Finland Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

==Resources==

*'''1850-1934''' {{FSC|43289|item|disp=Auswandererlisten, 1850-1934}} (Hamburg passenger lists)(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1850-1934''' [https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1068 Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934] at Ancestry - index & images ($)

*'''1855-1934''' [https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1166 Hamburg Passenger Lists, Handwritten Indexes, 1855-1934] at Ancestry - images ($)

*'''1869-1951''' {{FSC|339891|item|disp=Emigrantlistor : inkomna uppgifter om utvandrade personer 1869-1920, med personregister 1869-1951}} (Emigrant lists: information received about emigrants 1869-1920, with personal register 1869-1951)(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images; police department emigration lists

:*[https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHK-93T3-NVLR?cat=339891&i=2&mode=g Separate index for Finland emigrants, 1869-1884]

*'''1874-1939''' {{FSC|339475|item|disp=Emigrantlistor, 1874-1939}}(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images; index and emigration lists of persons from Sweden and Finland who emigrated via the port of Malmö

:*[https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGD-PSWR-N?i=7&cat=339475 Separate index for Finland emigrants, 1879-1916]

*'''1878-1960''' [https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1518/?geo_a=r&geo_s=uk&geo_t=us&geo_v=2.0.0&o_iid=62817&o_lid=62817&o_sch=Web+Property UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960] at Ancestry - index & images ($); contains emigrants with Finland ports of departure

*'''1890-1960''' [https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-records/passenger-lists-leaving-uk-1890-1960 Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960] at Findmypast - index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Finland

*'''1892-1960''' {{FSC|33982|item|disp=Matkustajaluettelot : 1892-1960}} (Passenger lists)(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1892-1924''' {{RecordSearch|1368704|New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924}} at FamilySearch - [[New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island) - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index & images; includes those arriving from Finland

*'''1904-1914''' [https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-30240/germany-bremen-passenger-departure-lists-1904-1914?s=252295941 Germany, Bremen Passenger Departure Lists, 1904-1914] at MyHeritage - index & images ($); includes those with destination of Finland

*'''1934-1952''' {{FSC|1949740|item|disp=Registros de la Embajada de España en Helsinki, Finlandia}} (Records of the Embassy of Spain in Helsinki, Finland)(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1946-1971''' [https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61704/ Free Access: Africa, Asia and Europe, Passenger Lists of Displaced Persons, 1946-1971] at Ancestry - index & images

*[https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62195/ Free Access: USC Shoah Foundation, Holocaust – Jewish Survivor Interviews] at Ancestry - index

*'''1770-1899''' {{FSC|374391|item|disp=Passiluettelot, 1770-1899}}(*); Lääninhallitus (Turun ja Porin lääni) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1820-1920''' {{FSC|189687|item|disp=Passiluettelot, 1820-1920}}(*); Lääninhallitus (Turun ja Porin lääni) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1823-1920''' {{FSC|554633|item|disp=Passiluettelot, 1823-1920}}(*); Lääninhallitus (Kuopion lääni) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1828-1920''' {{FSC|189758|item|disp=Passiluettelot, 1828-1920}}(*); Lääninhallitus (Uudenmaan lääni) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1832-1920''' {{FSC|185932|item|disp=Passiluettelot, 1832-1920}}(*); Lääninhallitus (Hämeen lääni) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1838-1860''' {{FSC|356904|item|disp=Kristiinankaupungin passiluettelot : 1838-1860}}(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1861-1920''' {{FSC|554575|item|disp=Passiluettelot, 1861-1920}}(*); Lääninhallitus (Viipurin lääni) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

*'''1883-1921''' {{FSC|101933|item|disp=Passiluettelot, 1883-1921}}(*); Lääninhallitus (Mikkelin lääni) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

===Offices to Contact===

'''Siirtolaisuusinstituutti''' (Migration Institute)<br>

*[https://siirtolaisrekisteri.siirtolaisuusinstituutti.fi/ Migrant Register]($) at Siirtolaisuusinstituutti (Migration Institute); [https://siirtolaisuusinstituutti.fi/aineistot/sukututkimus/ Information on contents]<br>

''Emigration'' means moving out of a country. ''Immigration'' means moving into a country. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, significant waves of Finns emigrated to countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, seeking better economic opportunities and escaping political oppression under Russian rule. This period of emigration was particularly pronounced in the late 19th century, with over 300,000 Finns leaving their homeland.

