620-613: Is one of the world's northernmost countries. Of world capitals, only Reykjavík lies more to the north than Helsinki. The distance from the southernmost point – Hanko in Uusimaa – to the northernmost – Nuorgam in Lapland – is 1,160 kilometres (720 mi). Finland has about 168,000 lakes (of area larger than 500 m or 0.12 acres) and 179,000 islands. Its largest lake, Saimaa , is the fourth largest in Europe. The Finnish Lakeland
4774-720: Is shared between the Arctic, central European, and northern European provinces of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom . According to the WWF , the territory of Finland can be subdivided into three ecoregions : the Scandinavian and Russian taiga , Sarmatic mixed forests , and Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands . Taiga covers most of Finland from northern regions of southern provinces to
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4928-510: Is strengthened by the immediately following sentence "and all the time he will sail be lande ", and later when the mariner comes to Sciringes heal , by "and all the way on the port side North Way". While sailing along the Norwegian coast, the mariner will first have "Iraland" to starboard, then the islands between "Iraland" and Britain, and finally Britain itself until he comes to Sciringes heal . The principal interpretations of "Iraland" in
5082-500: Is the area with the most lakes in the country; many of the major cities in the area, most notably Tampere , Jyväskylä and Kuopio , are located near the large lakes. The Finnish coastline is speckled with the world's largest archipelago, encompassing more than 50,000 islands, greatest concentration of which is found in the southwest, in the Archipelago Sea between continental Finland and the main island of Åland . Much of
5236-427: Is the highest point in Finland. It is found in the north of Lapland at the border between Finland and Norway. The highest mountain whose peak is entirely in Finland is Ridnitšohkka at 1,316 m (4,318 ft), directly adjacent to Halti. The retreating glaciers have left the land with morainic deposits in formations of eskers . These are ridges of stratified gravel and sand, running northwest to southeast, where
5390-487: Is the largest producer of wood in Europe and among the largest in the world. The most common type of rock is granite . It is a ubiquitous part of the scenery, visible wherever there is no soil cover. Moraine or till is the most common type of soil, covered by a thin layer of humus of biological origin. Podzol profile development is seen in most forest soils except where drainage is poor. Gleysols and peat bogs occupy poorly drained areas. Phytogeographically , Finland
5544-651: Is to be preferred, perhaps at Lunde on the Lista peninsula. Whether Sciringes heal was identical with Skiringssal, or was located in Tjølling parish or west of Lindesnes, it is described in Ohthere's account in the Old English Orosius as a "port" ( an port ). Ohthere's account uses the same word for the Danish trading settlement of Hedeby ( þæm porte ), suggesting that Sciringes heal may have been similar in nature, though
5698-596: The Corded Ware culture in Southern coastal Finland between 3000 and 2500 BC may have coincided with the start of agriculture. Even with the introduction of agriculture, hunting and fishing continued to be important parts of the subsistence economy. In the Bronze Age , permanent all-year-round cultivation and animal husbandry spread, but the cold climate slowed the change. The Seima-Turbino phenomenon brought
5852-599: The Cwenas . Whereas Porthan suggested that the ancient Kvens may have been Swedish, many others came to view the Kvens as an ancient Finnish tribe. Nowadays Kainuu is a name of an inland province in northeastern Finland. In the past the name Kainuu was often used of the more western coastal area around the Bay of Bothnia , even up to the 19th century. In the early Umesaami dictionaries the terms Kainolads and Kainahalja described Norwegian and Swedish men and women respectively. In
6006-617: The Declaration of Independence on 4 December 1917, which was officially approved by the Finnish Parliament on 6 December. The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), led by Vladimir Lenin was the first country to recognise Finland's independence on 4 January 1918. On 27 January 1918, the government began to disarm the Russian forces in Ostrobothnia . The socialists took control of southern Finland and Helsinki, but
6160-519: The Germanic tribe Sitones mentioned in Tacitus' Germania in 98 CE lived in the area in northern Fennoscandia claimed to be Kvenland , saying "There can be no confusion about the geographical location of the Sitones." Kvenland has generated many theories about its origin, the location of Kvenland east of the Bay of Bothnia has, however, been an unchanging feature of most interpretations since
6314-613: The Onciderini also being common. The most common breeding birds are the willow warbler , common chaffinch , and redwing . Of some seventy species of freshwater fish, the northern pike , perch , and others are plentiful. Atlantic salmon remains the favourite of fly rod enthusiasts. The endangered Saimaa ringed seal , one of only three lake seal species in the world, exists only in the Saimaa lake system of southeastern Finland, down to only 390 seals today. The species has become
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6468-591: The Protestant Reformation , the Finns gradually converted to Lutheranism . In the 16th century, a bishop and Lutheran Reformer Mikael Agricola published the first written works in Finnish; and Finland's current capital city, Helsinki , was founded by King Gustav Vasa in 1555. The first university in Finland, the Royal Academy of Turku , was established by Queen Christina of Sweden at
6622-754: The Russian Empire , as recognised by the Diet of Porvoo . This situation continued until the end of 1917. In 1812, Alexander I incorporated the Russian province of Vyborg into the Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1854, Finland became involved in Russia's involvement in the Crimean War when the British and French navies bombed the Finnish coast and Åland during the so-called Åland War . Although Swedish
6776-479: The Russian Empire . During this period, Finnish art flourished and the independence movement began to take hold. Finland became the first territory in Europe to grant universal suffrage in 1906, and the first in the world to give all adult citizens the right to run for public office. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Finland declared its independence . A civil war was fought in Finland
