Understand
Karelia is known as "the country of lakes." One quarter of Karelia's surface is covered by water including about sixty thousand lakes. The second-largest lake of Europe, Lake Onega, is located in Karelia. The largest lake of Europe, Lake Ladoga is partly located in Karelia together with Leningrad Oblast. Wherever there is land, there are dense forests covering the ground.
Karelia has strong cultural connection with Finland and the Karelians, for whom the republic is named, are a Finno-Ugric group very closely related to the Finns. Karelia is a relatively recent Russian/Soviet conquest from Finland, and a bit of a sore spot for the Finns.
