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Finland | Sámi | 2001
Population: 60,000-100,000
Language group: Uralic-Yukagiran Family, Finno-Ugric branch
Region: Sápmi (Lapland); Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia
The Sami are Europe’s most Northern and only officially recognised indigenous people; they live in Sápmi (Lapland), which is in the north of Scandinavia and covers part of the Russian Kola-peninsula. Originally, the Sami were hunters. During the seventeenth century, the herding of tame reindeer increased. Currently, ten percent still live as reindeer shepherds. There are several Sami languages. The Sami consider themselves a distinct people with their own culture.
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