The Kvens are a Norwegian minority who have migrated from northern Finland and northern Sweden to northern Norway over the course of several hundred years. The term ”Kven” encompasses everyone with a Finnish language and cultural background and their descendants who came to Northern Norway before 1945.
It is estimated that there are between 50-70,000 Kvens in Norway, and around 2,000-8,000 people who speak Kven/Finnish today.
In 1998, the Kvens were recognised as a national minority on an equal footing with Jews, Roma, Romanies and Forest Finns.
