The Saami people number about 70,000 and live in northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. In 1956, the Nordic Saami Council was founded as a cross-border channel of co-operation on Saami issues. Since 1972 there has been a Saami parliament in Finland. In Norway a parliament was constituted in 1989 - and in Sweden the first Saami elections took place in 1993. These bodies are subordinate to the national parliaments.