Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Norway's Sami
The formerly nomadic, indigenous Sami people are Norway's largest ethnic
minority and can reasonably claim to be Norway's longest-standing residents
- they have inhabited northern Scandinavia and northwestern Russia for mil-
lennia. Of the approximately 60,000 Sami, around 40,000 reside in Norway,
primarily inhabiting the far northern region of Finnmark (scattered groups
live in Nordland, Trøndelag and other regions of central Norway). The Sami,
who refer to their traditional lands as Sápmi or Samiland, are also present in
Sweden, Finland and Russia. They were formerly known as Lapps, although
that term now carries negative connotations.
