Pello in Finland

26 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

Arctic circle in Juoksenki © panoramio.com - dr.eros/cc-by-3.0

Arctic circle in Juoksenki © panoramio.com – dr.eros/cc-by-3.0

Pello (formerly Turtola) is a municipality of Finland. It is located approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the Arctic Circle in the western part of the province of Lapland, and is part of the Lapland region. The municipality is on the national border with Sweden, by the Tornionjoki river. The municipality has a population of 3,260 (30 September 2023) and covers an area of 1,864.66 square kilometres (719.95 sq mi) of which 126.12 km² (48.70 sq mi) is water. The population density is 1.88 inhabitants per square kilometre (4.9/sq mi).   read more…

Theme Week Lapland – Kemijärvi

27 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  < 1 minute

Lake Kemijärvi © Paasikivi/cc-by-sa-3.0

Lake Kemijärvi © Paasikivi/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kemijärvi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of 7,100 and covers an area of 3,930.91 square kilometres (1,517.73 sq mi) of which 425.84 km<² (164.42 sq mi) is water. The population density is 2.03 inhabitants per square kilometre (5.3/sq mi). Surrounding municipalities are Pelkosenniemi in the north, Salla in the east, Posio in the south and Rovaniemi in the west. The town is unilingually Finnish. Villages located in the area of the municipality of Kemijärvi are Halosenranta, Hyypiö, Isokylä, Joutsijärvi, Juujärvi, Kallaanvaara, Kostamo, Leväranta, Luusua, Oinas, Perävaara, Ruopsa, Räisälä, Sipovaara, Soppela, Tapionniemi, Tohmo, Ulkuniemi, Varrio and Vuostimo.   read more…

Theme Week Lapland – Sodankylä

26 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  2 minutes

Orajärvi village © Maasaak/cc-by-sa-4.0

Orajärvi village © Maasaak/cc-by-sa-4.0

Sodankylä is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 (E63) and along Highway 4 (E75). The Kitinen River flows near the center of Sodankylä. Its neighbouring municipalities are Inari, Kemijärvi, Kittilä, Pelkosenniemi, Rovaniemi, and Savukoski. The municipality has two official languages: Finnish and Northern Sámi.   read more…

Theme Week Lapland – Inari, capital of Sámi culture

25 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Sami flag at a reindeer farm © Manfred Werner/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sami flag at a reindeer farm © Manfred Werner/cc-by-sa-3.0

Inari is Finland‘s largest municipality by area (but one of the most sparsely populated), with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are tourism, service industry and cold climate testing. With the Siida museum in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sámi culture, widely known as the “capital of Sámi culture”. The airport in Ivalo and the country’s key north-south European Route E75 (Finland’s National Road 4) bring summer and winter vacationers seeking resorts with access to a well-preserved, uncrowded natural environment.   read more…

Theme Week Lapland – Tornio

24 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  13 minutes

View from Suensaari water tower © Estormiz

View from Suensaari water tower © Estormiz

Tornio is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of 1,348.83 square kilometres (520.79 sq mi), of which 161.59 km² (62.39 sq mi) is water. The population density is 17.97 inhabitants per square kilometre (46.5/sq mi), with a total population of 21,000. It borders the Swedish municipality of Haparanda (in Finnish: Haaparanta). Tornio and Haparanda have a history as twin cities, and are currently set to merge under the names TornioHaparanda and HaparandaTornio. A new city centre is under construction on the international border and several municipal services are shared. The towns also share a common golf course, situated astride the border. The new IKEA store in Haparanda has signposting in Finnish as well as in Swedish, and all prices are signposted in two currencies. In spite of being a border city Tornio is unilingually Finnish with a negligible number of native Swedish speakers, although this does not count vast numbers of bilinguals who speak Swedish as a second language, with an official target of universal working bilingualism for both border municipalities.   read more…

Theme Week Lapland – Kemi

23 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

SnowCastle © Dmitry Makarov/cc-by-sa-3.0

SnowCastle © Dmitry Makarov/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kemi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio and the Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is 105 kilometres (65 mi) to the south and to Rovaniemi is 117 kilometres (73 mi) to the northeast. It was founded in 1869 by a decree of the Emperor Alexander II of Russia because of its proximity to a deepwater port. The town has a population of 20.000 (288.5 sq mi) and covers an area of 747.28 km² (288.53 sq mi) of which 652.1 square kilometers (251.8 sq mi) are water. The population density is 209.68 inhabitants per square kilometre (543.1/sq mi). Kemi is commonly dubbed “Monaco of Finland”.   read more…

Theme Week Lapland

22 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  11 minutes

Pallastunturi hills in Pallas-Yllästunturin National Park © Petr Vodička/cc-by-sa-4.0

Pallastunturi hills in Pallas-Yllästunturin National Park © Petr Vodička/cc-by-sa-4.0

Lapland is the largest and northernmost region of Finland. The 21 municipalities in the region cooperate in a Regional Council. Lapland borders the region of North Ostrobothnia in the south. It also borders the Gulf of Bothnia, Norrbotten County in Sweden, Troms and Finnmark County in Norway, and Murmansk Oblast and the Republic of Karelia in Russia. Topography varies from vast mires and forests of the South to fells in the North. The Arctic circle crosses Lapland, so polar phenomena such as the midnight sun and polar night can be seen in Lapland.   read more…

Abisko in Sweden

22 April 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Living, Working, Building Reading Time:  6 minutes

Abisko Östra © Helleborus

Abisko Östra © Helleborus

Abisko is a village in Sápmi (Lapland), in northern Sweden, roughly 250 km within the Arctic Circle, and near Abisko National Park, located 4 km west of the village. It has 130 inhabitants. Abisko is home to the Abisko Scientific Research Station, an important centre for research into Arctic ecology and climate change. The research station hosts the Climate Impacts Research Centre, Umeå University, where research, education and outreach on aquatic and terrestrial ecology are undertaken.   read more…

Riksgränsen, the northernmost ski resort of Sweden

19 July 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Johannes Jansson/norden.org/cc-by-2.5-dk

© Johannes Jansson/norden.org/cc-by-2.5-dk

Riksgränsen, The National Border in Swedish, is a ski-resort in Kiruna Municipality in Lappland, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. The skiing season is from February to June. From end of May the lifts operate under the midnight sun.   read more…

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