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Who are the native people of Finland?
The Sámi people (/ˈsɑːmi/ SAH-mee; also spelled Sami or Saami) are an indigenous Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Russia, most of the Kola Peninsula in particular.
Does Finland have indigenous peoples?
There are about 7,500 Sami (or 0.15% of the total population of Finland) in Finland (source: National Minorities of Finland), the country’s only indigenous minority (see Norway for main discussion). Most Sami continue to reside in their traditional area, which is known as the Sami Homeland (Sámiid ruovttuguovlu).
Are the Sami Vikings?
The Sami. One important connection within Viking society were the Arctic Sami (also called Finnar and formerly known as Laplanders, sometimes spelled Saami). Archaeological finds reveal that the Sami livelihood was part of the Viking culture, and the Sami were also semi-nomadic hunters.
Are Sámi Europeans?
However, a number of class I and class II alleles (B*4001, A*2402, DRB1*0901 and DRB1*1101) in the Swedish Sami are characteristic of Asian populations. Admixture analyses indicate that 87% of the Sami gene pool is of European origin and that the Asian contribution is 13%.
Where did Sámi people come from?
Sami are the indigenous people of the northernmost parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The Sami speak a language belonging to the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic language family with Finns, Karelians, and Estonians as their closest linguistic neighbors.
Who colonized the Sami?
Colonialism is relevant in two distinct ways: the Norwegian state was formed through quasi-colonial relationships of political domination by both Denmark and Sweden, and Sápmi was claimed and settled by non-Sámi people while Sámi were assimilated into Norwegian society.
The genetic origin of the Sámi people is complex and difficult to trace. Their beginnings are closely linked with the origin of the Finns. Both groups speak a Finno-Ugric language that causes them to be singled out among their Indo-European neighbors and associated historically with each other.
A member of the Finno-Ugric language group and thus related to Finnish, Sami consists of three branches, sufficiently different from each other to be considered as separate languages. Each of the three branches of Sami can be divided into two to four distinctive dialects.
What did Vikings call the Sami?
Lapp
In the 9th and 10th centuries the Swedish Vikings are thought to have introduced the name “Lapp.” This name then spread throughout Scandinavia, to the Finns, the Russians and later to the Germans, Hungarians, Estonians and other groups. Today, the Sami prefer the name Sami, and their land is called Sapmi.