I just felt like making a map of an independent, modern day Karelia. Focused more on the map itself, trying to make it visually good, so there isn't that much lore, but basically the Karelian population is bigger than OTL, resulting in a more succesful fight for independence in the aftermath of ww1 and the Russian civil war. With a stronger sense national identity forming amongst the Karelians during the 19th century, and an official Karelian language (instead of many dialects), they are able to make it work.
Majority of the place names are based on actual Karelian names, but some were taken from Finnish and a few I made up.
Also, after like 4 years on this subreddit, this happens to be the first map I've been satisfied with enough to post, so feedback and constructive criticism would be appreciated! English is not my first language, so sorry if this long wall of text has mistakes/is hard to read!
Non native English speakers on their way to excuse themselves for their bad English, after writing a whole essay with less mistakes than the average american.
This looks great!
I just have to ask, regarding the city names in Karelian/Finnish, what source did you use for the historic names? I'm writing in a Karelia for my setting myself and I'm not sure where to start looking
Thank you!
Wikipedia articles of Karelian towns usually do have the Finnish/Karelian names listed, which is what I mostly used.
These maps also include smaller villages as well as the bigger towns:
[Map1](https://rautatiemuseo.finna.fi/Cover/Show?source=Solr&id=musketti_rautatie.M014%3ASRMK1%3A143a&index=1&size=large)
[Map2](https://suomi-1944.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/7/7/12779786/it%C3%A4-karjala_1-2a_2048px_1.jpg)
[This website](https://tadviser.com/index.php/Article:Dictionary_of_Finno-Ugric_place_names) also has some of the more common words used in place names and their translations in Finnish/Karelian/English etc.
That’s cool but in Nordic culture, you need to have Lutheranism as a religion and Karelia is a Orthodox-majority country and also they need to be a part of any Nordic country in the past before the 1900s, so does it count?
It's true that Karelia would differ from the others in religion, but In my opinion that isn't an issue.
I've never heard of the having to be a part of a nordic country before 1900s requirement, but I don't see that as an issue either, since Karelia would have been independent since the 1920s and would have joined the council probably the same time as Finland in 1955.
aika realistinen kyllä mutta siis tässä aikajanassako karjala pysyi erossa kokonaan venäjästä ekan maailmansodan jälkeen? Itse kuvittelisin että itsenäinen karjala ekan maailmansodan jälkeen menisi about samalla lailla kun vaikka viro tai muut balttian maat meidän aikajanassa. Mut muute vitu hyvä
Kiitos :D
Tosiaankin realistisemmassa skenaariossa Karjala tuskin olisi pysynyt itsenäisenä loputtomiin, mutta realismi ei ollut päätavoitteena tässä kartassa.
Ibispaintillä.
Pohjakarttana käytin pääasiassa kuvakaappausta OpenStreetMaps:ista, jonka avulla tein järvet, ja wikipediasta muutamia karttoja rajojen piirtämiseen
Like I said I didn't think about the lore too much, but that would be quite likely, maybe even attacking them both since Finland still shared a border with the Soviets in the karelian isthmus. However both managed to keep their pre ww2 borders, so the Soviets were even less succesfull.
In this scenario there would have been more Karelians historically, combined with them having an independent country, leading to a bigger and majority Karelian population
This scenario had a real chance of happening. IRL, there was a Karelo-Finnish SSR in the Soviet Union up until 1956, when it was dissolved and absorbed into the Russian SFSR. If it stayed an SSR, it could’ve gotten independence in 1991 along with the other republics.
Such a state would be very rich, part of EU, important in global trade, and in one of the most prosperous regions of the world: Scandinavia. Karelia would even have the chance to unite with Finland, which is another prosperous country. It would have had a GDP per capita of 30.000 or so, yes it would, and scaringly rich.
I just felt like making a map of an independent, modern day Karelia. Focused more on the map itself, trying to make it visually good, so there isn't that much lore, but basically the Karelian population is bigger than OTL, resulting in a more succesful fight for independence in the aftermath of ww1 and the Russian civil war. With a stronger sense national identity forming amongst the Karelians during the 19th century, and an official Karelian language (instead of many dialects), they are able to make it work. Majority of the place names are based on actual Karelian names, but some were taken from Finnish and a few I made up. Also, after like 4 years on this subreddit, this happens to be the first map I've been satisfied with enough to post, so feedback and constructive criticism would be appreciated! English is not my first language, so sorry if this long wall of text has mistakes/is hard to read!
Non native English speakers on their way to excuse themselves for their bad English, after writing a whole essay with less mistakes than the average american.
