Karelia

Karelia, respublika (republic), far northwestern Russia. It is bordered to the north by Nenets, to the east by the White Sea, to the south by Lake Ladoga, and to the west by Finland. The capital is Petrozavodsk, on the western shore of Lake Onega.

Underlain by a part of the ancient rocks of the Baltic crystalline shield, the surface of the republic is largely a broad, flat, and swampy plain that shows the effects of the ice ages. Finger-shaped lakes and swampy depressions between long, narrow ridges of glacial deposition occur in the south. In the north, glaciation has scoured away the surface deposits, leaving thousands of lake-filled hollows and rock outcrops that produce innumerable rapids in the region’s many short rivers. About half of Karelia is forested, with dense taiga dominated by pine, spruce, and birch growing in podzolic soils that are poor and thin. In the swampy areas sphagnum peat bogs are common. The cold winter climate is modified by warm, humid air masses from the west, but incursions of Arctic air cause severe cold spells. During February, the coldest month, temperatures average 14 °F (−10 °C) in the south and 7 °F (−14 °C) in the north. Summers are short, cool, and susceptible to frosts, with average temperatures of 61 °F (16 °C) in the south and 57 °F (14 °C) in the north. Annual precipitation, mostly in the form of snow, varies from 16 inches (400 mm) in the north to 24 inches (600 mm) in the south, with snow cover in the Ladoga region accumulating to 40 inches (1,000 mm).

Eastern Karelia has been a part of Russia since 1323. Western Karelia was obtained by Peter I (the Great) from Sweden by treaty in 1721, and the area was administratively reunited with the grand duchy of Finland in the 19th century when Russia obtained suzerainty over all Finland. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the proclamation of Finnish independence, a 1920 peace treaty left eastern Karelia in Soviet hands and awarded western Karelia to Finland. Western Karelia was annexed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics after the latter’s victory in the Russo-Finnish War (1939–40), however. After a 1947 peace treaty between the Soviets and Finland confirmed the annexation, almost the entire Finnish population of western Karelia moved into Finland.

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.

SIGN UP

By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Since 1917, the status of Karelia has changed several times; in 1923 it became an autonomous republic; in 1940, after the addition of western Karelia, it was given full union-republic status; and in 1956 Karelia reverted to its present status. Russians constitute the majority of the population, but there are also Karelians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Finns. The republic is only sparsely inhabited.

Mining, metallurgy, and timber working and processing are the major industries. Others include power engineering, machine building, and food processing. Iron ore, copper, mica, titanium, and pegmatite are the chief minerals mined. The metallurgical industry is concentrated at Petrozavodsk, the capital, and Vyartsilya, near the Finnish border. Timber cutting and processing is the largest industry, producing saw timber, pit props, railway ties, paper and pulp, furniture, veneer, and prefabricated materials. Agricultural land occupies less than 3 percent of the total area, with much of this used for pasture to support dairy cattle and other livestock or to breed mink and blue polar foxes for fur. Fishing is important on lakes, rivers, and along the White Sea coast.

A railway connects Petrozavodsk with St. Petersburg (southwest) and Murmansk (north). Equally important is the White Sea–Baltic Canal (141 miles [227 km]), a link in the waterway system that allows oceangoing vessels to travel from Belomorsk on the White Sea to St. Petersburg on the Baltic. Area 66,600 square miles (172,400 square km). Pop. (2005 est.) 703,080.