6930-535: The Schlei inlet in what was then south-eastern Denmark. It is in Ohthere's description of this part of the journey that the earliest copy of the Old English Orosius gives the first known mention of the term "Denmark", in the form "dena mearc". However, his first reference to Denmark being on his port side presumably makes reference to areas of the 9th-century Danish kingdom that lay on the Scandinavian peninsula . The reason for Ohthere's visit to King Alfred of Wessex
7084-636: The Social Democratic Party . The development of trade with the Western powers, such as the United Kingdom, and the payment of reparations to the Soviet Union led to Finland's transformation from a primarily agrarian society to an industrialised one. Valmet , originally a shipyard and then several metal workshops, was established to produce materials for war reparations. After the reparations were paid, Finland continued to trade with
7238-623: The Social Democrats , passed the so-called Power Act to give the parliament supreme authority. This was rejected by the Russian Provisional Government , which decided to dissolve the parliament. New elections were held in which the right-wing parties won by a small majority. Some social democrats refused to accept the result, claiming that the dissolution of parliament and the subsequent elections were extra-legal. The two almost equally powerful political blocs,
7392-411: The White Sea , and one southward to the Danish trading settlement of Hedeby via a Norwegian "port" which, in the Old English Orosius, is called "Sciringes heal". He described his journeys partly through the lands and peoples he encountered, and partly through the number of days it took to sail from one point to the next: [e]xperiments with replicas of Viking ships have shown that, somewhat depending on
7546-672: The World Bank , the International Monetary Fund and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade . During the Cold War , Finland officially embraced a policy of neutrality . The YYA treaty (Finno-Soviet Pact of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance) recognized Finland's desire to remain outside great-power conflicts. From 1956 president Urho Kekkonen had a virtual monopoly on relations with
7700-752: The last Ice Age . During the Stone Age , various cultures emerged, distinguished by different styles of ceramics. The Bronze Age and Iron Ages were marked by contacts with other cultures in Fennoscandia and the Baltic region . From the late 13th century, Finland became part of Sweden as a result of the Northern Crusades . In 1809, as a result of the Finnish War , Finland was captured from Sweden and became an autonomous grand duchy within
7854-563: The whooper swan , a large European swan and the national bird of Finland; the Western capercaillie , a large, black-plumaged member of the grouse family; and the Eurasian eagle-owl . The latter is considered an indicator of old-growth forest connectivity, and has been declining because of landscape fragmentation. Around 24,000 species of insects are prevalent in Finland some of the most common being hornets with tribes of beetles such as
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#17327801191978008-408: The 10th-century Jelling stones in Denmark by between 40 and 80 years. He describes Norway as being very long and very narrow, saying that it was about 60 miles (97 km) across "to the east", about 30 miles (48 km) across in the middle, and about 3 miles (5 km) across in the north. While Ohthere is here referring broadly to the width of Norwegian territory between the sea and
8162-401: The 17th century, when the Swedish historians Johannes Messenius and Olaus Rudbeckius first noted the concept of Kvenland in Old Norse sources. In 1650, Professor Michael Wexionius from Turku became the first to associate Kvenland with the Finnish Kainuu . In the 18th century the Finnish historian Henrik Gabriel Porthan , among others, focused attention on the Ohthere passage mentioning
8316-429: The 1950s. After World War II, it industrialised quickly and established an advanced economy, with a welfare state built on the Nordic model . This allowed the country to experience overall prosperity and high per capita income . During the Cold War , Finland officially embraced a policy of neutrality. Since then, it has become a member of the European Union in 1995, the Eurozone in 1999, and NATO in 2023. Finland
8470-420: The 1957 novel The Lost Dragon of Wessex by Gwendolyn Bowers . Ohthere is portrayed by Ray Stevenson in the historical drama Vikings . Finland – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – [ Legend ] Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic country in Northern Europe . It borders Sweden to
8624-562: The 1st millennium AD include the following: In the Old Norse language the word "Finn" ( finnr ) referred to the Finnish people , though, and maybe the Sami people as well; the word has the same meaning in Bokmål (one of the two official standards of the Norwegian language). Skridfinne ("skiing Finn or moving Finns") and finne might also refer to the Sami people, in both the other Scandinavian languages, Latin ( scricfinni/finni ) and Greek ( σκριϑίφινοι / φίννοι ) during mediaeval times. According to Finnish historian Kyösti Julku
8778-428: The Baltic Sea as a kind of Finnish-Swedish "maritime confederation". Klinge has presented a hypothesis of Kvenland as a naval power on the Baltic, located on both the present-day Finnish and Swedish sides of the Gulf of Bothnia as well as in some of the surrounding areas. The folklorist and professor of literature Väinö Kaukonen calls it "fantastic fabulation" and a "dream-wish". However, Professor Emeritus in Archeology at
8932-418: The Baltic Sea region approximately 1900 BC. Common Finnic language was spoken around Gulf of Finland 2000 years ago. The dialects from which the modern-day Finnish language was developed came into existence during the Iron Age. Although distantly related, the Sami people retained the hunter-gatherer lifestyle longer than the Finns. The Sami cultural identity and the Sami language have survived in Lapland ,
9086-409: The Danish trading settlement of Hedeby, via the "port" of Sciringes heal , may have been a trading mission. There is no account of Ohthere's journey to Wessex or explanation for his visit to King Alfred. Ohthere's reported use of the term "Norway" ( norðweg ) in the earliest copy of the Old English Orosius pre-dates the earliest written Scandinavian use of the term, in the runic form "Nuruiak", on
9240-430: The English People and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , which was begun in Alfred's reign. The Old English version of Orosius is an adaptation rather than a direct translation, one of its features being the addition and correction of information concerning European geography. The addition of Ohthere's account of his travels, and that of another traveller named Wulfstan , represents part of that process. The authorship of
