Ylitornio (Swedish: Övertorneå) is a Finnish municipality located
in the southwestern part of Lapland. The municipality is home to
3,905 people and covers an area of 2,212.47 km2, of which 184.43 km2
are water bodies. The population density is 1.93 inhabitants / km2.
The neighboring municipalities are Pello, Rovaniemi, Tervola and
Tornio on the Finnish side and Övertorneå on the Swedish side.
The Ylitornio of Finland (and Pello) and the Ylitornio of Sweden
formed one unified parish before 1809, when the border of peace in
Hamina divided it in two. At that time, the current Pello also
belonged to the parish of Ylitornio.
The name Ylitornio bends
in foreign local places (Ylitornio, Ylitornio, Ylitornio) unlike its
neighbor Tornio (in local places in Tornio, Tornio, Tornio).
The first organized society to arrive in the Torne Valley is believed
to have arrived after the Ice Age, when the northern climate began to
soften and the glaciers began to melt, around 6000 BC. The culture that
developed over the centuries is called Komsa or Gorravárri and, since
they settled mainly on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, they had close
contact with the tribes of the early Fonsa culture of the North Sea.
Although the origin of the original inhabitants of this region, the
Sami, is still unknown, it seems that they are the result of a mixture
of these tribes and the Ural peoples who later (in the Stone Age)
entered Scandinavia from the east. Initially, their territory extended
from the Arctic Ocean to central Finland, Norway and Sweden and they
lived mainly from hunting, gathering fruit and fishing; that is, they
were nomadic. The remains of these first inhabitants that have been
found in Ylitornio date back to 4500 BC. In fact, a total of fifty
objects from this period have been found, including hunting tools,
jeweled ornaments, paintings and several graves.
In the Classical
Middle Ages, Swedish influence began to become prominent and the
territory was incorporated into the former province of Vestrobothnia of
the Swedish Kingdom, along with the entire southern Torne Valley. Thus,
Christianity began to spread by the Swedes in the 11th century and the
first Finns began to arrive in the Torne Valley; thus, these Finns began
to take advantage of the fertile waters of the Tornionjoki River, which
was originally inhabited by the Sami.
Swedish influence
intensified from the 14th century onwards and in 1531, Gustav Vasa, then
king of the Swedish Kingdom, made the first attempt to found the city of
Torneå and turn the Tornionjoki basin into a commercial center. However,
since the Birkars living in these territories controlled the population
and trade, both this attempt and the attempt by John III in 1585 were
not successful. Although the Birkars were initially allies of the
Swedes, they did not want to give up their privileges and largely
hindered the development of Lapland and the entire Torne Valley.
In order to reduce the Birkars' power in this territory and strengthen
the power of the Swedish Kingdom, in 1606 the Swedes divided the Torne
Valley into two: Lower Torne and Upper Torne (in Finnish, Alatornio and
Ylitornio). This is the first mention of the name Ylitornio. Finally, in
1620, the Birkars were defeated and the Swedish Kingdom founded the
cities of Umeå, Piteå, Luleå and Torneå; trade reached the north of the
Gulf of Bothnia and the valley. Torneå became the northernmost city in
the entire Swedish Kingdom, and with the development of the city, the
towns that formed the Upper Torne region also began to prosper. For
example, butter, salmon and furs produced in the valley were valuable
goods throughout the Kingdom; in return, products from Sweden and the
Baltic Sea arrived. During this time, the few Sami who remained in the
municipality moved north or gradually adopted Finnish culture. The
economic benefits and land acquisitions offered by the kingdom for
colonizing the northern territories led to the arrival of people from
Karelia, Savonia and Tavastia. The current culture of the Torne Valley
began to take shape.
On the other hand, in the mid-18th century,
the town declined. As a result of the Great Northern War, trade ceased,
and many of the inhabitants of Tornio moved to the city, attracted by
the shipbuilding industry that had developed around Tornio. The decline
occurred in 1715, when the Russian Empire conquered and destroyed
Tornio.
The Arctic Circle passes through Ylitornio, which is why
in the mid-18th century, in 1736, the French astronomer, mathematician
and philosopher Pierre Louis Maupertuis came to the area and its
neighboring town of Pello to conduct research on the size of the Earth.
From the top of Aavasaksa Hill in Ylitornio, he attempted to conduct
research on the size of the Earth. This led to the view of the Torne
Valley from Aavasaksa Hill being declared a National Landscape of
Finland. Also in the late 18th century, the Italian explorer Giuseppe
Acerbi visited the Tornionjoki River and collected several traditional
folk melodies there.