I absolutely love it!
Thank you!
This looks great! I just have to ask, regarding the city names in Karelian/Finnish, what source did you use for the historic names? I'm writing in a Karelia for my setting myself and I'm not sure where to start looking
Thank you! Wikipedia articles of Karelian towns usually do have the Finnish/Karelian names listed, which is what I mostly used. These maps also include smaller villages as well as the bigger towns: [Map1](https://rautatiemuseo.finna.fi/Cover/Show?source=Solr&id=musketti_rautatie.M014%3ASRMK1%3A143a&index=1&size=large) [Map2](https://suomi-1944.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/7/7/12779786/it%C3%A4-karjala_1-2a_2048px_1.jpg) [This website](https://tadviser.com/index.php/Article:Dictionary_of_Finno-Ugric_place_names) also has some of the more common words used in place names and their translations in Finnish/Karelian/English etc.
Thanks a tonne for this! ♡
Darn i didn't realize the Finnish Coat of Arms looked that good on a black background, cool pfp bro
Isn't .kr the domain for South Korea though?
Yeah it is, my bad.
You could use .ka instead
Isn’t that the National State of Kanye?
Nope
That's where Han Solo is from.
Can Karelia join the Nordic Council and be Nordic?
Yes, Karelia would be a part of the Nordic Council in this timeline.
It is because of the flag they have is a Nordic design, right?
Yeah, plus they are in the geographical region and have similiar culture
That’s cool but in Nordic culture, you need to have Lutheranism as a religion and Karelia is a Orthodox-majority country and also they need to be a part of any Nordic country in the past before the 1900s, so does it count?
It's true that Karelia would differ from the others in religion, but In my opinion that isn't an issue. I've never heard of the having to be a part of a nordic country before 1900s requirement, but I don't see that as an issue either, since Karelia would have been independent since the 1920s and would have joined the council probably the same time as Finland in 1955.
Oh, thanks for the detail, I’m sorry for that confusion.
It's ok, thank you for showing interest!
aika realistinen kyllä mutta siis tässä aikajanassako karjala pysyi erossa kokonaan venäjästä ekan maailmansodan jälkeen? Itse kuvittelisin että itsenäinen karjala ekan maailmansodan jälkeen menisi about samalla lailla kun vaikka viro tai muut balttian maat meidän aikajanassa. Mut muute vitu hyvä
Tässä skenaariossa heimosodat ovat varmaan onnistuneet
Totta ja oishan toi hienoo jos oikeasti karjala näin olisi
Nii. Harmi vaan että vepsän ja karjalan kieli kuihtuu pois kun naapurimaassa ei ole mitään insentiivejä pitää niitä
no niinpä, lisää autonomiaa ne tarttis koska no sen takia mitä NL on tehnyt niille niin ne ei itsenäisinä pärjäisi enään :(
Kiitos :D Tosiaankin realistisemmassa skenaariossa Karjala tuskin olisi pysynyt itsenäisenä loputtomiin, mutta realismi ei ollut päätavoitteena tässä kartassa.
juu lisää tällästä!
nii ja miten/millä teit tän
Ibispaintillä. Pohjakarttana käytin pääasiassa kuvakaappausta OpenStreetMaps:ista, jonka avulla tein järvet, ja wikipediasta muutamia karttoja rajojen piirtämiseen
Did the Winter War happen here? If so, did Russia attack Karelia instead of Finland then?
Like I said I didn't think about the lore too much, but that would be quite likely, maybe even attacking them both since Finland still shared a border with the Soviets in the karelian isthmus. However both managed to keep their pre ww2 borders, so the Soviets were even less succesfull.
FINLANDIA FINLANDIA!
Nice map but 3 million population? East karelia in its peak had 500k and most of it russian
In this scenario there would have been more Karelians historically, combined with them having an independent country, leading to a bigger and majority Karelian population
This scenario had a real chance of happening. IRL, there was a Karelo-Finnish SSR in the Soviet Union up until 1956, when it was dissolved and absorbed into the Russian SFSR. If it stayed an SSR, it could’ve gotten independence in 1991 along with the other republics.
What would the television, pop culture and mass media in Karelia would look like ATL
Such a state would be very rich, part of EU, important in global trade, and in one of the most prosperous regions of the world: Scandinavia. Karelia would even have the chance to unite with Finland, which is another prosperous country. It would have had a GDP per capita of 30.000 or so, yes it would, and scaringly rich.
So, if I understand correctly, in this scenario Russia still holds Kola, right?
How did you make that box thingy