The peace of Nystad in 1721 enabled Russia to occupy Finnish territory for the first time. All of the southeastern portion of the duchy then became part of the Muscovite empire. A further cession in 1743 at the treaty of Åbo brought Swedish frontiers as far west as the Kymmens line. The final conquest was ratified by the treaty of peace signed by Swedish and Russian plenipotentiaries on September 17, 1809. Sweden formally renounced its rights over Finland and the duchy became part of Russia. Today Finland is a country with three languages. Russian is the channel of official activity. Finnish, through a literary revival, has won its right to be the language of the land and this is a symbol of the Finns’ desire for independent national existence. Swedish remains as the age-old medium through which Christianity and western culture were conveyed. It is also to a large extent the business language of the province, especially for communication with western Europe. Competition between the three languages is carried on with unabating energy. The struggle is an outward manifestation of the fight for independence waged by the natives of Finland in the presence of Swedish and Russian efforts to dominate the country. The common danger from Russia has lately drawn the Swedish and Finnish groups together, although the Finns were previously strongly anti-Swedish. The old antagonism still lingers in society life. The Swedish-speaking element rarely mixes with the Finnish-speaking. This is particularly noticeable at Helsingfors, where each language represents a distinct stratum of social life. In Russia’s Baltic provinces two of the world’s oldest yet absolutely distinct languages are spoken. South of the Gulf of Finland the Esthonians or Chuds still retain a primitive form of Mongolian. In the neighboring Letto-Lithuanian group, on the other hand, a speech which is closely akin to the old Aryan is employed. Almost any Lithuanian peasant can understand simple phrases in Sanskrit. The survival of archaic languages in this section of Europe is the result of isolation provided by a forested and marshy country in which folk-characteristics maintained their ancient forms. From the racial standpoint Esthonians, Letts and Lithuanians are fair, generally tall, narrow-faced and long-headed. In the Fellin district, in southern Estland, a very pure Nordic type is found among peoples of Esthonian speech.