KARELIA, an A.S.S.R. in the Russian S.F.S.R., bounded on the west by Finland, on the north by the Murmansk province, on the east by the White sea and the Archangel province, and on the south by the Leningrad province. It lies mainly between 6o° 4o' N. and 67° 4o' N., and 29° 46' E. and 38° E. Orographically and geologically it is closely linked with Finland ; its western hills rise to about i,000 ft., and numerous small ridges run from north-west to south-east. The remainder of the region is dotted with marshes and lakes, the latter being about 2,500 in number, of which Lake Onega (q.v.), area 3,764 sq.m., is the largest. The geological structure is varied. Granites, syenites, and diorites, covered with Laurentian metamorphic slates, occur north-west of Lake Onega, and nearer the lake they are overlain with Devonian sandstones and limestones, yielding marble and sandstone for building. The whole region is sheeted with boulder clay, the bottom moraine of the great ice sheet of the Glacial period, and bears traces of glacia tion, either in the shape of scratchings and elongated grooves on the rocks, or of eskers (iisar, selgas) running parallel to the glacial striations. The soil and climate are unfavourable for agriculture, and the republic is mainly either taiga forest or marsh land. The summers are cool and rainy and the winters severe, though they are somewhat modified by nearness to the Baltic and the Gulf Stream drift. Rivers and lakes are frozen for 180 to 200 days. Kem on the White sea coast has an average temperature in Jan. of 12.4° F and an average in July of 58.3° F. The average annual rainfall is 15 in., adequate in view of the short summer and lack of evaporation. Cyclones of the westerlies influence the climate. Late springs and early frosts are adverse to small quantities of rye and barley sown, which often fail to mature, and manure is difficult to obtain. The three field system of agriculture prevails, rye in the north and oats in the south alternating with rape and hemp. Potatoes and turnips are grown near the towns. The in sufficiency of horses, cattle and sheep is a factor in the poor harvests, since manure is necessary for the crops. A few pigs are kept. The reindeer herds have markedly diminished of late years.
The republic never produces sufficient grain for its needs; only 0.3% of the land is under crops. Fishing occupies the coastal inhabitants, who are called Pomortsi (those by the sea) and are descendants of migrants from the province of Novgorod who reached Onega in the II th and 12th centuries, and are much more prosperous than the Karelians. The chief fish are herring and salmon and they are preserved in a frozen state, without salting or smoking, for winter use. Seals are sometimes caught off the coast. Many of the Pomortsi migrate to the Murman fisheries in summer. Ptarmigan, grouse and ducks are plentiful and bears, foxes and squirrels are hunted for their skins. Of the population are occupied either in fishing or hunting. The forests are the main wealth of Karelia, though at present only 16.3% of the population are employed in the industries dependent on the forest, timber felling, saw-milling, preparing tar, pitch and turpentine and wood-pulp for paper. The two factors militating
against development have been lack of motor power and lack of means of transport. An electric plant was under construction in 1928 at Kondopoga on the railway and on the west shore of Lake Onega which will have a capacity of 5,000 kilowatts, and will supply electricity to the regions round, and especially to a large paper factory which is being built. Roads are difficult to make in this marshy country and transport in the past was only possible in winter. But the construction in 1917 througli Karelia of the line linking Leningrad with Murmansk is bringing new life to the colonization and economic development of the country, and if the project of linking Soroka on the west coast of the Gulf of Onega with the Kotlas-Vyatka railway is carried out, the development of the region may be rapid. The making of clothes, distilling, brewing, flour-milling, and the making of small metal goods are carried on to some extent. The capital is Petrozavodsk (q.v.) on the western shore of Lake Onega. It has metal, car pentry, saw-milling, brewing and flour-milling industries, and its population and importance have greatly increased with the coming of the railway. Kern is a small port at the mouth of the Kern river, the inhabitants of which are occupied in saw-milling and fishing.
Before the Murmansk railway was built through the town in 1916 it was practically deserted in summer, but now cataracts near the town have been used to provide electricity and the harbour has been arranged to provide accommodation for ships. It has a wireless station. Soroka, another small port on the mouth of the Vig river has also been improved since the coming of the railway, and from it a branch railway line is being constructed southwards along the coast. The population consists of Russians 57%, and Karelians 38%, the remainder being of various nationalities; the Russians are mainly settled on the coast and in the towns. The Karelians, whose name is said to mean "cowherd," are closely allied to the Finns; their language is a Russianised Finnish dialect. It was among them that the great Finnish epic Kalevala (Kale wala) (q.v.) was collected. They are slighter and better propor tioned than the Finns, and have as a rule grey eyes and brown hair. Their houses are built on platforms reached by a ladder and the space beneath is used as a shelter for cattle and sheep. The Karelians are first mentioned in the 9th century; the tribe to which they belong overran most of the south-west coast of the White sea until the 14th century, when some of them moved east ward. Like the Vots and the Vepses to whom they are closely related, they have gradually assimilated in speech, religion and customs to the Russians. Education in the republic is partly in Russian and partly in Karelian, but the proportion of illiteracy is higher among the Karelians than among the Russians, and the school provision for them is more inadequate because they are more scattered. The medical and sanitary provision is poor though slowly improving, and the Karelians are in special need of such help, owing to the prevalence of tuberculosis, scurvy and colic, probably due to inadequate diet ; bark and straw are used to eke out flour.