Sapmi is the name of the area inhabited by the Sami
people. It is located in northern Fennoscandia and a part of 4 countries:
Norway, Sweden, Finland and
Russia. The Sami were victims of assimilation in each of the countries Sapmi is divided by, and it didn't really
stop until the
late 1980's, especially in
Norway. It is unknown when the Sami arrived in their homeland, but it is known that they were there
long before the Norwegians, Finnish, Swedish and Russian
people arrived. It is generally believed that the Sami came from Asia, but this have been proved wrong in modern times. The Sami are getting more and more autonomy, and have their own parliaments in Sweden, Finland and Norway. The language is a part of the Finno-Ugric languages. Today, herding reindeers is a
big part of the culture, but less than 1 out of 25 of every Sami are associated with reindeer herding. In Norway, most of the Sami lives in the innland parts the province of Finnmark, but the coastal Sami used to be the largest Sami group but their majority ended due to the Norwegianization. It is unknown how many Sami there is in Sapmi, since there is no statistics about it. The only sources are the Sami parliaments, but those are not good sources. The Sami are often called Lapps, but this is considered derogatory.
John: Hey, Tore
Mathis, aren't you Norwegian, since you live in
Norway?
Tore: No, I am a Sami, and I do not consider myself to be Norwegian.
Some words in the Sami language (northern dialect) "Sámieatnan sámiide!" Meaning: Samiland (Sapmi) for the Sami!