9394-528: The Finnish region of Kainuu . Different interpretations of the origins of the mythical Pohjola exist. Some include parts of Lapland and the ancient Kainuu (same as Kvenland according to common view today) in Kalevala's Pohjola. Some point out a similarity with the name Pohjanmaa ( Ostrobothnia in English), a region in western Finland. An original view has been provided by a Finnish historian and Helsinki University professor, Matti Klinge , who has placed Kvenland/Kainuu not only in southern Finland, but around
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#17327801191979548-445: The Finns as the Greater Wrath (1714–1721) and the Lesser Wrath (1742–1743). It is estimated that almost an entire generation of young men was lost during the Great Wrath, due mainly to the destruction of homes and farms, and the burning of Helsinki. The Swedish era ended with the Finnish War of 1809. On 29 March 1809, after being conquered by the armies of Alexander I of Russia , Finland became an autonomous grand duchy within
9702-430: The Middle Ages, Finland gradually became part of the kingdom of Sweden and the sphere of influence of the Catholic Church . Under Sweden, Finland was annexed as part of the cultural order of Western Europe . Swedish was the dominant language of the nobility, administration, and education; Finnish was chiefly a language for the peasantry , clergy, and local courts in predominantly Finnish-speaking areas. During
9856-453: The Norwegian seafarer in the context of efforts to advance the economic recovery of the city of London. Ohthere's account of a journey to the Danish trading settlement of Hedeby , Old English æt hæþum "[port] at the heaths" and German Haithabu , begins with a reference to a place in the south of Norway named Sciringes heal , to which he said one could not sail [from his home in Hålogaland] in one month if one camped at night and each day had
10010-400: The Old English Orosius are that it might mean either Ireland or Iceland . While it is possible that the original text of Ohthere's account read "Isaland", for "Iceland", and that the "s" was at some point replaced by "r", geographically the circumstances described are better suited for Iceland than for Ireland. Alternatively, given that "Iraland" occurs in the same form, with an "r", twice on
10164-442: The Old English Orosius is unknown. In the 12th century William of Malmesbury believed that it was the work of King Alfred himself, but scholarly scrutiny of the text since the mid-20th century, including by the historians Dorothy Whitelock and Janet Bately , has led to this view being refuted on lexical and syntactic grounds. Janet Bately believes that the Old English version of Orosius was created between 889 and 899, probably in
10318-407: The Old English word "port" can signify nothing more than a haven. When Ohthere sailed on from Sciringes heal , he reported having first had Denmark to port and a wide sea to starboard for three days, after which for two days he had islands belonging to Denmark on his port side and Jutland ( Gotland and Sillende ) and many islands to starboard, before arriving at Hedeby, which lay at the head of
10472-438: The Southern-Ostrobothnia but when this habitation disappeared in the early 9th century for unknown reasons, the Norwegians continued to apply the term Kven to the men of Satakunta and Häme who inherited the Northern trade and taxation. Different views exist of why ancient scholars have made references to Kvenland as an area dominated by women. Some have suggested that there may have been misinterpretations of terminology. Whatever
10626-581: The Soviet Union as part of bilateral trade . In 1950, 46% of Finnish workers were employed in agriculture and a third lived in urban areas, but new jobs in manufacturing, services and trade quickly attracted people to the cities. The average number of births per woman fell from a baby boom peak of 3.5 in 1947 to 1.5 in 1973. As the baby boomers entered the workforce, the economy failed to create jobs fast enough and hundreds of thousands emigrated to more industrialised Sweden, with emigration peaking in 1969 and 1970. Finland participated in trade liberalisation in
10780-409: The Soviet Union, and a global economic downturn caused a deep recession in Finland in the early 1990s . The recession bottomed out in 1993 and Finland enjoyed more than a decade of steady economic growth. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Finland began to integrate more closely with the West. Finland joined the European Union in 1995 and the euro zone in 1999. Much of the economic growth of
10934-450: The Soviet Union, which was crucial to his continued popularity. In politics, there was a tendency to avoid any policy or statement that could be interpreted as anti-Soviet. This phenomenon was dubbed " Finlandisation " by the West German press. A market economy was maintained in Finland. Various industries benefited from trade privileges with the Soviets. Economic growth was rapid in the post-war period, and by 1975 Finland's GDP per capita
11088-509: The Swedes, and the Beormas , whom he found living by the White Sea. Ohthere reported that the Beormas spoke a language related to that of the Sami. Ohthere's story is the earliest known written source for the term " Denmark " ( dena mearc ), and perhaps also for " Norway " ( norðweg ). Ohthere's home may have been in the vicinity of Tromsø , in southern Troms county, northern Norway. Ohthere
11242-612: The Tollemache, Helmingham or Lauderdale Orosius, and is kept at the British Library under the reference "Additional 47967". This manuscript was written in Wessex between about 892 and 925, possibly at Winchester . The second manuscript dates from early in the 11th century, is of unknown English provenance, and is kept at the British Library under the reference "Cotton Tiberius B. i". Both manuscripts are copies of
11396-539: The University of Turku, Unto Salo has also concluded that "Kvens/Kainulainens" were men of Satakunta in Southern Finland. There is archeological evidence linking Satakunta and Lapland (for example types of skis) but skipping the areas between which suggests that expeditions were undertaken from Satakunta to the North during the late Viking Age. Further, toponomy suggests that there were regular routes used by
11550-399: The ancient edge of the glacier once lay. Among the biggest of these are the three Salpausselkä ridges that run across southern Finland. Having been compressed under the enormous weight of the glaciers, terrain in Finland is rising due to the post-glacial rebound . The effect is strongest around the Gulf of Bothnia, where land steadily rises about 1 cm (0.4 in) a year. As a result,
11704-512: The area having been ethnically interconnected with Finland and Kvenland during the primeval era, just as suggested by Hversu Noregr byggdist and Orkneyinga saga : "The hunter-gatherers show the greatest similarity to modern-day Finns", says Pontus Skoglund, an evolutionary geneticist at Uppsala University in Sweden. Recent archaeological discoveries made in Finland have further emphasized the close ties between Gotland and modern-day Finland during
