Kvens (
kveeni in
Kven language/
Finnish;
kvener in
Norwegian, and
kveanat in
Northern Sami) are an ethnic minority in
Norway who are descended from
Finnish peasants and fishermen who emigrated from the northern parts of
Finland and
Sweden to
Northern Norway in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1996 the Kvens were granted minority status in Norway, and in 2005 the Kven language was recognized as a minority language in Norway.