Much of what is now Northern Russia was originally populated by Baltic and Finnic tribes . The Finnic peoples (Fennic) were a historic linguistic group who spoke Finnic languages: the Baltic Finns, who lived near the Baltic Sea, the Volga Finns, who lived near the Volga River, and the Permians, who lived in north-central Russia. The major modern representatives of the Baltic Finns who have maintained their languages are the Finns and Estonians.