11858-483: The area where his "Finnas" lived, he gives a lengthy description of their lives in and around Northern Norway, without mentioning Kvens. Ohthere's mention of the "large [freshwater] meres" and of the Kvens' boats are of great interest. The meres are said to be "amongst the mountains", the words used in the text being geond þa moras . Ohthere may be referring to the Southern Norwegian lake district, which
12012-490: The areas surrounding the Malangen fjord , all near Tromsø . He claimed to be a leading man in his homeland, perhaps to be understood as a chieftain, and described himself as wealthy, owning 600 tame reindeer , of which six were "decoys" used for catching wild reindeer. Conversely, according to the report in the Old English Orosius, Ohthere "had not more than twenty horned cattle, and twenty sheep, and twenty swine, and
12166-749: The beginning of the war to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. There was widespread international condemnation of the unprovoked attack and it led to the Soviet Union being expelled from the League of Nations . The Red Army was defeated in numerous battles, most notably the Battle of Suomussalmi . After two months of negligible progress on the battlefield, as well as heavy losses in men and material, Soviet forces began to advance in February and reached Vyborg ( Finnish : Viipuri ) in March. The Moscow Peace Treaty
12320-462: The border of Russia ( Ruzziam )." (IV 14) Ohthere of H%C3%A5logaland Ohthere of Hålogaland ( Norwegian : Ottar fra Hålogaland ) was a Viking Age Norwegian seafarer known only from an account of his travels that he gave to King Alfred (r. 871–99) of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex in about 890 AD. His account was incorporated into an Old English adaptation of
12474-454: The coastal areas such as Helsinki, snow often covers the land from late December to late March. Even in the south, the harshest winter nights can see the temperatures fall to −30 °C (−22 °F) although on coastal areas like Helsinki, temperatures below −30 °C (−22 °F) are rare. Climatic summers (when mean daily temperature remains above 10 °C or 50 °F) in southern Finland last from about late May to mid-September, and in
12628-436: The contemporary southeast. In chapter XVII Thorolf goes to Kvenland again: That same winter Thorolf went up on the fell with a hundred men; he passed on at once eastwards to Kvenland and met king Faravid. Had Thorolf gone up to the mountains around his homeland Namdalen and then straight "eastwards", i.e., southeast, he would have first reached Jämtland and then Hälsingland. These are the same lands that were listed earlier in
12782-456: The decade. Sauli Niinistö was elected President of Finland from 2012 until 2024, when Alexander Stubb took over. Finnish support for NATO rose sharply after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 . Before February 2022, opinion polls showed a narrow but decisive majority against NATO membership; by April, a supermajority was in favour of membership. On 11 May 2022, Finland signed
12936-601: The early 19th century, mainly by reason of the superficial similarity of the names, to the extent that some modern translations of Ohthere's account feature the name "Skiringssal" in place of "Sciringes heal". Skiringssal is a historical location, mentioned in Scandinavian sagas , which has been identified with some certainty as an area comparable to the parish of Tjølling , a little over 3 miles (5 km) east of Larvik , with important Viking Age archaeological sites at Huseby, just south of Tjølling, and at Kaupang , near
13090-459: The early 890s, but there is no way of knowing whether Ohthere's account was previously in existence and incorporated from the outset, or if it was written down later and incorporated into a subsequent copy. The events that Ohthere described may have taken place at any time from the 870s to the late 890s, and Ohthere's account is given in the form of a third-person report of what he said to King Alfred, rather than as reported speech, as exemplified by
13244-541: The eighth and ninth centuries. Main exports from Finland were furs, slaves, castoreum , and falcons to European courts. Imports included silk and other fabrics, jewelry, Ulfberht swords , and, in lesser extent, glass. Production of iron started approximately in 500 BC. At the end of the ninth century, indigenous artefact culture, especially weapons and women's jewelry, had more common local features than ever before. This has been interpreted to be expressing common Finnish identity. An early form of Finnic languages spread to
13398-558: The emblem of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. A third of Finland's land area originally consisted of moorland , about half of this area has been drained for cultivation over the past centuries. The main factor influencing Finland's climate is the country's geographical position between the 60th and 70th northern parallels in the Eurasian continent's coastal zone. In the Köppen climate classification ,
13552-518: The etymological origin of the element kven , it effortlessly translates to "woman" in Old Norse . Proto-Germanic * kwinōn , * kunōn , * kwēni-z and * kwēnō for 'woman' developed into kona , kvǟn , kvān , kvɔ̄n , kvendi , kvenna and kvinna in Old Norse. It is plausible that this led learned speakers of Old Norse to identify Kvenland with
13706-548: The far bank of the river was "well cultivated" and inhabited by Beormas : historian T.N. Jackson suggests a location for this land – " Bjarmaland " – in the vicinity of the present day Russian town of Kandalaksha , on the western side of the White Sea , while noting that others have identified Ohthere's "large river" as the Northern Dvina , on the eastern side of the White Sea, and place Bjarmaland accordingly. Having just explained how Ohthere did not dare enter
13860-577: The first bronze artefacts to the region and possibly also the Finno-Ugric languages . Commercial contacts that had so far mostly been to Estonia started to extend to Scandinavia. Domestic manufacture of bronze artefacts started 1300 BC. In the Iron Age , population grew. Finland Proper was the most densely populated area. Commercial contacts in the Baltic Sea region grew and extended during
14014-724: The following year, with the Whites emerging victorious. Finland's status as a republic was confirmed in 1919. During World War II , Finland fought against the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War , and later against Nazi Germany in the Lapland War . As a result, it lost parts of its territory but retained its independence and democracy. Finland remained a largely agricultural country until
