The Republic of Karelia (Russian: Респу́блика Каре́лия, tr. Respublika Kareliya; IPA: [rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə kɐˈrʲelʲɪ(j)ə]; Karelian: Karjalan tazavalda; Finnish: Karjalan tasavalta; Veps: Karjalan Tazovaldkund) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic), located in the northwest of Russia. Its capital is the city of Petrozavodsk. Its population in 2010 was 643,548.

The modern Karelian Republic was founded as an autonomous republic within the Russian SFSR by the Resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) of June 27, 1923 and by the Decree of the VTsIK and the Council of People's Commissars of July 25, 1923 from the Karelian Labor Commune. From 1940 to 1956, it was known as the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, one of the union republics in the Soviet Union. In 1956, it was once again an autonomous republic and remains as part of Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The republic is in the northwestern part of Russia, taking intervening position between the White and Baltic Seas. The White Sea has a shore line of 630 kilometers (390 mi). It has an area of 172,400 km² (66,600 sq mi). It shares internal borders with Murmansk Oblast (north), Arkhangelsk Oblast (east/south east), Vologda Oblast (south east/south), and Leningrad Oblast (south/south west), and it also borders Finland; the borders measure 723 km. The main bodies of water next to Karelia are the White Sea (an inlet of the Barents Sea) to the north-east and Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga both shared with neighbouring Oblasts to the south. Its highest point is the Nuorunen peak at 576 m (1,890 ft).

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