Tracing Your Baltic, Scandinavian, Eastern European, & Middle Eastern Ancestry Online: Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, Lithuanian, Greek, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Armenian, Hungarian, Eastern European & Middle Eastern Genealogy (All Faiths)
By Anne Hart
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
The nations listed in this guide (all faiths) include Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Armenia, Assyria, Greece, Lebanon, Syria, and many other lands in the Middle East, the Balkans-Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Eastern Europe-Hungary, and more.
Collecting details about people is moving toward smart card technology and its offspring. The new wave in genealogy is authentication technology. Authentication begins with new-wave technology used to gather population registers.
Compare the new technology to the old method of door-to-door census taking, tombstone tracings, and city directory publishing. No, genealogists are not using smart cards this year, but smart card technology is being used to compile population registers in Europe.
The future holds a new wave of technology used for authentication for banking transactions being applied to other areas. Currently this technology is used for collecting details for population registrars such as census taking.
The application for research is of interest to family historians, librarians, and governments. It's already in use by private industry for electronic authentication.
Family history is now about intelligent connections, whether it's a population registrar, census detail, or electronic identity for banking. Smart card genealogy began in 1998 in Finland with governments seeking to put census and population registers in an electronic form that would be available to researchers, and these applications are going global.
Anne Hart
Popular author, writing educator, creativity enhancement specialist, and journalist, Anne Hart has written 82 published books (22 of them novels) including short stories, plays, and lyrics. She holds a graduate degree and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and Mensa.
Read more from Anne Hart
30+ Brain-Exercising Creativity <I>Coach</I> Businesses to Open: How to Use Writing, Music, Drama & Art Therapy Techniques for Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tools for Mystery Writers: Writing Suspense Using Hidden Personality Traits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCover Letters, Follow-Ups, Queries & Book Proposals: Samples with Templates Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWriting 7-Minute Inspirational Life Experience Vignettes: Create & Link 1,500-Word True Stories Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5101 Ways to Find Six-Figure Medical or Popular Ghostwriting Jobs & Clients: A Step-By-Step Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Make Money Organizing Information Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/535 Video Podcasting Careers & Businesses to Start: Step-By-Step Guide for Home-Grown Broadcasters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Make Money Selling Facts: To Non-Traditional Markets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInfant Gender Selection & Personalized Medicine: Consumer's Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWriter's Guide to Book Proposals: Templates, Query Letters, & Free Media Publicity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWriting What People Buy: 101+ Projects That Get Results Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Freelance Writer's E-Publishing Guidebook: 25+ E-Publishing Home-Based Online Writing Businesses to Start for Freelancers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJob Coach-Life Coach-Executive Coach-Branding-Letter & Resume-Writing Service: Step-By-Step Business Startup Manual Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCutting Expenses & Getting More for Less: 41+ Ways to Earn an Income from Opportune Living Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Make Money Teaching Online with Your Camcorder and Pc: 25 Practical and Creative How-To Start-Ups to Teach Online Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Start Engaging Conversations on Women's, Men's, or Family Studies with Wealthy Strangers: A Thriller Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMake Money with Your Camcorder and Pc: 25+ Businesses: Make Money with Your Camcorder and Your Personal Computer by Linking Them. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreating Family Newsletters & Time Capsules: How to Publish Multimedia Genealogy Periodicals or Gift Booklets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dna Detectives: Working Against Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCyber Snoop Nation: The Adventures of Littanie Webster, Sixteen-Year-Old Genius Private Eye<Br>On Internet Radio Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDiet Fads, Careers & Controversies in Nutrition Journalism: How to Organize Term Papers, News, or Debates Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Launch a Genealogy Tv Business Online: Start Family History/Ancestry Shows Globally Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProper Parenting in Ancient Rome: A Time-Travel Novel of Love as Growth of Consciousness & Peace in the Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Tracing Your Baltic, Scandinavian, Eastern European, & Middle Eastern Ancestry Online
Related ebooks
