Severe beauty of its nature, the climate, not too favourable in these latitudes, the coexistence and intermingling of various peoples inhabiting this land for centuries, all that conditioned the character of the people living here:я very laconic, self-assured, contemplative, and tolerant people. It also accounts for the fact that there is no national strife and terrorism in this land.я

The borderline location of Karelia has often brought it to the foreground of major events in European history. But while in old days the land of Karelia often became a subject of international claims and a matter of concern even in Rome, present Karelia as a subject ofя the Russian Federation with the longest border with EEC is destined to become the economic and cultural bridge between the East and the West.я

Karelia is justly called a "national park"я in Russia. It was this land that preserved the runes of the Karelian and Finnish epic "Kalevala", as well as numerous ancient Russian epics ("bylinas"). It was this land that preserved the great monuments of wooden architecture, attracting millions of tourists from all over the world.я

Present day Karelia is rich in forest, stone, ecologically clean water, floraя and fauna, as well as in people aspiringto live in harmony with the beauty ofя surrounding nature.