
, or sometimes Torne Valley or Torne River Valley (; ) lies at the border of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. It is named after the
Torne River flowing through the valley and into the
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia (; ; ) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast ( West Bothnia an ...
. Geographically the townships and municipalities that make up the area are
Haparanda
Haparanda (; Meänkieli and Finnish: ''Haaparanta'', ) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda has a population of 9,166 inhabitants (2024).
Haparanda is ...
,
Övertorneå
Övertorneå (; ) is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Övertorneå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 1,917 inhabitants in 2010.
It is located at the shore of the Torne (Finnish and Swedish river), Torne River, oppos ...
,
Pajala
Pajala () is a locality and the seat of Pajala Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden, with 1,958 inhabitants in 2010. It is located in Swedish Lapland.
Pajala is in part of the Meänmaa (Torne valley) region and was in past times unilingua ...
and
Kiruna
(; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...
in Sweden, and
Tornio
Tornio (; ; ; ) is a city and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border Twin cities, twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is wat ...
,
Ylitornio
Ylitornio (; ; ; ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland.
It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Lapland, Finland, Lapland along the Torne (Finnish and Swedish river), Tornio River, opposite the Sweden, Swedish ...
,
Pello,
Kolari,
Muonio
Muonio (previously called ''Muonionniska''; ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. The town is located in fell-region of far northern Finland above the Arctic Circle on the country's western border with Sweden, the Muonio ( ...
and
Enontekiö in Finland. Culturally the highland Swedish municipality
Gällivare
Gällivare (; ; or ; or ; ) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns Malmberget ...
is sometimes also considered part of Meänmaa due to the large share of
Meänkieli
(literally 'our language'), or Tornedalian is a Finnic language or a group of distinct Finnish dialects spoken in the northernmost part of Sweden, particularly along the Torne River Valley. It is officially recognized in Sweden as one of the ...
-speaking population in it.
Meänkieli surnames and village names are common on the Swedish side of the border to this day, in spite of the dominance of the Swedish language in the area. The Finnish side of the border has standard Finnish as the sole spoken language.
History and culture
The cultural environment around the Torne River is characterized by agriculture, reindeer farming and fishing.
Meänmaa was one of the oldest inhabited areas in northern Finland. Archeological excavations have revealed evidence of permanent settlements at least from the 11th century, but there are signs of earlier settlements.
Agriculture has long been practiced on the fertile flooding meadows by the river. Trading routes followed the river and some trading centers were formed. One of the centers since 16th century was the island Oravaisensaari at Vojakkala. Today, the main center is the twin city of Haparanda-Tornio.
The Finnish and Swedish sides of the river were once one cultural entity, as before 1809 they were both parts of Sweden. Once the current border between the two countries had been established, each side of the river has become influenced by the majority culture in its respective country, but still retains some traditional elements.
Language
On the Swedish side of the valley,
Finnish was still the majority language until the 20th century. This is obvious in the many Finnish village and other place names on the Swedish side of the border. The number of Finnish speakers has now declined drastically, because of national Swedish influence and compulsory schooling in Swedish. People in the younger generations mostly have Swedish as their primary language, though it is still widely spoken in many homes as a secondary language.
The local Finnic variant,
Meänkieli
(literally 'our language'), or Tornedalian is a Finnic language or a group of distinct Finnish dialects spoken in the northernmost part of Sweden, particularly along the Torne River Valley. It is officially recognized in Sweden as one of the ...
, has been recognised as a minority language in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
.
The people who speak it are often referred to as
Tornedalians
Tornedalians (; ; ) are an Ethnicity, ethnic Minority group, minority native to the Torne Valley (Meänmaa) region in northern Sweden and Finland. Tornedalians were officially recognized as a national minority in Sweden in 2000. Tornedalians divi ...
, although this term could also be defined as referring to people living in Meänmaa, who are not all speakers of Meänkieli. The originally Finnish-speaking land area is far greater than the actual river valley; it extends as far west as
Gällivare
Gällivare (; ; or ; or ; ) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town was founded in the 17th century. Together with nearby towns Malmberget ...
. Although confusing from a geographic point of view, this whole area is often referred to as Meänmaa. Meänmaa,
Sápmi
is the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. Sápmi includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia, stretching over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Most of Sápmi lies north of the Arctic Circle, boun ...
and Swedish areas bind together, most places in
Norrbottens län have three names, but are mostly called by their Swedish name which often just has a different spelling. For example
Kiruna
(; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...
is called Kieruna (Meänkieli), Giron (
North Sámi), and Kiruna (
Swedish), but is mainly known as Kiruna.
The area where Meänkieli is spoken is also called ''Meänmaa''. Since 15 June 2006, the Tornedalians have their own flag.
See also
*
French Geodesic Mission to Lapland
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meanmaa
Tornedalians
Sápmi
Sub-regions of Finland
Geography of Lapland (Finland)
Geography of Norrbotten County
Torne river basin