Editing Setos (section)

== Ethnic history ==
[[File:SUK127 126.jpg|thumb|A Seto wedding in [[Värska]] in 1912. The bride and groom are dressed in traditional period wedding attire.]]
[[File:Свадьба.jpg|thumb|Attendants of the 1912 Värska wedding in traditional Seto dress.]]

The definitive origin of the Seto people is unknown to researchers, only that they first emerged in Setomaa around the [[Piusa (river)|Piusa River]]. This was an area that was an intersection between the [[Baltic Finnic peoples|Finnic]] peoples and the [[Balts]].<ref name=":1">Laur, Kadri. ''Identity and Heritage on a Changing Border: The Estonian Seto Case.'' 2022. Uppsala University Campus Gotland, Master’s Thesis in Conservation. ''DiVA'', https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1670368&dswid=-6689</ref>

During the 13th century, the majority of Estonians along the coasts were converted to [[Catholicism]] during the [[Livonian Crusade]] led by the [[Teutonic Order]]. During this time, the majority of Setos lived under the [[Novgorod Republic]] and remained followers of their native [[Baltic Finnic paganism|Finnic religion]]. Over the next two hundred years, the Setos were converted to [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] due to the influence from the neighboring Slavic states, but incorporated elements of their earlier pre-Christian religion. An early prevailing belief of the origin of the Seto community was that they were ethnic Estonians who had migrated east and adopted Orthodox Christianity under the influence of the [[Novgorod Republic]].<ref name=":1" />

The cultural development of the Setos blossomed in the early 20th century when many national societies were organized. In 1905, the number of Setos reached its peak. After the proclamation of independence of Estonia, the authorities adopted a policy of Estonification of its population, which eventually led to decline of the Setos as a distinctive community within Estonia. In Russia, due to the influence of Estonian language schools, high rates of inter-community marriages, and emigration to Estonia, the number of self-identifying Setos decreased as well.

Setos are an officially protected ethnic minority in the Russian [[Pskov Oblast]], and a linguistic minority within Estonia. In 2002, at the sixth Seto Congress the Setos declared their intent to identify as a separate people group. In a 2011 census, it was discovered that nearly two-thirds of the nearly 12,500 Seto speaking population in Estonia lived outside the historically Seto regions.<ref name=":0" /> This resulted in two distinct communities of Setos to emerge according to research conducted by Pille Runnel, the first being the Seto who had migrated away from Setomaa and had to recreate a communal and religious identity. The second group being the Seto people who continued to live in older communities in Setomaa.<ref name=":1" />