Karelia << kuh REE lee uh or kuh REEL yuh >> is a republic in the northwestern part of Russia. It lies east of Finland and south of Murmansk oblast (region). It covers 69,700 square miles (180,500 square kilometers) and has about 533,000 people.
Most of the inhabitants of Karelia are Russian. Only about 10 percent of the population are native speakers of Karelian, a language related to Finnish. Forests, lakes, rivers, and hilly plains cover much of the land. Lumbering and paper production are the republic’s main industries. Iron mining and metallurgy are also important. The capital and largest city of the republic is Petrozavodsk.
During the late Middle Ages, much of Karelia came under Russian rule as a part of the principality of Novgorod. Sweden controlled western regions of Karelia from the early 1600’s to the early 1700’s, when Peter the Great seized Karelia upon defeating Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700-1721). Finland controlled part of Karelia from 1918 to 1940 and from 1941 to 1944.