The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy: Trace Your Roots, Share Your History, and Create Your Family Tree Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great British Family Names and Their History: What's in a Name? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tracing Your Jewish Ancestors: A Guide For Family Historians Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Your Swedish Roots: A Step by Step Handbook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ukrainians of Western Pennsylvania Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Scandinavian Heritage: 200 Years of Scandinavian Presence in the Windsor-Detroit Border Region Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ellis Island: Tracing Your Family History Through America's Gateway Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Insiders, Outsiders and Others: Gypsies and Identity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of the Finns in Michigan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/552 Weeks of Genealogy: Projects for Every Week of the Year Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCollins Tracing Your Irish Family History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScottish Ancestry: Research Methods for Family Historians, Rev. 2nd ed. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Irish Genealogy Tips, Techniques, and Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHappísland: The Short but not too Brief Tale of a Swiss Spy in Iceland: Swiceland, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScottish Gaelic: voices of my Celtic ghosts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPolish Fairy Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, Second Edition: A Guide for Family Historians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elements of Gaelic Grammar Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobinson Family Genealogy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBay Roberts: Not Your Typical Small Town Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Memory Work of Jewish Spain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSongs of the Romani Road Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTracing Your Northern Irish Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPolish Genealogy: Finding the Polish Records Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNick Barratt's Guide to Your Ancestors' Lives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Xenophobe's Guide to the Finns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reference For You
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything Sign Language Book: American Sign Language Made Easy... All new photos! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Show, Don't Tell: How to Write Vivid Descriptions, Handle Backstory, and Describe Your Characters’ Emotions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51,001 Facts that Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emotion Thesaurus (Second Edition): A Writer's Guide to Character Expression Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Buddhism 101: From Karma to the Four Noble Truths, Your Guide to Understanding the Principles of Buddhism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bored Games: 100+ In-Person and Online Games to Keep Everyone Entertained Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51001 First Lines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Useless Sexual Trivia: Tastefully Prurient Facts About Everyone's Favorite Subject Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legal Words You Should Know: Over 1,000 Essential Terms to Understand Contracts, Wills, and the Legal System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anatomy 101: From Muscles and Bones to Organs and Systems, Your Guide to How the Human Body Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5THE EMOTIONAL WOUND THESAURUS: A Writer's Guide to Psychological Trauma Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mythology 101: From Gods and Goddesses to Monsters and Mortals, Your Guide to Ancient Mythology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Tracing Your Baltic, Scandinavian, Eastern European, & Middle Eastern Ancestry Online
2 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Tracing Your Baltic, Scandinavian, Eastern European, & Middle Eastern Ancestry Online - Anne Hart
Tracing Your Baltic,
Scandinavian, Eastern
European, & Middle
Eastern Ancestry Online
♦
Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish,
Icelandic, Estonian, Latvian, Polish,
Lithuanian, Greek, Macedonian,
Bulgarian, Armenian, Hungarian, Eastern
European & Middle Eastern Genealogy
(All Faiths)
Anne Hart
ASJA Press
New York Lincoln Shanghai
Tracing Your Baltic, Scandinavian, Eastern European, & Middle Eastern Ancestry Online
Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, Lithuanian, Greek, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Armenian, Hungarian, Eastern European & Middle Eastern Genealogy (All Faiths)
Copyright © 2005 by Anne Hart
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
ASJA Press
an imprint of iUniverse, Inc.
iUniverse
2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100
Lincoln, NE 68512
www.iuniverse.com
1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)
ISBN-13: 978-0-595-35773-4
ISBN-10: 0-595-35773-3
ISBN: 978-1-5320-0054-6
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 Finland
Chapter 2 Latvia
Chapter 3 Poland
Chapter 4 Estonia
Chapter 5 Sweden
Chapter 6 Denmark
Chapter 7 Norway
Chapter 8 Iceland
Chapter 9 Lithuania
Chapter 10 Genealogy in the Balkans, Eastern Europe & the Middle East
Chapter 11 Middle Eastern & East European
Chapter 12 Translating Names
Chapter 13 Researching Assyrian Genealogy
Chapter 14 How to Translate and Locate without Surnames
Chapter 15 Armenian Genealogy
Chapter 16 Greek Genealogy
Chapter 17 Macedonia of the Ottoman Empire Era
Chapter 18 Croatia Genealogy Research
Chapter 19 Bulgaria
Chapter 20 Hungary
Chapter 21 Searching Several Areas Formerly Under the Ottoman Empire
Chapter 22 Molecular Genealogy Revolution
Chapter 23 How to Be a Personal Historian or Documentarian-Week Course
Appendix A General Genealogy Web sites
Appendix B Multi-Ethnic Genealogy Web Sites
Appendix C Bibliographies
Appendix D List of Published Paperback How-To Books, Novels & Plays for Life Long Learning by Anne Hart
Introduction
Smart Card & Database Online Genealogy for Virtual Travelers
The future of genealogy research is moving toward the promotion of transnational, interoperable electronic identity. Are you online and ready for global smart card and database genealogy for virtual travelers?