14168-551: The geography of Finland is a result of the Ice Age. The glaciers were thicker and lasted longer in Fennoscandia compared with the rest of Europe. The eroding effects have contributed to a mostly flat landscape in Finland, characterized by hills. However, in the northern regions, including areas bordering the Scandinavian Mountains, the terrain features mountainous elevations. At 1,324 metres (4,344 ft), Halti
14322-411: The hull form and cargo, under optimal conditions, with a cross wind or more to aft, they can hold an average speed of 6–8 knots over a day's voyage, and that they may reach speeds of 10–12 knots in a breeze. Moreover, they can maintain an effective speed of approximately 2 knots at 55–60° to the wind when tacking. Ohthere said that the land stretched far to the north of his home, and that it
14476-447: The inland, the warmest days of July can reach over 35 °C (95 °F). Although most of Finland lies on the taiga belt, the southernmost coastal regions are sometimes classified as hemiboreal . In northern Finland, particularly in Lapland, the winters are long and cold, while the summers are relatively warm but short. On the most severe winter days in Lapland can see the temperature fall to −45 °C (−49 °F). The winter of
14630-517: The journey to the north are offered in a recent contribution by Michael Korhammer. Most important of them is his proposal of a simple syntactical emendation of the traditional text after which the clause telling the killing of sixty (see above) will refer directly to the walruses, thus reducing Ohthere's mention of the big whales in Norway to a mere aside. The logical consequences of this (well substantiated) emendation, if accepted, would be that Ohthere
14784-615: The land of the Amazons in Greek legend; Adam of Bremen , for example, often mentions Amazons in writing of the far North. Among sources used in the related debate by historians is the following statement of Tacitus from c. 98 CE: "Upon the Suiones, border the people Sitones; and, agreeing with them in all other things, differ from them in one, that here the sovereignty is exercised by a woman. So notoriously do they degenerate not only from
14938-530: The land of the Beormas because it was so well cultivated and because of "unfrið", the report of Ohthere's travels then indicates that he had spoken with them. He explained that the Beormas had told him much about their own land and those of their neighbours, but he says nothing further of this: "he knew not what was true, because he did not see it himself". This incongruity may be explained by his learning of these things from Beormas encountered elsewhere, or from Sami, whose language Ohthere reports as being almost
15092-425: The land there turned east (near North Cape), and he had to wait for a west wind and slightly north and then sailed east along the land for four days. Then he had to wait there for a wind from due north, for the land there turned to the south. He then sailed south along the land for another five days. There a large river stretched up into the land, and they turned up into that river because they dared not sail on beyond
15246-472: The late 1990s was fuelled by the success of mobile phone manufacturer Nokia . The Finnish people elected Tarja Halonen in the 2000 Presidential election , making her the first female President of Finland. Her predecessor, President Martti Ahtisaari , later won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008. Financial crises paralysed Finland's exports in 2008, leading to weaker economic growth throughout
15400-523: The latest, around 8,500 BC during the Stone Age towards the end of the last glacial period . The artefacts the first settlers left behind present characteristics that are shared with those found in Estonia , Russia, and Norway. The earliest people were hunter-gatherers , using stone tools. The first pottery appeared in 5200 BC, when the Comb Ceramic culture was introduced. The arrival of
15554-650: The laws passed by the Finnish parliament. The desire for independence gained ground, first among radical liberals and socialists , partly driven by a declaration called the February Manifesto by the last tsar of the Russian Empire, Nicholas II , on 15 February 1899. After the February Revolution of 1917, Finland's position as a Grand Duchy under the rule of the Russian Empire was questioned. The Finnish parliament , controlled by
15708-477: The little that he ploughed he ploughed with horses." But his main wealth was in tax paid by the Finnas , or Sami people , of whom the highest-born paid 15 marten skins, 5 reindeer skins, 1 bear skin, 10 ambers of feathers, 1 coat of bear skin or otter skin and two ship's ropes, each 60 ells long, made of either whale skin or seal skin. Another source of Ohthere's wealth
15862-534: The men called Sami (Lapps); that is beyond Finnmark. Having traveled for a while, Nór was still "beyond Finnmark." After a brief fight with the Lapps, Nór continued: But Nor went thence westward to the Kjolen Mountains and for a long time they knew nothing of men, but shot beasts and birds to feed to themselves, until they came to a place where the rivers flowed west of the mountains. — Then he went up along
16016-446: The moderating effects of the Baltic Sea and numerous inland lakes to explain the unusually warm climate compared with other regions that share the same latitude , such as Alaska , Siberia , and southern Greenland . Winters in southern Finland (when mean daily temperature remains below 0 °C or 32 °F) are usually about 100 days long, and in the inland the snow typically covers the land from about late November to April, and on
16170-430: The more legendary Hversu Noregr byggdist and Orkneyinga saga . According to Hversu Noregr byggdist , Kvens made sacrifices to Thorri, who "ruled over Gothland, Kvenland (Kænlandi) and Finland." According to Orkneyinga saga , Fornjót was "a king" who "reigned over Gotland, which we now know as Finland and Kvenland." A DNA study conducted on the prehistoric skeletal remains of four individuals from Gotland supports
16324-404: The mountains, the land described as being about 60 miles across "to the east" is probably to be understood as representing the modern Norwegian region of Vestlandet , in the south-west of the country. The land of the Norwegians is further delineated through reference to their neighbours. Away from the sea, a wilderness of moors, or mountains, lay to the east and was inhabited by Finnas ,
16478-616: The mountains, and the Kvens carry their ships over land into the meres, and thence make depredations on the Northmen; they have very little ships, and very light. As is emphasized in the text, Ohthere's account was an oral statement, made to King Alfred, and the section dealing with Kvenland takes up only two sentences. Ohthere's information on Kvens may have been second-hand, since, unlike in his other stories, Ohthere does not emphasize his personal involvement in any way. Ohthere's method of locating Kvenland can be interpreted to mean that Kvenland
