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Ingrians (Russian Federation)

by jan oskar engene 18-MAR-1996.

Ingria (Ingermanland)

See also:Russian Federation

Ingria (Ingermanland)

Ingria is the area southwest of St.Petersburg in Russia. The area belonged to Sweden between 1617 and 1721, and was populated by 'good Swedes' moved in from Finland (Karelia). Consequently, the area had a Finnish speaking population. Most of them fled to Finland after the wars between Finland and the USSR. After the first World War, however, the area gained limited self rule within Russia, and a flag was adopted. The colours were taken from the Ingrian arms of Swedish times: Yellow-red-blue. The proportions were 22:36 (8-1-4-1-8-: 10- 1-4-1-20). There are still a few Ingrians left in Russia (829 in the 1989 Soviet census), and active emigre communities in Finland, so the flag might still be in use.

jan oskar engene 20-MAR-1996

AIUI Stalin had the remaining Ingrians deported during the 30s. Have they now returned in sufficient numbers to agitate for changes? I also recall reading that at the end of the Winter War, when the Finnish population in the ceded areas was given a week to decide whether to decamp to the remainder of Finland or stay and become Soviet citizens, all but a handful left.

NB Ingria is not the same area as the parts of Finnish Karelia ceded in 1940. Rather it was the coastal strip between Estonia and Finland (pre-1940 boundary), roughly contiguous to the old St. Petersburg / Leningrad province but not quite as extensive into the hinterland. I also recall once reading in a reference book (possibly an old copy of the _Encyclopedia Brittanica_) that as late as the 1890s some 90% of the rural population of St. Petersburg government was Finnish-speaking, as was some 10% of the city's population. From that point though, rapid industrialisation appears to have cemented the Russification of the area.

roy stilling 18-SEP-1995

I think you are right. The only active Ingrian group I'm aware of is an _emigre_ group operating in Finland itself. But my information of them dates from before the collapse of the USSR, so things may have changed.

stuart notholt 19-SEP-1995