The Baltic Finnic or Balto-Finnic peoples, also referred to as the Baltic Sea Finns, Baltic Finns, sometimes Western Finnic and often simply as the Finnic peoples, are the peoples inhabiting the Baltic Sea region in Northern and Eastern Europe who speak Finnic languages. They include the Finns, Estonians (including Võros and Setos), Karelians (including Ludes and Livvi), Veps, Izhorians, Votes, and Livonians. In some cases the Kvens, Ingrians, Tornedalians and speakers of Meänkieli are considered separate from the Finns.
 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 7.4–8.2 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Finns[a] | c. 6.2–7 million |
| Estonians | c. 1.1 million |
| Karelians | c. 75,000 |
| Vepsians | c. 6,000 |
| Izhorians | c. 1,000 |
| Livonians | c. 200 |
| Votes | c. 100 |
| Languages | |
| Finnic languages | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Christianity (either Lutheranism or Eastern Orthodoxy);[1] minority Uralic Neopaganism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Finnic peoples | |
a Tornedalians, Ingrians, Kvens and Forest Finns are subsumed under Finns, as they are most commonly described as being subgroups of Finns proper rather than separate ethnic groups altogether. | |
The bulk of the Finnic peoples (more than 98%) are ethnic Finns and Estonians, who reside in the only two independent Finnic nation states—Finland and Estonia.[2]
Finnic peoples are also significant minority groups in neighbouring countries of Sweden, Norway and especially Russia.