The total number of Finnish place names in the Forest Finnish areas of Sweden is not known, but according to the Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof) there are about 7,000 in Värmland alone.
Place names are sometimes difficult to interpret for Finnish speakers, because they are most often spelled according to Swedish spelling rules. The Swedish orthography is different from the Finnish one.
Forest pimples
Metsäsuomalaisten konferensissima kansatieteilijä Nils Keylandia
Museum Director: We have waited so long for this day
– Only in northern Sweden, where Meänkieli and Finnish are living languages, are place names written with Finnish orthography, says Oliver Blomqvist, place name researcher at the Land Survey.
The authorities regard Finnish as a dead language in the Finnish forest areas. This means that Finnish place names in these areas are defined as Swedish, however they are considered to have a Finnish origin.
The other Swedish provinces with forest Finnish settlements are Dalarna, Gästrikland, Hälsingland, Ångermanland, Medelpad, Södermanland, Östergötland, Västergötland, Närke and Västmanland.