Pello (formerly Turtola) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 located approximately north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

in the western part of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Lapland, and is part of the Lapland

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The municipality is on the national border with Sweden, by the Tornionjoki-river. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish, according to the legal definition in Finland. Konttajärvi is in this municipality. It is served by the Pello railway station.

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 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 ...

parish until 1606, when said parish was divided into

Alatornio Alatornio () is a former municipality in the province of Lapland (Finland), Lapland, Finland. It was annexed with Tornio in 1973. In 1970, Alatornio had a population of 8,575 people.

and

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 ...

, 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 Pello (formerly Turtola) is a municipality of Finland. It is located approximately 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 ...

and a Turtola (

Svanstein Svanstein () () is a village situated in Övertorneå Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders ...

) 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.

Notable people

Kaarlo Castrén Kaarlo Castrén (28 February 1860 – 19 November 1938) was a Finnish politician and Prime Minister of Finland. He represented the National Progressive Party. Biography Castrén was born in Turtola and graduated in 1887 as a Bachelor of ...

(1860–1938), politician; the Prime Minister of Finland *

Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (; born 23 April 1941) is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was prime minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005. He also served as speaker of ...

(born 1941), politician; the Prime Minister of Finland * Toivo Mäkikyrö (born 1957), biathlete * Eero Mäntyranta (1937–2013), cross-country skiers * Timo K. Mukka (1944–1973), author * Olli-Markus Taivainen (born 1989), ski-orienteering competitor

References

External links

Municipality of Pello
– Official website
Tourism of Pello
– Official website Divided cities Populated places established in 1867 Finland–Sweden border crossings Municipalities of Lapland (Finland) 1867 establishments in the Russian Empire {{Lapland-geo-stub