The Three-Country Cairn ( fi, Kolmen valtakunnan rajapyykki, se, Golmma riikka urna, no, Treriksrøysa, sv, Treriksröset) is the point at which the international borders of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

meet, and the name of the monument that marks the point. It is an example of a geographical feature known as a

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

. It is the northernmost international tripoint in the world. The border between Norway and Sweden including Finland was decided in the Strömstad Treaty of 1751 and marked with cairns the following years, including cairn 294 which is located on a hill 150 meters east of today's Three-Country Cairn. When Sweden ceded Finland to Russia in 1809, it was decided that the new Finland–Sweden border should follow the rivers. But actually two rivers crosses the Norwegian border and the northern river was originally used and then the tripoint was at . The tripoint had no mark for several years. It was decided in 1887 by the governments of

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

(which was administering

at the time) that the southern river was now larger. A monument of stones was erected on the site by them in 1897. The Swedish could not agree on a boundary commission with the Norwegians and did not contribute their stone until 1901. This is Sweden's most northerly point and it is the westernmost point of the Finnish mainland (the most westerly point of Finland is on the island Märket). The current tripoint monument was built in 1926 and is a beige, conical frustum made of concrete, located about out in Lake Goldajärvi (also known as Koltajärvi in Finnish, Golddajávri in Sami or Koltajaure in Sweden). It is located at above sea level. The size is about with diameter of about . As an artificial island, it is sometimes mentioned as the world's smallest island divided by a border. This is a matter of definition. For example, in

Haparanda Haparanda (; fi, Haaparanta, , aspen shore or bank) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda had a population of 4,856 in 2010, out of a municipal total of 10, ...

Tornio Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...

there are poles in water marking the border. It may be reached by walking from

Kilpisjärvi Kilpisjärvi (; se, Gilbbesjávri ) is a village in the municipality of Enontekiö, Lapland, Finland. It is located in Finland's northern "arm" near the very northwesternmost point of Finland. Although Kilpisjärvi is one of the largest villages ...

in Finland along a hiking trail in the

Malla Strict Nature Reserve Malla Strict Nature Reserve (''Mallan luonnonpuisto'') is a strict nature reserve located in Lapland, Finland. The area has been protected since 1916 and was declared a strict nature reserve in 1938. It encompasses and is managed by Metla. T ...

. In summertime, it can be reached by public boat from Kilpisjärvi plus a walk. It can also be reached from Norway, preferably from a hiking trail starting at road E8 near the border. It is much more difficult to reach from inside Sweden, requiring at least a 70 km hike each way with river crossings.

Climate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Treriksroset Geographical points of Finland Extreme points of Sweden Geography of Norrbotten County Finland–Sweden border Finland–Norway border Norway–Sweden border Border tripoints International islands Storfjord Geography of Lapland (Finland) Artificial islands of Sweden Artificial islands of Finland Artificial islands of Norway

Climate

See also

References