History Nature

Winter Culture

Your EU regionTornio FINLAND

HISTORY

The coat of arms of Tornio

• The area of Finland was attached to Sweden from the mid -1100s till the year 1809.

• The city of Tornio was founded by Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, in 1621.

• The delta of Torne River had for centuries been a vivid commercial centre.

• In 1808 Lapland was divided in two parts and the border was drawn through the deepest channel of the Muonio and Tornio rivers. Tornio ended up in the Russian side of the border and the Swedes developed the village of Haparanda to balance the loss of Tornio.

• During the Russian period Tornio was nothing but a small garrison town. However, during the First World War Tornio became an important border crossing for both people and goods. At that time Tornio and Haaparanta had the only rail link to connect the Russians to their Western allies, which is the case even today.

• Finland became independent in 1917.

• The traditional way of fishing salmon.

Tornio- market place

• Tornio has always been a busy market place.• There have been two kinds of trade in the area,

legal and illegal trade.• From the 19th century onwards smuggling, or

"joppaaminen", made many people rich and some even earned their fortunes. The rationing of the last wars meant a golden age for smugglers, which lasted all the way to the beginning of the 1950s when the rationing of coffee finally ended.

Things that were smuggled

• From Finland to Sweden: fur, skiing boots, gloves, butter, meat and other groceries

• From Sweden to Finland: coffee, sugar and other ”luxury products”

Cross border marriages ”Poikkinainti”

• People have always married each other from the both sides of the border, which is called ”poikkinainti” in Finnish.

• The higher standard of living in Sweden tempted Finnish girls to marry Swedish men.

Traditions

• Ice fishing competition is arranged every year• Every year people gather to watch both the

Finnish and Swedish fireworks in New Year’s Eve.

• Twin city festival is arranged every year between the both cities, it’s a big event with many famous performers.

• Midnight Sun Golf 90 Holes Non Stop Marathon is also arranged every year, it’s a golf tournament between the two golf courses of Tornio and Haparanda.

”The twin cities” Tornio and Haparanda

• There has always been collaboration between Tornio and Haparanda

• Tornio and Haparanda have a history as twin cities, and are set to merge under the name EuroCity.

• A new city centre is under construction on the international border and several municipal services are shared.

• The towns also have a common golf course, situated across 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.

• The Rajalla - På Gränsen is the largest project between the two cities, a shopping center has already been built and the area between the cities has been planned.

Meänkieli ”our language”

• Meänkieli is a dialect that is spoken in the Tornio area, it’s a mixture of Swedish and Finnish.

Traditional food

• rieska, traditional bread

• salmon

• the old town hall of Tornio

• the city hall of Tornio

Rajalla - På Gränsen -project

The bridges

The river

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NATURE

SUOMI-FINLAND

Tornio is on the border between Swedenand Finland.

TORNIO

ANIMALS & BIRDS

Bear,National mammal

Lapland OwlReindeer

WhooperSwan,National bird

FLORA

Lily of the Valley,National plantScots Pine Globe-flower

BERRIES

Cloudberry

Artic raspberry

European blueberry

Lingonberry

Berries are not cultivated.They grow naturally in the forests and swamps.

Cloudberry flower

NATIONAL LANDSCAPE

Kilsiaapa swamp

AAVASAKSA

The fall of Nuolja

Tornio river

Sweden is on the other side.

Auroras

The river Hannu

Seasons

Autumn Winter

SummerSpring

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WINTER

A lot of snow.

Heavy snow in the moonlight

There can be even -40 degrees in Tornio.

A hole in the ice, this is the place where Finnish people can swim in the winter.

Cross-country skiing is a Finnish traditional sport.

You can drive a snowmobile.

Stud tyres,necessary things in Winter.

Electric heating in the car engine

”A typical” Monday morning :D

Birds fly to the

south in the autumn.

Reindeer

searching food in

winter.

Snow Castle in Kemi.

You can sleep, eat

and even get

married there.

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CULTURE

Kalottjazz & Blues Festival is the largest jazz celebration in the far north, and this truly international event takes place in Tornio and Haparanda, where Finnish and Swedish cultures quite literally come together.

Tornio has a lot of cultural events, for example concerts, theatre and art exhibitions.

The police band Kaamea Rangaistus (”Terrible Punishment”) in action.

Tornio city

Tornio’s Old Bridge

Säipän talo.The infamous haunted house.It was built in the 1800s.

The legend goes that a girl named Sylva haunts the building looking for her letters,which were written by her Russian lover.

Our dear school,Tornion yhteislyseon lukio It also served as a war hospital in 1917-1918.In World War ll the building wasused by the German defenceforces.

Two churches, below is the Orthodox church and the one on the left is Tornio church.Tornio church was built in the late 17th century and the Orthodox church at the end of the 19th century.

City Hall.

A scene from the old bridge.

School traditions

”Penkkarit” is the day when the senior students are ”thrown out” of school. Seniors dress upto celebrate the day, throw candies all around and act less formally.

”Vanhojen tanssit”, ”ball by the new seniors” the day after penkkarit, is the day when sophomores take part in a dance and perform different types of dances in local schools.

Fireworks to celebrate New Year's Eve in 2008.

Joutsenveistos, ”Swan sculpture”, in honour of the border co-operation between Finland and Sweden, behind the Rajalla shopping centre.

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