Finns

About 94% of the inhabitants in Finland are ethnic Finns. The largest miniority is the swedish speaking finns, 6% of the total population. Besides the above mentioned ethnic groups there are also living some other ethnic groups in Finland which are presented in this chapter.

Today four main ethnic Finnish groups can be recognized, Häme, Karelians, Savo and Ostrobothnians. Besides that, also following ethnic groups live in Finland: Swedes, Russians, Sami, Jews, Roms and Tatars. A famous Swedish ethnographer and antropologist, Gustaf Retzius, investigated the characters of the Finnish ethnic groups in the turn of last century. In the following you can read the old descriptions of the Finnish ethnic groups:

Häme

"He is sombre, manly, gloomy, pensive, morose and tackiturn, he is not eager, animated nor springtly (physically or mentally), but he is rather slow and sluggish and, being very reactionary he opposes all improvements and changes. Albeit sluggish, he works hard and does not give up easily, as long as he can go on. If treated kindly, he is hospitable and eager to help. He is loyal, although he does not show his afection but rather proves himself by actions. He is seldom heard singing."

Savo

"Savo people lives in the no-man's land between Karelians and people from Häme. They do not seem to be any better than their neighbours, they are prone to cunning and their reason is more developed than emotions. They have sharp business acuemen and are resourceful when dealing with other people".

Karelia

"He is not so strong and thickset as a person from Häme, he is more slender and well-proportioned. Their facial expression is usually lively, open and attractive". Retzius does not save ink when describing the beauti of Karelian women. "Karelian women, who often have an oval face and symmetrical features, a straight pointed nose, well-rounded blue eyes, a full mouth, somewhat lively facial expression, fine and sometimes slender figure, are quite pretty and there are real beauties among them as well".

Ostrobothnia

It is the great plains on the west coast that characterise the soul of a person from Ostrobothnia. There have traditionally been very long distances between villages and even housholds and this is why the Ostrobothnian character has become proud and independent. There is also one place called Laihia in Ostrobothnia and jokes about them being very stingy is told in Finland (similar like jokes about Scots as being the stingiest people in the world).(Dahlgren & Nurmelin, 1998)

There old ethnic groups are still today used, but as people get more and more mixed it may be difficult to recognize a certain group.