Here’s how to search family history for nations bordering the Baltic Sea, the Balkans countries, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. The nations listed in this guide (all faiths) include Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Assyria, Greece, Lebanon, Syria, and many other lands in the Middle East, the Balkans—Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Eastern Europe—Hungary, and more.
Collecting details about people is moving toward smart card technology and its offspring. The new wave in genealogy is authentication technology. Authentication begins with electronic identity processes used to gather population registers. Compare the new technology to the old method of door-to-door census taking, tombstone tracings, and city directory publishing.
No, genealogists are not using smart cards this year, but smart card technology is being used to compile population registers in Europe. The future holds a new wave of technology used for authentication for banking transactions being applied to other areas.
Currently this technology is used for collecting details for population registrars such as census taking. The application for research is of interest to family historians, librarians, bankers, publishers of directories, security agents, and governments. It’s already in use by private industry for electronic authentication.
Will smart cards, new software, and electronic databases used by governments become the new technology of genealogists, librarians, and documentarians? New wave technology is used to compile population registers for census-taking. Private industry also uses electronic identity databases (for banking transaction authentication). Is personal history detailing next? What about security versus privacy issues?
The future of family history research lies with visionary genealogists that observe each new way that the banking industry and government population registrars around the world use smart cards for authentication. Whether a census is taken or electronic databases are made available online or in private databases, the newest back-door genealogy research tools for population registers are or will be smart cards, software, and digital databases.
Researchers can find a lot of historical details online and on disk. Technology used by population registrars, libraries, and banks for transactions are attractive to futuristic genealogists interested in electronic authentication. Genealogy will eventually tap into electronic identification technology, including smart cards
that verify details about people. What details do genealogists look for? Marketing communications and advertising professionals will also be interested in details about people for market research and opinion surveys. What do you think about these issues? Is there a place for consumer watchdogs? Who watches the watchers?
Researchers prefer historical information to be online and on disk, (or on a smart ‘electronic’ card—like a special credit card—instead of on harder-to-read microfilm or microfiche. How does smart technology play into family history research and/or DNA-driven genealogy research?
Family history is now about intelligent connections, whether it’s a population registrar, census detail, or electronic identity for banking. Smart card genealogy began in 1998 in Finland with governments seeking to put census and population registers in an electronic form that would be available to researchers.
By 2000, private firms began international cooperative networks focused on visionary electronic identity for e-transactions in Europe. Elsewhere, genealogists, historians, and librarians took notice of how smart cards could be used for family history research such as census, demography, and sociology studies. What can go on a smart card besides family history and surnames? DNA sequences, medical history, and migrations for starters.
Smart Card Genealogy is about being able to check your own family history, surnames, and possibly in the future, DNA-driven reports for genealogy where written records end. Currently, Demand for electronic certification services in genealogy is in its infancy, but the idea is catching on. Banks began using smart (electronic) cards for Internet banking.
The use of smart cards increased the number of smart card readers that can read advanced electronic signatures. Government transactions led to use of smart cards and certificates. The ability to check your own data, such as personal history, genealogy, or even DNA for ancestry or predictive medicine/risk predisposition and individual data in public databases led to the interest in smart genealogy cards by family historians.
Considering the privacy law, smart cards may mean visits to a government office. How will smart card genealogy affect genealogists and other family history researchers around the world for ancestry or medical data?
The answer is balancing privacy with public genealogical databases accessible online. Visionary genealogy of the future also is about using electronic identity cards or data for family history research, whereas now smart cards and electronic databases are used for gathering population register information for getting detailed information on people as in a national census.
The future in genealogy may be the smart card approach to ancestor research. Established in 2002 at Porvoo, Finland, the Porvoo Group is an international cooperative network whose primary goal is to promote a trans-national, interoperable electronic identity, based on PKI technology (Public Key Infrastructure) and electronic ID cards, in order to help ensure secure public and private sector e-transactions in Europe.
The Group also promotes the introduction of interoperable certificates and technical specifications, the mutual, cross-border acceptance of authentication mechanisms, as well as cross-border, on-line access to administrative services.
