Zephaniah of the Karelians

An Icon of Zephaniah from an Othodox Church in Karelia. Here is another divided land, split between Finland and Russian. The people speak a dialet of Finish, which is described as a uralic language, so a language from the east.

The dark blue area is in Finland and the light blue, in Russian (from Wikipedia). After the 'Winter War of 39-40, about 400,000 Karelia refugees traveled from Russian into Finland. It is now described as a place of decay. Karelia continues as a Russian republic, and as a Finnish southern region.

The first flag is of the 'Free' land of Karelia, using the scandinavia cross. This is a vain hope of reunification. The second is of the Russian republic of Karelia, with its capital in Petrozavodsk with a population of just under 270,000.