Figure 1.--This portrait of a Norwegiamn Lapp (Sammi) people was taken about 1900. Much of the clothing was home sewn, but the plaid shall must have been purchased. This seems very early for a color photograph, but if it ia colorized image, it is a masterful job.

The best known minority in Norway are the Lapplanders or Sàmi people. Other minorities recohnized by the Norwegian Government include Jews, Kvens (people of Finnish descent living in the North), Roma (Gypsies), Scandinavian Romani, and Skogfins (people of Finnish descent living in the south-east). I am not sure why there does not appear to be a Swedish minority. Norway in recent years because of liberal immigration law has allowed large numbers of foreign immigrants enter the country. The Lapps are are the undigenous Proto-Finno-Saami (Uralic) people migrating west from the east and south-east into what is now Scandanavia (about 6,000 BC). Nearly two-thirds of the Lapps live in Norway. Smaller numbers live in northern Sweden, Finland, and Russia (Kola Peninsula). The rights of the Lapps are enshrined in the Norwegian Constitution and law. Historical studis of the Lapps were until recently limited to culture and linguistics. modern DNA studies have provided important insights challengoing earlier assumtions. Reseachers now believe that two most frequent maternal linages of the Sámi people are the first Homo sapien inhabitants in Europe. They also seem to be descendants of common ancestors with Catalonians and the Basque people, other early inhabitants of Europe (Iberian Peninsula). The most common paternal linage among the Sami are Proto-Finno-Ugric migrants from the south and southwest (Volga-Ural region). The Lapps are commonly associated with reindeer herding. Only a small minority are, however, actually involved with this livlihood. More Lapps are involved with fishing, trapping animals, sheep herding, and other pursuits. Norway had amall Jewish population. The NAZIs after they invaded and occupied Norway during World War II (1940). Much of Norway's small Jewish popuilation was arrested and deported. Many managed to survive, however, as they were accorded special treatment.

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Created: 8:41 PM 12/2/2008
Last updated: 8:42 PM 12/2/2008