The Republic of Karelia hosted X Karelian Congress, representing the indigenous ethnic groups and aiming to promote their culture and economy.

The Congress, which is considered one of the main events for Karelian ethnic cultural preservation and development, is held every four years. The venue convenes both public authorities and various non-governmental representatives.

The agenda included the status of the Karelian language, experiencing a decline in usage, particularly due to a sharp decline in the titular population, according to the Russian Population Census of 2020. It indeed led to concerns about the future of the Karelian language in local communities.

Despite the steps by Karelian government to support the cultural and economic development of the region, the delegates consider that local authorities should pay greater attention in this regard.

Congress adopted a resolution on preserving the Karelian language, creation of commissions for the development of culture and economy of the region, supposed funding for newspapers in Karelian, Finnish, and Vepsian, as well as improving the school programmes with some ethnic Karelian specifics.

Source: Karelian News.

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