165:
31:
179:
signs of earlier settlements. Agriculture has long been practiced on the fertile flooding meadows by the river. Trading routes followed the river and some trading centers were formed. One of the centers since 16th century was the island
Oravaisensaari at Vojakkala. Today, the main center is the twin city of Haparanda-Tornio.
201:
was still the majority language until the 20th century. This is obvious in the many
Finnish village and other place names on the Swedish side of the border. The number of Finnish speakers has now declined drastically, because of national Swedish influence and compulsory schooling in Swedish. People
182:
The
Finnish and Swedish sides of the river were once one cultural entity, as before 1809 they were both parts of Sweden. Once the current border between the two countries had been established, each side of the river has become influenced by the majority culture in its respective country, but still
178:
The cultural environment around the Torne River is characterized by agriculture, reindeer farming and fishing. Meänmaa was one of the oldest inhabited areas in northern
Finland. Archeological excavations have revealed evidence of permanent settlements at least from the 11th century, but there are
155:
Meänkieli surnames and village names are common on the
Swedish side of the border to this day, in spite of the dominance of the Swedish language in the area. The Finnish side of the border has standard Finnish as the sole spoken language.
217:, although this term could also be defined as referring to people living in Meänmaa, who are not all speakers of Meänkieli. The originally Finnish-speaking land area is far greater than the actual river valley; it extends as far west as
352:- A related website is that of Nils Johan Fosli, a genealogist from Norway whose roots also lie in Meänmaa. Nils Johan is "the" expert on Troms genealogy.
430:
425:
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in the younger generations mostly have
Swedish as their mother tongue, though it is still widely spoken in many homes as a secondary language.
299:
257:
358:- Another genealogical website that is specifically about the Meänmaa people. However, the website narrative is written in Swedish.
93:
349:
420:
371:
105:
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have three names, but are mostly called by their
Swedish name which often just has a different spelling. For example
435:
141:
221:. Although confusing from a geographic point of view, this whole area is often referred to as Meänmaa. Meänmaa,
149:
101:
355:
410:
325:
206:
57:
278:
326:"Lag (1999:1176) om rätt att använda finska och meänkieli hos förvaltningsmyndigheter och domstolar"
113:
109:
303:
226:
415:
164:
43:
39:
238:
234:
198:
77:
69:
97:
30:
361:
404:
214:
173:
218:
192:
145:
137:
386:
373:
121:
100:. Geographically the townships and municipalities that make up the area are
17:
222:
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is sometimes also considered part of Meänmaa due to the large share of
89:
230:
210:
148:-speaking population in it. Torne Valley should not be confused with
133:
129:
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85:
279:"Cooperation with Sweden: the watercourse area of the River Torne"
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125:
29:
364:- Website of Swedish parliament in the language of Meänkieli.
248:. Since 15 June 2006, the Tornedalians have their own flag.
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in
Finland. Culturally the highland Swedish municipality
298:Finnish Environmental Administration (2004-12-27).
277:Finnish Environmental Administration (2006-11-16).
213:. The people who speak it are often referred to as
244:The area where Meänkieli is spoken is also called
225:and Swedish areas bind together, most places in
209:, has been recognised as a minority language in
49:
8:
27:Valley at the border of Sweden and Finland
96:flowing through the valley and into the
269:
233:is called Kieruna (Meänkieli), Giron (
60:for 'Our Land'), or sometimes
7:
197:On the Swedish side of the valley,
183:retains some traditional elements.
258:French Geodesic Mission to Lapland
241:), but is mainly known as Kiruna.
25:
324:Sveriges Riksdag (1999-12-09).
74:Tornionlaakso, Torniojokilaakso
431:Geography of Norrbotten County
426:Geography of Lapland (Finland)
205:The local variant of Finnish,
1:
362:Sveriges Riksdag - Meänkieli
302:(in Finnish). Archived from
356:Släktforskning i Tornedalen
350:Nils Johan's genealogy site
452:
190:
171:
50:
92:. It is named after the
84:) lies at the border of
34:Traditional location of
150:Torne Valley Sub-region
421:Sub-regions of Finland
169:
81:
73:
46:
167:
33:
168:Flag of Tornedalians
383: /
300:"Tornionjokilaakso"
160:History and culture
170:
66:Torne River Valley
47:
436:Torne river basin
387:66.500°N 23.750°E
40:Norrbotten County
16:(Redirected from
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398:
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55:
54:
21:
451:
450:
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444:
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377:
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237:), and Kiruna (
227:Norrbottens län
195:
189:
176:
162:
116:in Sweden, and
98:Gulf of Bothnia
44:Finnish Lapland
28:
23:
22:
15:
12:
11:
5:
449:
447:
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438:
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428:
423:
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413:
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392:66.500; 23.750
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365:
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344:External links
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191:Main article:
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172:Main article:
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306:on 2009-05-30
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42:(Sweden) and
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37:
32:
19:
411:Tornedalians
367:
330:. Retrieved
328:(in Swedish)
319:
308:. Retrieved
304:the original
293:
282:. Retrieved
272:
245:
243:
215:Tornedalians
204:
196:
181:
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174:Tornedalians
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65:
62:Torne Valley
61:
51:
48:
35:
390: /
94:Torne River
405:Categories
332:2008-03-16
310:2008-03-16
284:2008-03-14
264:References
235:North Sámi
106:Övertorneå
82:Tornedalen
18:Tornedalen
219:Gällivare
207:Meänkieli
193:Meänkieli
146:Meänkieli
142:Gällivare
138:Enontekiö
122:Ylitornio
102:Haparanda
58:Meänkieli
252:See also
187:Language
378:23°45′E
375:66°30′N
246:Meänmaa
239:Swedish
199:Finnish
90:Finland
78:Swedish
70:Finnish
52:Meänmaa
36:Meänmaa
231:Kiruna
211:Sweden
134:Muonio
130:Kolari
118:Tornio
114:Kiruna
110:Pajala
86:Sweden
416:Sápmi
223:Sápmi
126:Pello
136:and
112:and
88:and
64:or
38:in
407::
152:.
132:,
128:,
124:,
120:,
108:,
104:,
80::
76:;
72::
335:.
313:.
287:.
68:(
56:(
20:)
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