As a result of the Treaty of Tartu (1920), the Skolt homeland was split in two: the western part, Petsamo, became part of Finland and the eastern part became part of the Soviet Union. The border became a threat to the identity of the Skolts as it grew difficult for them to live as they traditionally had with reindeer husbandry, hunting and fishing as the source of their livelihood. Many Finnish immigrants moved back to their traditional Skolt homeland. In 1926, one-quarter of Petsamo's population were Skolts, and in 1930 the proportion dropped to one-sixth.[6]
Current estimates put the number of ethnic Skolt Sámi at around 1250, of whom approximately 400 can speak Skolt Sámi. Most of them live in Finland today.
In Finland, Russia and Norway they number about 700, 400 and possibly more than 150.[7]
^Rantanen, Timo, Vesakoski, Outi, Ylikoski, Jussi, & Tolvanen, Harri. (2021). Geographical database of the Uralic languages (v1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4784188
^Tuija Saarinen Seppo Suhonen: Koltat, karjalaiset ja setukaiset, Snellman-Instituutti 1995
^Walton, Stephen J. (2012-07-14). "Skoltesamar". Klassekampen. p. 3. Dei fleste bur i Finland, der gruppa tel om lag sjuhundre personar. I Noreg bur det vel 150 skoltesamar, og i Russland kanskje litt fleire.
Finland
Russia
Norway