16632-463: The north lies Finmark, and there are wide inhabited fell-districts, some in dales, some by lakes. The lakes of Finmark are wonderfully large, and by the lakes there are extensive forests. But high fells lie behind from end to end of the Mark, and this ridge is called Keels. Like Hversu Noregr byggdist , Egils saga clearly separates Finland and Kvenland, listing them as neighboring areas. However, Finland
16786-547: The north of Lapland. On the southwestern coast, south of the Helsinki- Rauma line, forests are characterized by mixed forests, that are more typical in the Baltic region. In the extreme north of Finland, near the tree line and Arctic Ocean, Montane Birch forests are common. Finland had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.08/10, ranking it 109th globally out of 172 countries. Similarly, Finland has
16940-529: The northernmost province. The name Suomi ( Finnish for 'Finland') has uncertain origins, but a common etymology with saame (the Sami) has been suggested. In the earliest historical sources, from the 12th and 13th centuries, the term Finland refers to the coastal region around Turku . This region later became known as Finland Proper in distinction from the country name Finland. (See also Etymology of Finns .) The 12th and 13th centuries were
17094-429: 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, opposite Estonia . Finland covers a total area of 338,145 square kilometres (130,559 sq mi), including a land area of 303,815 square kilometres (117,304 sq mi), and has a population of 5.6 million. Helsinki is the capital and largest city. The vast majority of
17248-452: The number killed to refer to walrus; Janet Bately suggests that it might best be seen as an indication of how many whales could be caught in good conditions. Ropes of whale skin were of sufficient value to be included in the tax paid to Ohthere by the Sami, and Ohthere said that walrus had "very noble bones in their teeth", some of which he brought to King Alfred. Anthropologist Ian Whitaker notes that Ohthere has been described as primarily
17402-471: The old sea bottom turns little by little into dry land: the surface area of the country is expanding by about 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi) annually. Relatively speaking, Finland is rising from the sea. The landscape is covered mostly by coniferous taiga forests and fens , with little cultivated land. Of the total area, 10% is lakes, rivers, and ponds, and 78% is forest. The forest consists of pine , spruce , birch , and other species. Finland
17556-420: The opening sentence: "Ohthere sæde his hlaforde Ælfrede kynincge þæt he ealra Norðmanna norðmest bude." ("Ohthere told his lord Alfred king that he lived northmost of all Norwegians.") Dorothy Whitelock wrote that "Ohthere's account reads like a set of replies to questions put to him." The Old English version of Orosius survives almost complete in two Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. The earliest is known variously as
17710-409: The other hand only a handful of scholars have supported the meaning "contrary". In contrast to the account of his journey to the north ("He sailed north", "the land turned eastwards" etc.) and the voyage from Sciringes heal to Hedeby ("When he sailed", "before he came to Hedeby" etc.), Ohthere does not employ the past tense when he describes sailing south along the Norwegian coast; he does not report
17864-526: The people of Satakunta to get to the North. Lastly, haapio, a type of a very light dugout boat was used extensively in Satakunta and would have been ideal for such expeditions. Unto Salo speculates that the name Haaparanta ("Aspen shore") in the Northern Sweden (county of Norrbotten) would have been given due to presence of asps needed to build haapios. Originally Kvenland was more likely situated in
18018-414: The philologist Irmeli Valtonen, "[the] text does not give us a clear picture where the Cwenas are to be located though it seems a reasonable conclusion that they lived or stayed somewhere in the modern-day areas of Northern Sweden or Northern Finland." The name "Kven" briefly appears later in King Alfred's Orosius . The Kven Sea is mentioned as the northern border for the ancient Germany , and Kvenland
18172-427: The population are ethnic Finns . The official languages are Finnish and Swedish ; 84.9 percent of the population speak the first as their mother tongue and 5.1 percent the latter. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. The land cover is predominantly boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 recorded lakes . Finland was first settled around 9000 BC after
18326-549: The population, making it one of the worst famines in European history. The famine led the Russian Empire to relax financial regulations, and investment increased in the following decades. Economic development was rapid. The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was still half of that of the United States and a third of that of Britain. From 1869 to 1917, the Russian Empire pursued a policy of Russification , which
18480-568: The present-day Swedish Norrland or the western part of the present-day Finland. The information of Kvenland being situated "over the wastes", northwards from the Viking-period "Sweden" (corresponding roughly to the south-central part of present-day Sweden) matches the idea of Kvenland extending to Norrland. There is no " Finland " mentioned anywhere either in the original or the updated version of Orosius' history. Three medieval Icelandic accounts discuss Kvenland. They are Egils saga and
18634-553: The primeval era. In the late spring of 2013, a Merovingian period (600–800 AD) silver plate, believed to be a piece of a sword scabbard, was discovered in Rautjärvi , Finland. The origin of the silver plate has been traced to Gotland, based on its style of ornamentation. According to Jukka Luoto of the Museum of South Karelia, "this indicates that these areas have independently conducted trade with Gotland." Orkneyinga saga contains
18788-495: The proportion of the population with capital. About 70% of the workforce was employed in agriculture and 10% in industry. The Soviet Union launched the Winter War on 30 November 1939 to annex Finland in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany to divide Europe into spheres of influence between the two dictatorships. The Finnish Democratic Republic was set up by Joseph Stalin at
18942-517: The proposal of Count Per Brahe in 1640. The Finns reaped a reputation in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) as a well-trained cavalrymen called " Hakkapeliitta ". Finland suffered a severe famine in 1695–1697 , during which about one third of the Finnish population died, and a devastating plague a few years later . In the 18th century, wars between Sweden and Russia twice led to the occupation of Finland by Russian forces, times known to
