Pello (formerly Turtola) is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
of
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 ...
. It is located approximately north of the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...
in the western part of the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...
of
Lapland, and is part of the
Lapland region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
. The municipality is on the national border with Sweden, by the
Tornionjoki-river. The municipality has a population of ()
and covers an area of of
which
is water.
The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
is
.
The municipality is unilingually
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
, according to the
legal definition in Finland.
History
The name of Pello is ultimately derived from the word ''pelto'', field; which may have been the original name of the village. The weak grade stem of ''pelto'' is ''pello-'' (e.g. ''pellon'' - genitive case form of ''pelto''), through which the name was corrupted to its current form. The name of Turtola refers to a male name ''Turto'', a Finnish form of the Scandinavian name ''Tord''.
During the Late Middle Ages and the 16th century, Pello was the northernmost Finnish village in the
Tornio Valley. It was a part of the
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 ...
parish until 1606, when said parish was divided into
Alatornio
Alatornio ( sv, Nedertorneå) is a former municipality in the province of Lapland, Finland. It was annexed with Tornio in 1973. The 1970, Alatornio had a population of 8,575 people. and
Ylitornio
Ylitornio ( sv, Övertorneå; sme, Badje-Duortnus; smn, Pajetuárnus) is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Lapland along the Tornio River, opposite the Swedish town of Övertorneå about by road to its northwest. T ...
, from which the latter included Turtola and Pello.
After Russia conquered Finland in 1809, Ylitornio was split into two parts. The villages of Pello and Turtola were also split, which is why there is a
Pello and a Turtola (
Svanstein) in Sweden. The northern parts of Ylitornio became a separate parish and municipality in 1867, called Turtola after its most significant village at the time. The village of Pello later surpassed Turtola, thus the municipality was renamed to Pello in 1949.
References
External links
Municipality of Pello– Official website
Tourism of Pello– Official website
Divided cities
Populated places established in 1867
Finland–Sweden border crossings
{{Lapland-geo-stub