The Republic of Karelia is located in the north-western part of Russian Federation, between the basins of Barents and Baltic seas. The total territory of Karelia is 172 400 sq.km. The capital of the Republic is the city of Petrozavodsk situated on the Shore of Onego Lake.

In the northeast, the Republic is washed by the White Sea with a shore line of 630 km.; in the west Karelia borders on Finland (border line length approx. 700 km.); in the north, on Arkhangelsk Region; in the south, on Vologda and Leningrad Regions of the Russian Federation. The most part of the republic's territory (148 000 sq.km. or 85%) is comprised of state forest stock. There are 27 000 rivers and over 60 000 lakes in Karelia. Lake Ladoga and Lake Onego are the largest lakes in Europe. Lakes and swamps contain about 2 000 cubic kilometers of high-quality fresh water. 50 useful minerals are found in Karelia, located in more than 400 deposits and ore bearing layers. Karelia has also been identified as having diamond deposits. Virgin woods, clean lakes and rivers, historical and cultural monuments attract hundreds of thousand of travelers to Karelia today and the flow of tourists will increase. The Republic has a rather well developed network of transport infrastructure. Water communications connect Karelia with the Barents, Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas (through the system of rivers, lakes and canals).

The main feature that determines the historical and cultural peculiarity of Karelia is its border position. The cultural originality of Karelia began forming before the appearance of clearly defined borders and before the crystallization of the features that distinguish the Russian and the European civilizations. Karelia, as a culturally original region of Northern Europe, appeared as a result of the interaction of the Baltic-Finnish and the Eastern Slavic cultures in the North. It was on the territory of the Karelian ethno cultural border that the top examples of the art of the peoples of different origins were preserved and recorded in the 19th century, such as the epic Karelian-Finnish runes which were compiled in the famous "Kalevala" and the Russian epic songs. The dialogue and the synthesis of traditions is the basis of the cultural originality of the region and characterize all the stages of its history. Starting from the middle Ages, Karelia was a territory on the border of the Swedish Kingdom and the Novgorod Republic, and later the Moscow Kingdom.

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