In the early 19th century, the Swedish and
Russian Empires fought for control of Finland throughout Finland and
Europe; eventually, in the Finnish War, the Russian Empire annexed the
country with the support of Finnish nationalism. Finland became a Grand
Duchy within the Empire, and new borders were drawn between Sweden and
the Muonionjoki and Tornionjoki rivers. The municipality, which had been
on both banks of the river, was thus divided in two, and many of the
inhabitants who remained on the Finnish or Russian side crossed the
border. However, with the separation of 1809, Ylitornio and Övertorneå
each formed their own municipality.
After this new border, the
city of Tornio also lost its importance, dominance and large number of
inhabitants working in trade, and it gave up its title of trading city
in favor of Kemi. This ended Tornio's fruitful shadow and Ylitornio
plunged into a deep crisis. However, in 1862, along with
industrialization, railway transport arrived, which put the valley's
economy on the rise again.
After Finland gained independence in
the Civil War of 1917, and while this process was still not stable,
World War II broke out on the old continent. The country, seeking to
maintain its independent status and to keep the USSR away from its
territory, joined forces with Nazi Germany. German troops arriving from
Norway settled in the villages and began organizing the defense of the
Arctic Ocean. With war imminent, the fledgling Finnish government
ordered the evacuation of its citizens to Sweden. After several wars
(the Winter War, the Continuation War), Finland signed a peace agreement
with the USSR, which required the expulsion of the Germans from Finnish
lands. Finland then began to persecute the Nazis. They planned to flee
to their satellite country, neighboring Norway, but before they could
escape, the Finns settled in Ylitornio and other border towns to prevent
their retreat. The Lapland War began. Tornio was the scene of one of the
most important battles of the war, the Battle of Tornio; the battle
began on October 1, 1944 and lasted a week. As a strategic port, the
Finns organized a strong defense of Tornio, and the war broke out when
the Germans passed through the city. Despite being outnumbered, the
Finns killed all the enemy and prevented many men from retreating. Thus,
Ylitornio and the other municipalities in the southern Torne Valley were
spared the terrible and desperate end that the rest of Lapland suffered.
In the years after World War II, Finland experienced tremendous
economic growth and achieved social and political stability. After 40
years of being a poor post-war country, declaring itself neutral during
the Cold War, and paying a fine imposed by the UN, it became the most
technologically advanced and intelligent state in the world, with
enormous economic power in the market and a high standard of living.
Initially, as industry took root in Tornio and the surrounding towns,
all this growth was good for Ylitornio; the municipality passed the
10,000-person mark. However, due to the centralization of the Lapland
economy and the dominance of the Kemi-Tornio Axis, the municipality
entered a long period of crisis that continues to this day.
Although more and more developed structures are arriving today, the
municipality is still influenced by Tornio and the surrounding cities.
At least the tourism offer created together with Övertorneå, Pajala and
Pello has reduced the unemployment rate. It is one of the Lappish
municipalities that is losing population the fastest every year.
About 10 kilometers north of the municipal center is a 242 meter high danger, Aavasaksa, which is one of Finland's 27 official national landscapes. In Aavasaksa you will find a café-restaurant, a ski resort and accommodation services. The municipal center is located in the lush Tornio River Valley, which is a traditional farmland. The landscape is dominated by the Torniojoki River and rugged dangerous landscapes.
Ylitornio is a municipality in the Torne Valley in northwestern
Finland. It is located in the Lappi region and is separated from the
Swedish municipality of Övertorneå by the Tornionjoki River.
Specifically, its neighbors are Övertorneå to the west, Pello to the
north, the capital Rovaniemi to the east, Tervola to the southeast and
the city of Tornio to the south. Together with Pello, it forms the Torne
Valley subregion, the smallest subregion in the entire Lappi region. The
municipality has an area of 2,212.64 km², almost as large as the whole
of Bizkaia, and only about 4,700 inhabitants. The main climate of
Ylitornio is subarctic, and taiga or boreal forest fills all corners of
the municipality. Therefore, the most common trees that grow there are
alders, firs, poplars, pines, willows and birches. Snow, on the other
hand, covers the land of the municipality from early November to May and
it is worth mentioning the marshy and swampy areas where different plant
species can be found, the most famous in the whole country.
The
Arctic Circle, 66º 33' 38" parallel, passes through it and divides the
municipality into two parts, the northern Arctic zone and the southern
temperate zone. The midnight sun, white night and polar night phenomena
occur annually. During the first two, the sun or the brightness of the
sun dominates the sky of the municipality from early June to July; while
the polar night, the period of darkness that prevails, occurs only for
one day, on December 21. One of the places where the midnight sun can be
seen in the south is the famous Aavasaksa. As mentioned earlier, the
main climate of the municipality is subarctic and, as a result,
temperatures are mild in summer, but winters tend to be cold and long.
