ABSTRACT
Northern Karelia in Finland and the Republic of Karelia in Russia is geoI graphically close - indeed, the border between Russia and Finland sepaI rates these two regions. Both regions are geographically, economically and politically peripheral. Northern Karelia is situated in the eastern part of Finland, while the Republic of Karelia is located in the northwestern part of the Russian Federation. (See the map on the next page.) The 780,000 inhabitants of the Republic of Karelia include several nationalities. RusI sians form the largest national group (74 %), and the second largest group is that made up of the Karelians (10 %). There are other smaller nationaliI ties: Finns, Belorussians, Ukrainians and the Veps people. It may also be noted that 82 per cent of the Karelian population lives in urban areas. (Oksa and Varis, 1994.)
One hundred and seventy thousand people live in Northern Karelia. The region has received immigrants from the former Yugoslavia, Somalia and Vietnam. In addition, a small number of Ingrians who have been perI mitted to migrate to Finland from Russia and Estonia as a result of their Finnish nationality have also settled in Northern Karelia. In the Finnish province of Northern Karelia, as in Finland as a whole, the proportion of immigrants is very small2. For example, in Joensuu, the capital of NorthI ern Karelia, there are 850 immigrants, who constitute less than 2 per cent of the population. Russians are the largest group of immigrants both in the whole country and in Joensuu.