In the mid-20th century, Finland experienced a new wave of emigration, primarily to neighboring Sweden, driven by economic disparities and the desire for higher living standards. However, since the 1990s, Finland has also witnessed a growing influx of immigrants, primarily from countries such as Russia, Estonia, Somalia, and Iraq. This shift in immigration patterns reflects Finland's evolving economic and social landscape, as well as its growing integration into the global community.<ref>Wikipedia contributors. "Immigration to Finland." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Finland, accessed 24 September 2024.</ref><ref>"Finnish Emigration and Immigration after World War II." Arkisto.org. https://arkisto.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/011_Korkiasaari_Soderling.pdf, accessed 24 September 2024.</ref><ref>"The Finns," Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress. loc.gov. https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/scandinavian/the-finns/, accessed 24 September 2024.</ref><ref>"Emigration," - Siirtolaisuusinstituutti. https://siirtolaisuusinstituutti.fi/en/research/emigration/, accessed 24 September 2024.</ref>

*''Siirtokarjalaisten tie (The way of the Migrant Karelians).'' Turku, Finland : Nyky-Karjala Oy, 1970-1971. {{FSC|95750|item|disp=FS Catalog book 948.97 W2si v. 1-4, index}}

:*Contents: I. Migrant Karelians living in the territory of Western Finland. - II. Migrant Karelians living on the south coast. - III. Covers a narrow strip from the height of Lahti to the eastern border. - IV. The rest of Finland. - (Index) Migrant Karelian Road: Address Directory.

==Immigration==

After World War I, about 30,000 Russian subjects immigrated to Finland, many of whom were Karelian or Finnish. The Great Depression of the 1930s in the U.S. led to the emigration of many Finns from Canada. Many recent immigrants choose to leave for the United States or Finland instead of living in poverty in Canada. In addition, more than 2,000 Canadians of Finnish origin moved to Soviet Karelia between 1930 and 1935. In World War II, Finland lost its eastern regions (Karelia) to the Soviet Union. Nearly half a million people were evacuated from the areas.  

In 2018, 387,215 people in Finland  were born in another country, representing 7% of the population. The 10 largest foreign born groups are (in order) from [[Russia Emigration and Immigration|Russia]], [[Estonia Genealogy|Estonia]], [[Sweden Emigration and Immigration|Sweden]], [[Iraq Genealogy|Iraq]], [[Somalia Genealogy|Somalia]], [[China Emigration and Immigration|China]], [[Thailand Genealogy|Thailand]], [[Serbia Genealogy|Serbia]], [[Vietnam Emigration and Immigration|Vietnam]] and [[Türkiye Genealogy|Türkiye]]. As of 2019, there were 423,494 people with a foreign background living in Finland (7.7% of the population), most of whom are from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Somalia, Iraq and former Yugoslavia.<ref>"Finland: Demographics", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland#Demographics, accessed 27 April 2021.</ref>

See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Finland Immigration to Finland] at Wikipedia for more information.

==Emigration==

===Information Recorded in the Records===

Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or coming into (immigrating) a country. For Finland, emigration information is usually found in passport records and passenger lists. The information in these records generally includes the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, and destinations and their places of origin.

*'''Police Department Emigration Lists''': specific registrations of persons emigrating to various countries, especially the United States of America listing names, ages, places of birth, destinations and dates of debarkation.