According to its Web site, The Porvoo Group is a pro-active, European-level electronic identity ‘interest group’, widely recognized as a significant and relevant contributor to informed public dialogue in this area.
Check out the site at: The Porboo Group’s site (in English) is at: http://www.vaestorekisterikeskus.fi/vrk/home.nsf/pages/20710B02C6C5B894C2256D1A0048E290.
With the future marriage of genealogy to smart cards, online databases, or similar authentication technology for family history, population registration (census), and library research, it may be easier to research family lines, not only by DNA matches through DNA testing for deep ancestry, but also with smart, electronic cards designed for electronic identity. It’s also a way to track military records as another way to trace family history. To look to the future, you begin by scanning the past—electronically and ethnographically. For the Baltic Sea nations, there’s an excellent site on Basic Registers in the Baltic countries at:
1
Finland
The Finnish American Heritage Center (FAHA) has the distinction of housing the most comprehensive Finnish-American archival collection in the world. The mission of the FAHA is to collect and preserve the multifaceted history of North American Finns. Check out its archive with more than 20,000 items at the Finnish American Heritage Center at: http://www.finlandia.edu/fahc.html, including old newspapers. Excellent sources of information on individuals are newspaper articles on Finnish-Americans.
In the past, the law of inheritance focused Finnish genealogy on legal matters. Special provisions made genealogical research necessary. Today, you also can start your ancestor search with the Genealogical Society of Finland at: http://www.genealogia.fi/indexe.htm. It’s in English and includes articles on the Finnish communities in various US cities, including grave markers.
The site also offers links to church records, parishes, libraries, family indexes, research directories, societies, mailing lists, other genealogical societies, photo galleries, biographical indexes, abbreviations, and personal names. The site also has a database on men who didn’t report for military service without reason. Check out their article on Karelians. The Genealogical Research Agency Radix is situated in Turku, Finland, but its activities cover the whole of Finland.
Also contact The Institute of Migration at: http://www.genealogia.fi/. The site is in Finnish. It also lists cemeteries where ancestors from the Finnish immigrations to the USA are buried.
These cemeteries include the following areas in the USA: Savo Cemetery (Savo Township, Brown County, South Dakota); Finnish Apostolic Lutheran Cemetery (Savo Township, Brown County, South Dakota); Toledo Cemetery (Toledo, Lewis County, Washington); Eglon Cemetery (Kingston, Kitsap County, Washington); Winlock Cemetery (Winlock, Lewis County, Washington). Lisatty hautausmaaluetteloita (USA): St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery, Moe Township, Douglas County, Minnesota; Holmes City Lake Finnish Apostolic Lutheran Church Cemetery, Moe Township, and Douglas County, Minnesota.
You can find genealogy articles and links at the Sukututkimus Web site at: http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~syli/geneo/. Also see the article on Changing Uses of Genealogical Research in Finland at: http://www.genealogia.fi/emi/art/indexe.htm. Also try the Scandinavian and Nordic Genealogy site at: http://www.cyberpursuits.com/gen/scandlist.asp. See the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland site at: http://www.evl.fi/english/. The Swedish Finn Historical Society is at:
You’ll find an excellent article on Finnish surnames at: http://www.genealogia.fi/emi/art/article104e.htm. For example, an excerpt from the article states, The most prevalent form has been the shortening of the Finnish patronymic, usually by clipping either a prefix or suffix. This process abbreviated the surname in the interests of American phonology yet retained for it an unmistakable Finnish identity. Thus, by dropping the prefix, Kaunismäki, Kauramäki, Koivumäki, Myllymäki, Palomäki, Lamminmäki, Rautamäki, Peramäki, Hakomäki, Kortesmäki, Hautamäki, Niinimäki, Katajamäki, etc., became simply Maki;2 or then again, by deleting the suffix, Mäkelä, Mäkinen, Mäkitalo, Mäkivuori, etc., were similarly transformed into Maki.
The article explains in footnote 2 that, The Finnish vowels ä and ö are inevitably rendered jo this country as the English a and o. The Finnish v and w are interchangeable.
