3400 BC to 1150

Finns, Karelians and Sami

People reached Finland after the ice melted, more than ten thousand years ago. By the Middle Ages the Finns proper lived in the southwest, the Tavastians inland and the Karelians in the east, while the Sami hunted and herded in the north. The Karelians traded and allied with Novgorod, and Swedes and Novgorodians began to compete for the region.