Finnish ethnicity indicates genetic origins in Finland. The Finnish people are an ethnic group native to modern Finland, a Northern European country bordering Sweden, Norway, Russia, and the Baltic Sea. Finns are part of the broader Baltic-Finnic people — a Finno-Ugric people (originating from the Ural region separating Europe and Asia) — inhabiting the Baltic Sea region. The bulk of all Finnic peoples (98%) reside in the only two independent Finnic nation-states, Finland and Estonia, and otherwise constitute small minority groups in neighboring Sweden, Norway, and Russia. Ethnic Finns number approximately 6–7 million people, predominantly residing in Finland and its surrounding countries. An overseas Finnish diaspora has long been established in the countries of the Americas and Oceania. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw a surge of Finnish migration to the U.S., known as the “Great Migration.” The largest concentration of Finnish descendants in the U.S. is in the state of Michigan, where approximately 50% of all Finnish-Americans reside.
Finnish history
Modern sources place the migration of Finnic people into Finland between 100 B.C.E. and 100 C.E., although others argue the migration took place many centuries earlier. What is certain is that when the ancestors of the Finns moved in, they pushed the Sámi — descendants of nomadic peoples who had inhabited northern Scandinavia for thousands of years — to the northern reaches of the Scandinavian peninsula. Today, Sámi people live in Finnish Lapland, as well as adjacent areas of northern Norway, Sweden, and Russia. Having maintained their language and culture, Sámi people constitute an important ethno-linguistic minority in Finland, and are considered the only indigenous people of the European Union.
During the Viking Age (eighth to eleventh centuries), Finland lay along the northern boundary of the trade routes to Russia, and the inhabitants of the area served as suppliers of furs in the northern economy. The Finns were apparently not among the tribes who took part in the Viking expeditions. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were turbulent times in the area, due in part to an ongoing northern crusade by forces of the Holy Roman Empire as well as frequent conflicts between Finnish tribes and the neighboring Novgorod Republic (in modern northwestern Russia). Crusades by Christian Danes and Swedes accelerated the Christianization of Finland, a process which led to the eradication of Finnish traditional religion — a combination of various layers of Finnic, Norse, Germanic, and Baltic polytheism.
Following centuries of Swedish incursions, the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 marked the official annexation of Finland to the kingdom of Sweden. For the next 500 years, Finnish history was Swedish history: Swedish became the dominant language of the nobility, administration, and education while Finnish was chiefly a language for the peasantry, clergy, and local courts. The origins of Finnish ties to Western Europe are rooted in this period, as the Kingdom of Sweden strongly tied Finns to Western cultural heritage. For example, having adopted Lutheranism together with the Church of Sweden, Finns fought in the Thirty Years’ War with Swedish troops in Central Europe. Russia captured the region of Finland from Sweden in 1808–1809, granting Finland the status of autonomous Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire. Helsinki was chosen as the capital in 1812. In 1866–1868, famine ravaged Finland, killing 15% of the population, which makes it one of the worst famines in European history.
Finland was granted its own parliament in 1906, and the first elections were held in 1907. Finland declared independence on December 6, 1917, and the Bolshevik government that seized power in Russia recognized Finnish independence. Soon after, though, a bloody civil war broke out in Finland, fought between the socialist labor movement and government loyalists. Ultimately, government forces prevailed, and Finland came under strong German influence due to the perceived threat of the Soviet Union. Throughout WWII, Finland successfully fought off successive Soviet incursions. Following the war, Finland gradually transitioned from an agrarian to an industrialized country, prompting a significant migration from the countryside into the cities. Finnish and Soviet relations warmed after the war, but the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s pushed Finland westward. In 1995, Finland joined the European Union and was one of the first countries to adopt the euro as its currency.
Finnish culture
Finnish customs and manners are distinctly European, with only a few national variations. Finns have a very strong sense of national identity and pride, rooted in the nation’s wartime achievements, the sporting merits of Olympic athletes like Paavo Nurmi and Lasse Viren, and its cultural achievements — most notably nineteenth century composer Jean Sibelius. While today restaurant menus and home cooking rarely involve food that western visitors would not be acquainted with, traditional Finnish cuisine includes dishes like karjalanpiirakka (rice pies), kalakukko (fish pie), or poronkaristys (sautéed reindeer).
Finns have popularized an element of their culture around the world: the sauna. Deriving from an ancient Finnish word referring to the traditional Finnish bath and to the bathhouse, saunas play an important role in Finnish recreational culture, family time, and even business etiquette. Finnish saunas can get quite hot — but if the heat gets too intense, it is common to step out for a jäähy — a cooling break from the sweat room. Other important Finnish-born inventions include the rescue toboggan, the heart-rate monitor, salty liquorice (salmiakki), the Linux OS, ice skates, Angry Birds, and the SMS.
Based on the results of a 2010 study, Newsweek magazine rated Finland as the “World’s Best Country.” The magazine compared 100 countries for their health, economy, education, quality of life, and politics. Finland emerged as first mainly by virtue of its strength in education and quality of life. Visitors to Finland inclined to make the long journey north to Bøkfjord Bridge on the shores of the Arctic Ocean will be rewarded with a breathtaking view of one of the world’s most elusive and enchanting phenomena, the aurora borealis — the Northern Lights.
Finnish languages
The Finnish language is a sub-group of the broader Finno-Ugric language group, which also includes Hungarian, Estonian, and Karelian. These languages are markedly different from most other languages spoken in Europe, which belong to the Indo-European family of languages. The linguistic Finno-Ugric connection developed into an ethnic fraternity among Finno-Ugric-speaking peoples, especially Baltic Finns, during the twentieth century.
See also
Explore more about ethnicity estimates
- MyHeritage DNA at MyHeritage
- Ethnicities around the world at MyHeritage
- What Is My Ethnicity? How MyHeritage Estimates Ethnicities at MyHeritage Knowledge Base
- Where's My Ethnicity?!: Why An Ethnicity Might Not Show Up In Your DNA (and How To Find Evidence Of It Anyway) at MyHeritage Knowledge Base