However, winters are not as cold as in central Lapland, because the warm
water currents that reach the Arctic Ocean soften the winters. The Sami
people in ancient times, and in their calendars that they still make
today, distinguished eight seasons that help to understand the climate
of Lapland: spring-winter, spring, early summer, early autumn, autumn,
early winter and dark winter. The northern lights, on the other hand,
are very common on dark and clear winter nights; from September to
March, it is a phenomenon that occurs three out of four nights,
especially in October and March.
As mentioned earlier, the Arctic
Circle parallel passes through Ylitornio. For this reason, in the middle
of the 18th century, specifically in 1736, the French astronomer,
mathematician and philosopher Pierre Louis Maupertuis came to it and its
neighbor Pello to conduct research on the size of the Earth. As
mentioned, from the peaks of Kittisvaara in Pello and Huitaperi in
Ylitornio and the 242-meter Aavasaksa hills, he tried to conduct
research on the size of the Earth. In fact, the vast landscape of the
Torne Valley, which can be seen from Aavasaksa hill, is one of the
National Landscapes of Finland.
The municipality is completely
flat, with no elevations exceeding 300 metres; among the small hills
that Pierre Louis Maupertuis used for his research are the Huitaperi and
Aavasaksa hills near the banks of the Tornionjoki River. The water
surface area, on the other hand, is only 8.3%, 183.61 km²; however,
there are several lakes and rivers throughout the municipality. For
example, the Tornionjoki and Tengeliönjoki, the main symbol of the Torne
Valley and a border river, and the lakes Iso Lohijärvi, Iso Vietonen,
Miekojärvi, Raanujärvi and Törmäsjärvi, which border Pello, are worth
mentioning. The freshwater fish such as salmon, brown trout and Lapland
trout in its strong, flowing and proud water currents attract many
fishermen. These fishermen tend to set up near small waterfalls and
rushing water, where it is easier to catch the fish. However, the
largest animal that can be seen in the water areas is the famous otter
of the country.
Although there are no protected areas, Ylitornio
is very rich in nature. Forests extend almost endlessly over the entire
area, mainly fir, birch and pine forests. The only limits to these
forests are the marshy areas and rivers that predominate. There are many
birds that find refuge in these forests; such as the great egrets, the
yellow-legged and dwarf geese, the ospreys, the bald eagles, the hawks,
the red-tailed hawks, the great and lesser kestrels, the black-legged
and lesser thrushes, the jays, the snowy owls, the northern falcons, the
ravens and the jays, the common and lesser kestrels, the red-tailed
hawks, the little and little grebes, the red-tailed hawks, the great and
great grebes, the winter terns, the winter terns, the Arctic terns, the
yellow jays, the water terns, the common goldeneyes, the long-legged
buntings, the common sawflies, the marsh terns and the white-tailed
blackbirds that arrive in spring after spending the entire winter in the
south. In fact, during the summer, the municipality receives 150
different species of birds, but only a few remain for the winter; among
them, the white partridges, the sedges, the great crested grebes and the
great crested grebes. Among the carnivorous mammals, the brown bear, the
white and common marten, the lynx and the otter are the most common;
although they were hunted for a long time, the numbers of the latter are
increasing thanks to protection laws. The wolf, on the other hand, is
relatively rare, but occasionally appears in the area. Elk and reindeer,
on the other hand, are the most famous large herbivores.
When
Finland became a Grand Duchy within the Empire and the new borders
between Sweden and the Muonionjoki and Tornionjoki rivers were
established, the once single municipality was divided into two. That is,
the municipality on both banks of the river was divided in two, creating
the municipalities of Ylitornio and Övertorneå. However, in the area
between the two countries, there seems to be no border on the river that
separates the two sides today.
Ylitornio has good road
connections. Highway 21 runs west of the municipal center, and
Kylänraitti itself, Alkkulanraitti, runs right in the immediate
vicinity of the highway. All services and services can be found in
the service concentration of the Raitti arm in a strip-like setting.
Ylitornio has a border crossing point on the Swedish side in the
village of Aavasaksa, and regional roads 932 to Raanujärvi and 930
via Mellakoski to Muurola also leave from Aavasaksa. Seututie 929
also branches from Mellakoski to Tervola. It is 63 kilometers along
Highway 21 to Tornio and 60 kilometers to Pello. On the Swedish
side, the center of Övertorneå to Matarenk is about 8 kilometers
from the center of Ylitornio.
Ylitornio has a railway station
where all VR passenger trains to and from Kolari stop.