Pello (formerly Turtola) is a
municipality of
Finland. It is located approximately north of the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
in the western part of the
province of
Lapland
Lapland may refer to:
Places
*Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia)
**Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region
*** Lapland (former pr ...
, and is part of the
Lapland
Lapland may refer to:
Places
*Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia)
**Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region
*** Lapland (former pr ...
region. The municipality is on the national border with Sweden, by the
Tornionjoki
The Torne, also known as the Tornio ( fi, Tornionjoki, sv, Torne älv, , se, Duortneseatnu, fit, Tornionväylä), is a river in northern Sweden and Finland. For approximately half of its length, it defines the border between these two countr ...
-river. The municipality has a population of ()
and covers an area of of
which
is water.
The
population density is
.
The municipality is unilingually
Finnish, according to the
legal definition in Finland.
History
The name of Pello is ultimately derived from the word ''pelto'', field; which may have been the original name of the village. The weak grade stem of ''pelto'' is ''pello-'' (e.g. ''pellon'' - genitive case form of ''pelto''), through which the name was corrupted to its current form. The name of Turtola refers to a male name ''Turto'', a Finnish form of the Scandinavian name ''Tord''.
During the Late Middle Ages and the 16th century, Pello was the northernmost Finnish village in the
Tornio Valley. It was a part of the
Tornio parish until 1606, when said parish was divided into
Alatornio and
Ylitornio, from which the latter included Turtola and Pello.
After Russia conquered Finland in 1809, Ylitornio was split into two parts. The villages of Pello and Turtola were also split, which is why there is a
Pello and a Turtola (
Svanstein) in Sweden. The northern parts of Ylitornio became a separate parish and municipality in 1867, called Turtola after its most significant village at the time. The village of Pello later surpassed Turtola, thus the municipality was renamed to Pello in 1949.
References
External links
Municipality of Pello– Official website
Tourism of Pello– Official website
Divided cities
Populated places established in 1867
Finland–Sweden border crossings
{{Lapland-geo-stub