*'''Port Emigration Lists''': list the persons name, age, place they resided at time for emigration, and when known, place of destination, and date of departure.

*'''Finnish Passport Lists''': the primary source for obtaining the immigrants’ places of origin. The lists began around 1820 and are available on microfilm through 1920. The early lists are not as informative as the ones from the mid 1800's on. These lists record the passport recipients in chronological order and contain: names, occupations, home parishes, destination countries, and the number of children included in the passport. Immigrants could receive a passport in any county. Many received them in the county from which they embarked, not from their home county.

:*Includes Database of Australian Finns (3,800 records); contains information on Finns who lived in Australia before the Second World War. It is based on a file compiled by Olavi Koivukangas, Director of the Migration Institute, for his research on Australian Finns in Australia. It also includes some information extracted from Finnish passport and passenger lists.

*''See [[Australia Emigration and Immigration]] for more resources.''<br>

Finns were particularly attracted by the income from the sugar cane fields and mining in Mount Isa, in north Queensland. As a result, Mount Isa has one of the largest Finnish communities in Australia.<ref>"Finnish Australians",  in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Australians, 27 April 2021.</ref>

====Canada====

*'''1898-1922''' [https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/fra/decouvrez/immigration/documents-immigration/immigrants-empire-russe/Pages/introduction.aspx Immigrants de l’Empire russe, 1898 à 1922] (Immigrants from the Russian Empire, 1898 to 1922) at Bibliothèque et Archives Canada - index & images

*''See [[Canada Emigration and Immigration]] for more resources.''<br>

It is difficult to determine the exact date of arrival of the first Finnish settler in Canada. However, Finns began to settle in large numbers in the 1880s. During this period, several Finns who had arrived in the United States in the 1860s crossed the border into Canada. By 1890, several communities of Canadians of Finnish origin had formed. The largest of these communities were Nanaimo (British Columbia), New Finland (Saskatchewan), Port Arthur, Toronto and Sault Ste-Marie (Ontario). Many of these early settlers were pious individuals and therefore churches of various denominations played an important role in cultural and social regrouping.<br>

It was not until the end of the war that Finnish immigration to Canada resumed. During this period in the United States, quotas were put in place for immigration from Finland; as a result, many Finns choose to settle in Canada. The number of Finnish speaking Swedish also increased during this same period. During World War II, Finland was once again declared an enemy country due to its participation with Germany in an attack on the Soviet Union. This declaration was repealed after the end of the war. The last great wave of immigration from Finland to Canada took place between 1948 and 1961. Since then, Finnish immigration has declined significantly.<ref>"Finnish Genealogy and Family history", in Wikipedia, https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/fra/decouvrez/immigration/histoire-ethniques-culturels/Pages/finlandais.aspx, 27 Apri 2021.</ref>

====Norway====

*''See [[Norway Emigration and Immigration]] for more resources.''<br>

Many Finns moved to northern and east-central Norway. From Norway, many of them have immigrated to the United States. However, some Finnish people emigrated through Norwegian ports. Finns also traveled through the ports of other countries, primarily Göteborg, Malmö, and Stockholm in Sweden, and Trondheim in Norway.  

====Russia====

*''See [[Russia Emigration and Immigration]] for more resources.''<br>

Russia, especially its former capital, St. Petersburg, was a destination for Finnish laborers, officials, and military personnel serving both the Russian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Finland. At the turn of the century, 36,000 Finns lived in Russia, and 83 percent of them were in the St. Petersburg region.

=====Finnish Russians and Russian Finns=====

Russians in Finland or Russian Finns constitute a linguistic and ethnic minority in Finland. About 30,000 people have citizenship of the Russian Federation, and Russian is the mother language of about 70,000 people in Finland, which represents about 1.3% of the population.  

