Kven People

Kven People

Kvens (kveeni in Kven language / Finnish; kvener in Norwegian, and kveanat in Northern Sami) are an ethnic minority in Norway who are descended from Finnish peasants and fishermen who emigrated from the northern parts of Finland and Sweden to Northern Norway in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1996 the Kvens were granted minority status in Norway, and in 2005 the Kven language was recognized as a minority language in Norway.