Vaalimaa () is a village in the

Virolahti Virolahti (; sv, Vederlax) is the southeasternmost municipality of Finland on the border of Russia. It is located in the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of , of which is water. The population densit ...

municipality and a border crossing point between

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. The border crossing station was opened in 1958 as a first road traffic crossing point between Finland and

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

.Vayla.fi - Vaalimaa
/ref> With over 2 million annual crossings, it is the busiest border crossing in the Finnish-Russian border, which is also the border of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and Russia.

European route E18 European route E18 runs from Craigavon in Northern Ireland to Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the possibility of a through jo ...

passes through Vaalimaa. The border crossing is notorious for its long queues. Around Christmas 2007 there could even be a 50 to 60 kilometer line of

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

s. The functioning of the border crossing is affected by the actions of the

Russian Customs The Federal Customs Service of Russia (russian: Федеральная таможенная служба Российской Федерации, ''Federalnaya tamozhennaya sluzhba Rossiskoy Federatsii''; abbreviated , ''FTS Rossii'') is a Russ ...

, Russian Border Control and some other Russian bureaus in Torfyanovka. Trucks and passenger cars are handled in different lines. In 2004 it became possible to cross the border by bicycle. Pedestrian crossing is still forbidden. ;Distances from Vaalimaa: *

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

: *

Kotka Kotka (; ; la, Aquilopolis) is a city in the southern part of the Kymenlaakso province on the Gulf of Finland. Kotka is a major port and industrial city and also a diverse school and cultural city, which was formerly part of the old Kymi parish ...

: *

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

: *

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...

Sources

External links

Vaalimaa

– Finnish Road Administration website
Finnish border crossing points
- Finnish Border Guard Villages in Finland Finland–Russia border crossings {{EasternFinland-geo-stub