Finnish Tatars

Finnish Tatars

Tatar: Финляндия татарлары Finnish: Suomen tataarit
Imam Enver Yıldırım and Finnish Tatars during a prayer service at the Järvenpää Mosque in 1989.
Total population
Finland 600–700 (year 2020)
Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Järvenpää
Languages
Tatar (Mişär dialect), Finnish, Swedish
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Mishar Tatars and other Volga Tatars

The Finnish Tatars (Tatar: Финляндия татарлары, romanized: Finlyändiyä tatarları, Finnish: Suomen tataarit, Swedish: Finländska tatarer) are a Tatar ethnic group and minority in Finland whose community has approximately 600–700 members. The community was formed between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, when Mishar Tatar merchants emigrated from the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate of the Russian Empire, and eventually settled in Finland. Tatars have the main building of their congregation in Helsinki. They have also founded cultural associations in different cities. They are the first Islamic community in Finland.

The identity of the Finnish Tatars has had different reference points throughout their history in the country. In the early days, they were known by their religious identity (Muslims). Starting from the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, local Turkic Tatars began associating themselves as "Turks"^[a]. During those times they were also influenced by Turkish culture and for example adopted the Latin alphabet, which replaced the previously used Arabic one. Nowadays, they once again identify as Tatars and are very connected to Tatarstan and especially its capital, Kazan. The head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, has visited the community.
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