19096-553: The publication of what would become Finland's national epic , the Kalevala , in 1835 and the legal equality of the Finnish language with Swedish in 1892. In the spirit of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson - "we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, so let us be Finns" - a Finnish national identity was established. Nevertheless, there was no real independence movement in Finland until the early 20th century. The Finnish famine of 1866–1868 occurred after freezing temperatures in early September devastated crops and killed around 15% of
19250-586: The right-wing parties and the Social Democratic Party, were deeply divided. The October Revolution in Russia changed the geopolitical situation once again. Suddenly the right-wing parties in Finland began to reconsider their decision to block the transfer of supreme executive power from the Russian government to Finland when the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia. The right-wing government, led by Prime Minister P. E. Svinhufvud , presented
19404-428: The river because of "unfrið" (usually translated as "hostility"), since the land was all settled on the other side of the river. He had not previously encountered any cultivated land since he travelled from his own home, but there was waste land all the way on his starboard side, except for fishermen and fowlers and hunters, and they were all finnas, and open sea had always been on his port side. According to Ohthere,
19558-406: The saga. If the passage about going "southwest" is taken literally and directly, continuing from Hälsingland across the Gulf of Bothnia Thorolf would have arrived in the southwestern tip of present-day Finland, the center of Finland's Viking period population (see map). Again, as with Ohthere , Finns and Kvens are not discussed at the same time. The saga tells how Norwegians taxed the Finns, but there
19712-489: The same as that of the Beormas . Historian Christine Fell suggests that the Old English Orosius' use of the word "unfrið" might rather indicate that Ohthere made a diplomatic approach to the Beormas because he had no trading agreement with them. The Beormas have been linked with the Old Permic culture , for example through late-medieval treaties dealing with, among other things, a territory called Koloperem ' ,
19866-616: The same era. One of the texts may have been written in Norway . Norna-Gests þáttr has a brief mention of the king of Denmark and Sweden , Sigurd Hring (ruling in the mid-8th century), fighting against the Curonians and the Kvens: Sigurd Ring ( Sigurðr ) was not there, since he had to defend his land, Sweden ( Svíþjóð ), since Curonians ( Kúrir ) and Kvens ( Kvænir ) were raiding there. Historia Norwegiae
20020-537: The same manuscript page, and given that Ohthere was a seafarer, it may be that he was describing sea-routes to Ireland and Britain rather than actual directions, with no thought for Iceland. Britain, or England, is regarded as self-evident, represented in Ohthere's account through the phrase "this land" ( þis land ): Ohthere is reported as giving his account in person to King Alfred of Wessex. Sciringes heal has been held to represent Skiringssal ( Old Norse : Skíringssalr ) in almost all relevant historical writing since
20174-429: The shoreline south-west of Tjølling, in the south-eastern county of Vestfold in modern Norway. An alternative view is that an identification of Sciringes heal with Skiringssal is impossible to reconcile with the detail of Ohthere's account, and is unlikely for historical and linguistic reasons. According to this interpretation, a location for Sciringes heal west of Lindesnes , the southernmost extremity of Norway,
20328-459: The so-called second crusade to Finland , in 1249 against Tavastians and the third crusade to Finland in 1293 against the Karelians. The so-called first crusade to Finland , possibly in 1155, most likely never occurred. As a result of the crusades (mostly with the second crusade led by Birger Jarl ) and the colonization of some Finnish coastal areas with Christian Swedish population during
20482-471: The summer of 1944 led to a breakthrough until the Finns finally repulsed it at Tali-Ihantala . This partial Soviet success led to a stalemate and later an armistice . This was followed by the Lapland War of 1944–1945, when Finland fought retreating German forces in northern Finland. The Armistice and treaty signed with the Soviet Union in 1944 and 1948 included Finnish obligations, restraints, and reparations, as well as further territorial concessions. As
20636-708: The term used in reference to the Kvens . According to Thomas William Shore , the English language term queen derives from the term qwen , a spelling used for the Kvens e.g. by Wulfila in c. 352 CE and King Alfred the Great of Wessex in c. 890 CE. In 1075 AD, in Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum , the German chronicler Adam of Bremen calls Kvenland Women's Land, stating the following: Meanwhile Swedes ( Sueones ), who had expelled their bishop, got
20790-437: The valleys that run south of the fjord. That fjord is now called Trondheim. Starting somewhere on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, Nór had either gone all the way up and around the Gulf, or skied across; it was winter, and the gulf might have been frozen. Nór ended up attacking the area around Trondheim in central Norway and later the lake district in the south, conquering the country and uniting it under his rule. There
20944-485: The war as the only European country to have taken part in hostilities that was never occupied and managed to preserve its democracy throughout. For a few decades after 1944, the Communists were a strong political party. Furthermore, the Soviet Union persuaded Finland to refuse Marshall Plan aid. However, in the hope of preserving Finland's independence, the United States provided secret development aid and supported
21098-501: The white government continued in exile in Vaasa . This led to a short but bitter civil war . The Whites , backed by Imperial Germany , prevailed over the Reds and their self-proclaimed Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic . After the war, tens of thousands of Reds were interned in camps where thousands were executed or died of malnutrition and disease. A deep social and political enmity
21252-539: The whole of Finland lies in the boreal zone , characterized by warm summers and freezing winters. Within the country, the temperateness varies considerably between the southern coastal regions and the extreme north, showing characteristics of both a maritime and a continental climate . Finland is near enough to the Atlantic Ocean to be continuously warmed by the Gulf Stream . The Gulf Stream combines with
21406-402: Was all wasteland, except for a few places where finnas ( Sami ) camped to hunt in the winter and fish in the summer. He said that he once wanted to find out how far the land extended to the north, or if anyone lived north of the waste. He sailed north along the coast for three days, as far north as whale-hunters would go, and continued to travel north as far as he could sail in three days. Then
