Kainuu, known in English historically as Cajania and Latin as Quaenia or Caiania, is a region in the middle and on the eastern side of the country called the Republic of Finland. Due to historical reasons, it is one of the three regions of Finland that make up Northern Finland. The language spoken in Kainuu is the Kainuu dialect of Finnish, which itself can be divided into three sub-dialects. The Kainuu dialect, in turn, belongs to the Savonian dialect group of Finnish, which are Eastern Finnish dialects.

Kainuu is inhabited by the "Kainuu people". There is no proper term in English. In Finnish, it is "kainuulainen", and in Kainuu dialect, it is "kaenⁿuulaene". Sometimes, for the sake of convenience, I use the term derived from historical words: Cajanian. It is not "official" term and I don't think anyone else in the world has used that translation but me. That's fine though, this is my website. Feel free to use the term if you like it. The number of Kainuu people or Cajanians is about 70,000. (Before, on my website I used Quaenian, derived from Latin, but then I discovered this old English word from 1771.)

Kainuu has multiple different symbols, the most famous of which is the coat of arms and flag, which have a green line of spruces in front of a golden background. The heather is the regional flower of Kainuu. The "awakening" of the Kainuu identity started in the late 19th century.

Kainuu dialect conjugations and declinations examples

Also check out the translations: Kainuu Anthem and Kaunis on Kainuu.

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