First people appeared on the territory of Karelia in the post-glacial period in the 7-6th millennium BC. By the end of the 1st millennium BC the area was inhabited by Finno-Ugric tribes. With the creation of the ancient Russian state in IX century the lands were included into Kievan Rus. This lasted up until the XII century when the feudal disintegration of the Russian state leaded to the changes. Since that period the territory was ruled by Novgorod. In 1478 Karelia was incorporated into the Russian State together with the others territories that once belonged to Novgorod. For several centuries Karelia was in the center of Russian and Swedish confrontation, for over a century (1617-1721) it belonged to the Swedes.

Under the rule of Peter the Great (1682-1725) a group of Olonetski metallurgical works was established. These new facilities played important role in the Northern War (1700-1721) supplying Russian troops with cannons and munitions. One of those factories, called Petrozavodski, contributed to the appearance and growth of the settlement that later developed into the regional center – Petrozavodsk city.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries economical development of Karelia was based on industries connected with timber milling. The region converted into one of the prominent suppliers of saw timber. The second part of the XIX century was marked by the opening of the steamship circulation. In 1914-1916 the Murmanskaya Railway traversed Karelia, connecting it with major Russian cities.

Soviet power was established in Karelia in 1917-1918, and in 1923 the region gained the status of an autonomous republic of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR). The first part of the XX century was marked by the war with Finland (1939-1940). After these events the territory of Karelia extended and got the name of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Karelia became one of the republics situated within the Russian Federation.