21560-452: Was established in 1920 by the Treaty of Tartu , which largely followed the historical border but gave Finland Pechenga ( Finnish : Petsamo ) and its Barents Sea port. Finnish democracy survived Soviet coup attempts and the anti-communist Lapua movement . In 1917 there were three million people in the country. After the civil war, a credit-based land reform was introduced, increasing
21714-511: Was in "Halgoland", or Hålogaland , where he lived "north-most of all Norwegians … [since] no-one [lived] to the north of him". Ohthere spoke of his travels north to the White Sea , and south to Denmark , describing both journeys in some detail. He also spoke of Sweoland (central Sweden), the Sami people ( Finnas ), and of two peoples called the Cwenas , living in Cwena land to the north of
21868-564: Was involved in the fur trade. Orosius ' 5th-century Seven Books of History Against the Pagans was a popular work of history in the Middle Ages , with about 250 manuscript copies from that period surviving today. Late in the 9th century King Alfred of Wessex , or members of his court, appear to have seen it as a useful basis for a world-history written in their own language, and an Old English version may have been seen as complementary to Bede 's 8th-century Ecclesiastical History of
22022-468: Was located in and around the northern part of the modern-day Sweden and in the mid-western part of the modern-day Finland , when the difference in the Viking compass is taken into consideration (see more further below). Other, somewhat later sources call the land adjacent to the northern part of Norway " Finnmark ." Ohthere's Finnas may be a reference to the Sami people , but not all historians agree on this. Although Ohthere does not give any name for
22176-475: Was no whale-hunter at all, that his killing of the sixty walruses took place in the White Sea, and that a ship's crew of five (or six) men there would indicate the use of an early cargo-ship comparable to the later Skuldelev 1 or Skuldelev 3 ships. The author revives the old theory that Ohthere was an exile and had left Norway for good by pointing to the exclusive use of the Old English preterite tense regarding Ohthere's person; he sees King Alfred's interview with
22330-457: Was not the author of the sagas, but was rather collecting very old stories that had been transmitted orally for many centuries. The saga covers a long period, starting in Norway in 850 CE and ending around 1000 CE. It contains a short description of Egil's uncle Thorolf Kveldulfsson co-operating with a Kvenland king, Faravid , against invading Karelians. Rather accurate geographical details about Kvenland's location are given in chapter XIV: Finmark
22484-501: Was often assumed by critics, but answers a question of King Alfred's court (see D. Whitelock above) about distances, "how long is the North Way?", or "how long is it from your home to the south?". Korhammer claims that Ohthere here uses the worst-case scenario of a theoretical sailing voyage lasting longer than one month for a description of the very great length of the Norwegian coast-line to his Anglo-Saxon audience. This interpretation
22638-620: Was signed on 12 March 1940, and the war ended the following day. Finland had defended its independence, but ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Union. Hostilities resumed in June 1941 with the Continuation War , when Finland allied itself with Germany following the latter's invasion of the Soviet Union ; the main aim was to regain the territory lost to the Soviets barely a year earlier. Finnish troops occupied Eastern Karelia from 1941 to 1944. The massive Soviet Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive in
22792-580: Was sown between the Reds and the Whites that would last until the Winter War and beyond. The civil war and the activist expeditions to Soviet Russia in 1918–1920, known as the " Kinship Wars ", strained relations with the East. After a brief experiment with monarchy , when an attempt to make Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse the king of Finland failed, a republican constitution was adopted and Finland became
22946-496: Was still widely spoken, the Finnish language began to gain recognition during this period. From the 1860s, a strong Finnish nationalist movement , known as the Fennoman movement , grew. One of the movement's most prominent leaders was the philosopher and politician J.V. Snellman , who worked to stabilise the status of the Finnish language and its own currency, the Finnish markka , in the Grand Duchy of Finland. Milestones included
23100-411: Was suspended between 1905 and 1908. In 1906, universal suffrage was introduced in the Grand Duchy of Finland. However, relations between the Grand Duchy of Finland and the Russian Empire soured when the Russian government began to take steps to restrict Finland's special status and autonomy. For example, universal suffrage was virtually meaningless in practice, as the tsar did not have to approve any of
23254-597: Was the 15th highest in the world. During the 1970s and 1980s, Finland built one of the most extensive welfare states in the world. Finland negotiated a treaty with the European Economic Community (EEC, a forerunner of the European Union) that largely eliminated tariffs with the EEC from 1977. Miscalculated macroeconomic decisions, a banking crisis , the collapse of its largest trading partner,
23408-400: Was the hunting of whales and walrus . He is reported as saying that his own land was best for whale-hunting, with walrus up to 7 ells long and whales mostly 50 ells long, and that with five men he had killed sixty of them in two days. While the killing of this number of whales in two days seems unlikely, historian Kjell-Olav Masdalen suggests that, rather than whales, Ohthere intended
23562-461: Was very long and very narrow ... and to the east are wild mountains, parallel to the cultivated land. Finnas inhabit these mountains ... Then along this land southwards, on the other side of the mountain ( sic ), is Sweden ... and along that land northwards, Kvenland ( Cwenaland ). The Kvens ( Cwenas ) sometimes make depredations on the Northmen over the mountain, and sometimes the Northmen on them; there are very large [freshwater] meres amongst
23716-487: Was written sometime between 1160 and 1175 CE in an unknown location. It contains a list of peoples in the North: But towards north many pagan tribes—alas!—stretch from the east behind Norway, namely Karelians ( Kiriali ) and Kvens ( Kwæni ), Horned Finns ( cornuti Finni ) and both peoples of Bjarmia ( utrique Biarmones ). But what tribes dwell behind them, have we no certainty. The Icelandic Annals have
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