The first migratory wave of Russians began in the early 18th century, when Finland was part of the Swedish Empire. About 40,000 Russian soldiers, civilian workers, and about 600 businessmen moved to the Grand Duchy of Finland, which became part of the Russian Empire in 1809. When Finland became independent in 1917, many soldiers returned to Russia. Many businessmen stayed.  During the Russian Revolution many aristocrats and officers fled to Finland as refugees.

The biggest refugee wave was in 1922 when about 33,500 people came to Finland. During the Kronstadt Rebellion (1921), about 1,600 officers fled to Finland. Russian citizens who moved in these three waves are called "Old Russians", whose 3,000–5,000 descendants live in Finland today. During World War II, there were about 69,700 Soviet prisoners of war in Finland, and 200–300 children were born to them and Finnish women.

A second major wave of immigration occurred after the fall of the Soviet Union. Many Russian guest workers came to Finland, working low-paying jobs. In the 1990s, immigration to Finland grew, and a Russian-speaking population descended from Ingrian Finns immigrated to Finland. Ingrian Finns are the Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia, descending from Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced into the area in the 17th century, when Finland and Ingria were both parts of the Swedish Empire. In the 2000s, many nouveaux riches Russians have bought estates in Eastern Finland.<ref>"Russians in Finland", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians_in_Finland, accessed 527 April 2021.</ref>

====Sweden====

*''See [[Sweden Emigration and Immigration]] for more resources.''<Br>

In the 1940s, 70,000 young Finnish children were evacuated from Finland. Most of them came to Sweden during the Winter War and the Continuation War, and around 20% remained after the war. Helped by the Nordic Passport Union, Finnish immigration to Sweden was considerable during the 1950s and 1960s.

*'''1834-1897''' {{RecordSearch|2110813|United States Russians to America Index, 1834-1897}} at FamilySearch - [[United States, Russians to America Index - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index; ''Also at: [https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-records/russians-to-america Findmypast]'' ($)

*{{FSC|866544909|item|disp=The history of Finnish Americans = Amerikan suomalaisten historia : Yhdysvalloissa ja Canadassa olevat suomalaiset asutukset (v. 3)}} (Finnish settlements in the United States and Canada)(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

As early as 1638, Finns and Swedes colonized New Sweden, which was located around the Delaware River. Many of these Finns had been living in central Sweden, and their ancestors had left Finland during the 1500's. From the 1820's on, long before the general wave of Finnish immigration to the United States, hundreds of Finns came to Alaska as representatives of the Russian Empire, making up about one-third of the Russian population there. Among them were the families of government officials, Lutheran clergymen, and many seamen. After 1867, many of these Finns became early settlers in California.

From the 1860's onward, an estimated 316,000 Finns, primarily from Ostrobothnia, immigrated to the United States. Most settled in Michigan, especially in the upper peninsula. Many Finns also settled in Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Montana, Washington, Oregon, and California. From the 1860's onward, an estimated 316,000 Finns, primarily from Ostrobothnia, immigrated to the United States. Most settled in Michigan, especially in the upper peninsula. Many Finns also settled in Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Montana, Washington, Oregon, and California.

Moving Records (''Muuttaneet/Muuttokirjat; Flyttningslängder/Flyttningsbetyg'') can assist in tracing a family as they moved around Finland. These records were kept by churches. Ministers used the communion books to note individuals and families who moved into or out of the parish.

By the late 1700s some parishes began to issue moving certificates (''muuttokirjat/flyttningsbetyg'') to persons leaving the parish. These certificates identified the persons to their new minister and were chronologically archived in the new parish.  

*''See [[Finland Church Records]] for more resources.''

===Information Recorded in the Records===

*'''Moving Certificates (''muuttokirjat/flyttningsbetyg'')''': usually included the following information about a person: name, birth date and birthplace, occupation, marital status, reading ability, knowledge of religion, worthiness to partake of the communion, character reference, vaccination information, and the place where the person was registered for taxation. If a whole family moved, the certificate generally contained at least the name of each family member.

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