Tornio is a city located in northern Finland on the border with Sweden. It has a long history of cross-border interactions and shared culture with the neighboring Swedish city of Haparanda. The two cities work closely together and are developing shared infrastructure as "twin cities". Tornio's culture is influenced by both Finnish and Swedish traditions, and it hosts various cultural festivals celebrating the blending of the two. The natural environment is dominated by forests and rivers, and the area is known for fishing, berry picking, and winter sports like cross-country skiing.

1. Your EU region
Tornio FINLAND
History Nature
Winter Culture

2. HISTORY

3. The coat of arms of
Tornio

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

5. • 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.

6. • 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.

7. • 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.

8. • The traditional way of fishing salmon.

9. 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.

10. 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”

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. ”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.

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

15. Traditional food
• rieska, traditional bread
• salmon

16. • the old town hall of
Tornio
• the city hall of Tornio

17. Rajalla - På Gränsen -project

18. The bridges

19. The river
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20. NATURE

21. SUOMI-FINLAND
Tornio is on the border
TORNIO between Sweden
and Finland.

22. ANIMALS & BIRDS
Whooper
Swan,
National
bird
Bear,
National mammal
Lapland
Reindeer Owl

23. FLORA
Lily of the Valley,
Scots Pine Globe-flower National plant

24. BERRIES
Berries are not cultivated.
They grow naturally in
the forests and swamps.
Cloudberry Cloudberry flower
Artic raspberry
Lingonberry
European blueberry

25. NATIONAL LANDSCAPE
AAVASAKSA
Kilsiaapa swamp
The fall of
Nuolja

26. Auroras
The river Hannu
Tornio river
Sweden is on the other side.

27. Seasons
Spring Summer
Autumn Winter
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28. WINTER

29. A lot of snow.

30. Heavy snow in the moonlight

31. There can be even -40 degrees in Tornio.

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

33. Cross-country skiing is a Finnish
traditional sport.

34. You can drive a snowmobile.

35. Stud tyres,
necessary things in Winter.
Electric heating in
the car engine

36. ”A typical” Monday morning :D

37. Reindeer
searching food in
winter.
Birds fly to the
south in the autumn.

38. Snow Castle in Kemi.
You can sleep, eat
and even get
married there.
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39. CULTURE

40. 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.

41. Tornio has a lot of cultural
events, for example
concerts, theatre and art
exhibitions.
The police band
Kaamea Rangaistus
(”Terrible Punishment”)
in action.

42. Tornio city
Tornio’s Old Bridge

43. 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 was
used by the German defence
forces.

44. 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.

45. City Hall.
A scene from the
old bridge.

46. School traditions

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

48. ”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.

49. Joutsenveistos,
”Swan sculpture”, in honour of
the border co-operation
between Finland and Sweden,
behind the Rajalla shopping
centre.
Fireworks to celebrate New
Year's Eve in 2008.
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