The
Ingrians (, ), sometimes called
Ingrian Finns, are the
Finnish population of
Ingria (now the central part of
Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced into the area in the 17th century, when Finland and Ingria were both parts of the
Swedish Empire. In the
forced deportations before and after
World War II most of them were relocated to other parts of the
Soviet Union. Today the Ingrian Finns constitute the largest part of the Finnish population of the
Russian Federation. According to some records, some 25,000 Ingrian Finns have returned or still reside in the
Saint Petersburg region.