Skolts

Skolts
Säʹmmla
Nuõrttsääʹm
Drawing of Russian Skolt Sami from 1871
Total population
c. 1,250
Regions with significant populations
 Finland500[1]–700[2]
 Russia 250[3]–400[1]
 Norway150[3]
Languages
Skolt Sami, Finnish, Russian and Norwegian
Religion
Eastern Orthodox majority
Lutheran minority
Related ethnic groups
Other Sámi

The Skolt Sámi or Skolts are a Sami ethnic group. They currently live in and around the villages of Sevettijärvi, Keväjärvi, Nellim in the municipality of Inari, at several places in the Murmansk Oblast and in the village of Neiden in Sør-Varanger Municipality. The Skolts are considered to be the indigenous people of the borderland area between present-day Finland, Russia and Norway, i.e. on the Kola Peninsula and the adjacent Fenno-Scandinavian mainland. They belong to the eastern group of Sámi on account of their language and traditions, and are traditionally Orthodox rather than Lutheran Christians like most Sami and Finns.

In 2024, media told about a leader of an NGO - saying that the phrase "Eastern Sami" should not be used about her people, Skolts.[4]

  1. ^ a b Ethnologue report for language code: sms
  2. ^ "Skolt Sámi on Siida's website". Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
  3. ^ a b Østsamisk museum, Neiden
  4. ^ https://www.sagat.no/nyheter/skoltesame-og-ikke-ostsame/19.45476. Sagat.no. Retrieved 2024-07-26