Also see the publication, American Speech. A Quarterly of Linguistic Usage, Volume XIV, p. 33-38, 1939. A patronymic is a personal name based on the name of one’s father. A personal name based on the name of one’s mother is a matronymic. The present trend in Finland is from Swedish to Finnish patronymics. Read the article titled, Surnames in Finland on the threshold of the new millennium by Sirkka Paikkala at: http://www.genealogia.fi/nimet/nimi82s.htm.
According to Kate Monk’s Onomostikon at: http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/KateMonk/Europe-Scandinavia/Finland/Surnames.htm Originally Finns had only one forename followed by a patronymic taken from the genitive form of their father’s first name with the suffix ‘poika’—son, or ‘tytär’—daughter. For example, Jussi Pentinpoika—Jussi, Pentti’s son, or Ulla Pentintytär—Ulla, Pentti’s daughter.
There’s a Web site researching the Saari surname at: http://members.aol.com/dssaari/saarinam.htm and a tutorial on Finnish surnames along with farm names. The Finnish surname Korela Web well-researched site is at: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/korpela.html.
You can consult the Population Register Center of Finland, or look at the Web site of the international Porvoo Group that seeks to support the deployment of electronic identity in Europe. The Porboo Group’s site (in English) is at: http://www.vaestorekisterikeskus.fi/vrk/home.nsf/pages/20710B02C6C5B894C2256D1A0048E290.
According to its Web site, The Porvoo Group is a pro-active, European-level electronic identity ‘interest group’, widely recognized as a significant and relevant contributor to informed public dialogue in this area.
To register a child born in the United States (to Finnish parents/Finnish parent) to the population registry in Finland, the parent would ask the Finnish Embassy in Washington DC or the Consulate General in New York or Los Angeles (
Also see the pdf file titled, 250 Years of Population Statistics in Finland by Mauri Nieminen, Statistics Finland, Population Statistics, Työpajakatu 13, Helsinki, Finland. The Web site is at: http://www.stat.fi/isi99/proceedings/arkisto/varasto/niem1020.pdf. For other population statistics, also see Register Based Statistics Production, Statistics Finland, by Riitta Harala. The site is at: http://www.stat.fi/tk/ys/roundtable/sefdrha.html.
Development of electronic government transactions in Finland site is at government decided to create a generic system for electronic identification, data transfer encryption and digital signatures for electronic transactions. The Population Register Center offers PKI-based certification services, where a citizen can buy an electronic identification card the size of a credit card. The private key and certificates are installed on the smart card, see http://www.fineid.fi/.
If you’re looking to the future of electronic genealogy, it’s going to follow government and banking authentication tools for population registers, passenger lists, migrations, and other historical information. Finland is advanced in developing technology for electronic identification authentication. Check out the future and development of electronic government transactions in finland at:
in developing the infrastructure, it is essential that the citizens rely on confidentiality, protection of privacy and high standard of information when administration handles personal information. According to surveys, citizens’ have good trust in government information processing. The government continues to enhance its information security in order to keep this trust.
How do you feel about your genealogy, population registration, or even the futuristic concept of your dna sequences on a smart card in your own country? With visionary technology, balance is the key.
Finnish Genes and Genealogy
Check out the Discover magazine article, Finland’s Fascinating Genes, Learning Series: Genes, Race, and Medicine [Part 2], According to the article, The people in this land of lakes and forests are so alike that scientists can filter out the genes that contribute to heart disease, diabetes, and asthma,
by Jeff Wheelwright, DISCOVER Vol. 26 No. 04 | April 2005 | Biology & Medicine.
The UCLA study also might help you learn more about your Finn-American medical heritage. For example, Karelians from Eastern Finland and Karelia are being compared in studies to people from Western Finland to see whether or not there are any genetic predispositions in the Eastern Finns and Karelians compared to the Western Finns. The article notes that Karelians and Eastern Finns with short arms and legs may have genes for different genetic predispositions compared to Western Finns with longer arms and legs, but all this is currently under study. Gene hunters described in the spring 1999 UCLA magazine article at:
Finland has a small population, isolation, and less immigration than other European nations. The government kept meticulous tax records. As a result, Finland has medical records on individuals that go back more than three hundred years. With carefully written medical and genealogical records, it’s one way to trace familial health and ailments as well as family surnames. According to the UCLA 1999 magazine article, Finland also has a system of free, high-quality health care in which patients trust their doctors and are highly willing to participate in medical research.
According to the UCLA magazine article, "In the 20 years