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Chapter 12 The Saami (Lapp) People of Norway, Sweden, and Finland HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The indigenous people of northern Europe, who inhabit a region much of which is above the Arctic Circle, are variously known as "Lapps" (in the Finnish language), "Finns" (in Norwegian, formerly), or, by their own choice in more recent times, as the "Saami." Their traditional homeland, "Sapmi" (or Lapland), stretches in a great arc from the Soviet Kola peninsula, across the northern third of Finland, and along both sides of the mountain range which separates Norway and Sweden, for a distance of some 1,500 kilometers. At least one-half of the total estimated Saami population of 60,000 is in Norway, and 15,000-20,000 of this number live in the northernmost Norwegian county of Finnmark. There are 17,000-20,000 Saami in Sweden , approximately 5,000 in Finland, and some 2,000-3,000 in the Soviet Union. However, the Saami constitute a majority in only six Norwegian communes in the heart of Finnmark (out of a total of over 400 in the entire country) and a single commune in Finland; despite the vast territory which they inhabit, they remain a tiny minority in a Nordic sea of over sixteen million people.72%evertheless, one can speak of a generally recognized Saami heartland of some 75,000 square kilometers, which extends from Varanger in northeastern Norway, over inner Finnmark and northern Finland through Swedish L,apland. Despite their small numbers, the Saami may be divided geograph728 The five members of the Nordic Council arc Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark , and Iceland; for convenience, if somewhat inaccurately, "Nordic" in the present chapter will be used as a shorthand reference only to the first three, in which the Saami population is found. Chapter 12 The Saami (Lapp) People of Norway, Sweden, and Finland HISTORfCAL BACKGROUND The indigenous people of northern Europe, who inhabit a region much of which is above the Arctic Circle, are variously known as "Lapps" (in the Finnish language), "Finns" (in Norwegian, formerly), or, by their own choice in more recent times, as the "Saami." Their traditional homeland, "Sapmi" (or Lapland), stretches in a great arc from the Soviet Kola peninsula, across the northern third of Finland, and along both sides of the mountain range which separates Norway and Sweden, for a distance of some 1,500 kilometers. At least one-half of the total estimated Saami population of 60,000 is in Norway, and 15,000-20,000 of this number live in the northernmost Norwegian county of Finnmark. There are 17,000-20,000 Saami in Sweden , approximately 5,000 in Finland, and some 2,000-3,000 in the Soviet Union. However, the Saami constitute a majority in only six Norwegian communes in the heart of Finnmark (out of a total of over 400 in the entire country) and a single commune in Finland; despite the vast territory which they inhabit, they remain a tiny minority in a Nordic sea of over sixteen million people.728 Nevertheless, one can speak of a generally recognized Saami heartland of some 75,000 square kilometers, which extends from Varanger in northeastern Norway, over inner Finnmark and northern Finland through Swedish Lapland. Despite their small numbers, the Saami may be divided geograph728 The five members of the Nordic Council are Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark , and Iceland; for convenience, if somewhat inaccurately, "Nordic" in the present chapter will be used as a shorthand reference only to the first three, in which the Saami population is found. 248 Searchingfor Solutions ically and linguistically into four major groups: most of the largest group, the northern Saami, live north of the 68th parallel (Arctic Circle); the small group of eastern Saami are found primarily in what is now the Soviet Union; the central Saami live on both sides of the NorwegianSwedish border, roughly between the 68th and 66th parallels; and the southern Saami inhabit Norway and Sweden south of the 66th parallel. Another general distinction which is sometimes drawn is between the "mountain" and "sea" Saami. The Saami language belongs to the Finno-Ugrian group, somewhat related to Finnish and Hungarian but distinct from the Germanic languages which were the foundations of modern Swedish and Norwegian. At least ten different dialects have been recognized, including the four Saami languages which correspond to the four geographic designations mentioned above. Until the twentieth century, Saamish was only a spoken language, although three different orthographies have been recognized by Saami and...

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